Showtime will launch a new premium channel, Showcase, on Foxtel and Austar on Saturday 1 December 2007, it was announced yesterday.
In making the announcement Showtime’s Chief Executive Officer Peter Rose said: ‘Showcase will provide an extensive selection of exclusive entertainment from Emmy award winning drama series, features and feature documentaries, launching with five Australian television premieres (including three exclusive television dramas) each week. The Showcase programming line-up is unrivaled, and it is available at no extra cost to subscribers of the Showtime suite of channels.
Designed to be the new destination for television – uncut and uninterrupted - Showcase will offer landmark Australian drama with the premiere of the highly anticipated Satisfaction; groundbreaking original series with titles including Dexter, The Riches, The Tudors, Rome seasons one and two, Meadowlands and John From Cincinatti, sourced from HBO, Showtime USA and fx; as well as critically acclaimed independent film and feature length documentaries – with titles including Little Miss Sunshine, Thank You for Smoking, Material Girls, An Inconvenient Truth, Once in a Lifetime and The Queen sourced from Fox Searchlight, Paramount Vantage, Working Title, Sony Classics, Madman and Icon to name a few.
‘Showcase provides a real home at last for quality drama in Australia, and this list of outstanding event television is just the start. With our continued commitment to producing and acquiring the best in television entertainment, the channel will continue to provide extraordinary original series through 2008 and beyond,’ continued Peter Rose.
Foxtel Chief Executive, Kim Williams, said: ‘We welcome Showcase to the Foxtel platform with its raft of exclusive, original International and Australian content. With the addition of this new channel, Foxtel is continuing to deliver Australians the television they want when they want it, and doing so with an energy and fresh style of approach. Showcase is a terrific initiative and Showtime is to be commended for it.’
With the creation of the new channel, Showtime will once again become a dedicated movie channel, with at least three premieres a week of the latest movies from the top Hollywood studios and independent production companies. With fewer repeats and uninterrupted viewing Showtime brings more movies to more people than any other movie channel in Australia.
In conjunction with the launch of Showcase, during December and January Showtime will premiere Mission Impossible 3, The Holiday, The Devil Wears Prada, Talladega Nights, A Good Year, Nacho Libre and Borat to name a few.
Showtime Greats will continue as the must-have channel for movie favourites with films from the 70s, 80s and 90s with titles over summer including Mask of Zorro, The Beach, The Green Mile, Mickey Blue Eyes, Waterworld, Coneheads, Clue and Reality Bites.
Foxtel Executive Director of Television and Marketing Brian Walsh said: ‘The addition of Showcase to Foxtel’s already stellar line-up of entertainment channels gives our subscribers unparalleled choice in their viewing options.
‘The strong investment in unique drama series led by the fresh new Australian production, Satisfaction, makes Showcase a must-have destination for fans of the drama genre.
‘Foxtel set a new standard for Australian drama with the highly awarded and acclaimed series Love My Way and it’s exciting to see the cutting edge, thought provoking, Satisfaction, continues this tradition’ Walsh continued.
Upon the announcement Austar’s Group Director, Corporate Development and Legal Affairs Deanne Weir said, ‘Austar has long been the destination for groundbreaking, innovative television for regional Australians and the launch of Showcase is a very exciting addition to the platform.
‘The Showcase programming lineup promises original, first-run series from both Australia and overseas which will see it quickly establish itself as a channel of choice for regional subscribers who love quality, uninterrupted drama.’
[release from Foxtel / Showtime]