Showtime Scandinavia (generally referred to simply as ''Showtime'') was a

television channel A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...

broadcasting

action movie Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

s to the Nordic countries operated by

NonStop Television NonStop Television was a Scandinavian television company, part of Turner Broadcasting System, packaging and distributing a number of specialty channels, mostly to the Scandinavian region. The company is a part of Millennium Media Group. The first ...

. Its name and logo was licensed by Showtime Networks Inc., owners of the American Showtime. The two channels however do not share any programme content. Showtime Scandinavia was closed on 15 July 2015.

History

NonStop Television received a license for a channel with the working title ''NonStop Film'' in January 2004 when the government awarded new licenses for the terrestrial network (DTT). The channel was put into the new fifth multiplex that covered 50 percent of the country. The channel was named ''Showtime'' and started broadcasting at 18:00 hrs. (CET) on 30 September 2004. It was then available from

Boxer TV Access Boxer TV Access is a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB providing pay television channels on the digital terrestrial television network in Sweden. Modeled on the British ITV Digital, it was founded in October 1999. Some channels on the Swedish D ...

(DTT in Sweden),

Canal Digital Canal Digital was a Nordic pay TV and internet service provider in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland that was founded in March 1997 as a joint venture between the French pay TV company Canal+ and the Norwegian telecommunications opera ...

satellite throughout the Nordic countries and cable services. In 2005, the channel became available in the basic analogue package for the

cable viewers in Norway. In February 2006, the Swedish government took back Showtime's terrestrial license. NonStop Television were however awarded a new license for a channel called ''Nonstop Filmfestival'' (working title). The channel was named

Silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and replaces Showtime in May 2006.

Content

The programming consists almost entirely of action movies (and programmes about movies) dating from the 1970s to more recent days. Movies are delivered by several distributors, such as

Buena Vista International Television Disney Platform Distribution, Inc. is a business unit within Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) that manages all third-party media sales efforts for distribution, affiliate marketing and affiliate-related business operations for a ...

, Fox,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

and

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

. Subtitling is available in

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Availability

According to NonStop, the channel is available to approximately 1 million households as of April 2006. Via satellite, the channel is distributed through

. As of 2006, the channel is added as a bonus when buying both the Canal+ and Family package. The channel isn't (as of 2006) available through Viasat. Showtime is available through many cable distributors, including

Com Hem Com Hem was a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB which supplied Triple Play services that included cable television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephone. Founded in 1983 as Televerket Kabel-TV as part of the former state-owned Televerke ...

(Sweden), HTV (Finland), TDC (Denmark) and UPC (Sweden and Norway). Since December 2009 the same

has started also
"Showtime Baltics"
channel in Estonia, which in 2010 should start to operate in Latvia and Lithuania as well.

References

{{Authority control Pan-Nordic television channels Defunct television channels in Sweden Defunct television channels in Norway Defunct television channels in Denmark Defunct television channels in Finland Television channels and stations established in 2004 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2015