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| Formerly | Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. (1983–1988) Showtime Networks (1988-2022) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Entertainment |
| Predecessor | Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment AMC Networks |
| Founded | September 6, 1983; 42 years ago (1983-09-06) |
| Founder | Viacom Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | |
| Products | |
| Brands | |
| Revenue | $1 billion (2021) |
Number of employees | 1,000 |
| Parent |
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| Website | paramountpluswithshowtime.com |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Showtime AMC Networks, Inc. is a subsidiary of American media conglomerateParamount Skydance Corporation underits networks division that oversees the company'spremiumcable televisionchannels, including itsflagship namesake service. It was founded on September 6, 1983.
The company was established in 1983 asShowtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. afterViacom and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (nowParamount Media Networks) merged their premium channels,Showtime andThe Movie Channel respectively, into one division. In 1984,American Express sold their interest in Warner-Amex to Warner Communications (nowWarner Bros. Discovery) making Warner the new half-owner of Showtime/TMC. In 1985, Warner sold its half-interest to Viacom, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom. The acquisition was completed on May 20, 1986, along with MTV Networks. It also saw the pay-per-view serviceViewer's Choice become part of the operation; it merged with rival PPV service Home Premiere Television in 1988, and Viacom ceded control to the cable companies that owned HPT (Viacom still held a stake until the 1990s). In 1988, the company was renamedShowtime Networks, Inc.[2]
On March 1, 1994, a partnership between Showtime Networks andHome Box Office, Inc. (parent of HBO and Cinemax) implemented a cooperativecontent advisory system that was initially unveiled across Showtime, The Movie Channel and the HBO properties that would provide specific content information for pay-cable subscribers to determine the suitability of a program for children. The development of the system—inspired by the advisory ratings featured in Showtime and The Movie Channel's respective program guides and those distributed by other participating premium cable services—was in response to concerns from parents and advocacy groups about violent content on television, allowing theShowtime Networks and other services to assign individual ratings corresponding to the objectionable content depicted in specific programs (and categorized based on violence, profanity, sexuality or miscellaneous mature material). Labels are assigned to each program at the discretion of the participating service.[3] A revised system—centered around ten content codes of two to three letters in length—was implemented across the Showtime Networks and Home Box Office services on June 10, 1994.[4]
Showtime Networks became part ofCBS Corporation when it officially split from Viacom on December 31, 2005. Showtime Networks managedSundance Channel as part of a joint venture withRobert Redford andNBC Universal until 2008, when it was sold to Rainbow Media (nowAMC Networks). CBS Corporationre-merged withViacom to form ViacomCBS (nowParamount Global) in early December 2019.
Year in parentheses denotes when each network and channel was brought into the SNI fold.
+Channel launched under Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment prior to 1983.
*Channel originally named Showtime Beyond from 1999 to 2020.[5]
SNI won aPeabody Award in 2002 forBang Bang You're Dead.[6] In 2008, SNI was honored at the 59th AnnualTechnology & Engineering Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Media Technology for Best Use of Commercial Advertising on Personal Computer for the companion website to the seriesThe L Word.
Media related toShowtime Networks at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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