Cable channel Showtime has launched a new iPad app, Showtime Anytime. The app provides on-demand access to a selection of movies and TV shows. Showtime in fact promises access to all of its original series, such as Dexter, Homeland, Californication, and Showtime Championship Boxing. Movies include the likes of Inglourious Basterds and The King's Speech.
Vudu chose Tuesday to throw itself into more direct competition with iTunes and Netflix by carrying TV shows. The deal gives it access to shows from ABC, AMC, Fox, HDNet, Palm, Showtime, Sony, Starz, and The CW, such as Weeds and The Walking Dead. As a paid service, its episodes will show a day after the air date rather than weeks or months like on Netflix.
Netflix on Friday landed another of its key content deals by expanding its relationship with Fox. The deal will dip into more classic shows like Ally McBeal and The Wonder Years but also give access to parts of more current content, such as the first season of Glee and the the first two seasons of Sons of Anarchy. Some movies will also be coming, but unlike most of Netflix's recent deals, will have to wait until after the pay TV window expires.
Showtime is reportedly moving to pull some of its original content from contracts involving Netflix. A Hollywood Reporter report suggests the company, which is owned by CBS, has decided to omit the previous seasons of Dexter and Californication when the current Netflix deal expires later this year.
Verizon on Thursday announced that FiOS TV subscribers will now be able to access Showtime Sports Interactive content. The new service uses the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) to bring interactive on-screen widgets to certain sports shows. Initial offerings will include boxing and mixed martial arts events broadcast in HD resolution.
A symbolic change in the video industry is beginning as studios begin shipping videos ahead of their Blu-ray and DVD releases. Lionsgate-owned TV network Showtime has begun selling previously aired episodes of its show Weeds (iTunes) before their release on packaged DVDs, breaking with a tradition of often holding back on Internet releases of whole seasons or movies before physical copies appear. Many TV networks release new episodes through online services the day after airing but seldom release complete packages ahead of time.
