Roku has announced the addition of hundreds of hours of on-demand content and live TV feeds from Showtime Networks. While that’s a big deal for Roku, the country’s most popular streaming platform is also accustomed to making high-profile content deals with major providers. The bigger deal in this case may be on the part of Showtime: This is the first time it has made available its Internet-video service, Showtime Anytime, on a TV-connected device.
Showtime subscribers now have free, unlimited access to current and past seasons of original series such as “Dexter,” “Masters of Sex” and “Californication” via Roku, as well as box-office hits, comedy specials, documentaries and sports programming.
One kink in this new development, as reported by Variety, comes courtesy of Comcast, which has made waves in recent days with a planned merger with Time Warner Cable. In what is perhaps a sign of ever-more controlling times to come, the nation’s largest cable operator has barred its Showtime subscribers from watching it via Roku devices. Comcast has the same block up for its HBO Go subscribers as well. However, subscribers to Showtime through TWC – as well as AT&T U-verse, Brighthouse, Cablevision’s Optimum TV, DIRECTV, Grande Communications, Verizon FiOS and more to come – can now watch Anytime at no additional cost on their Roku devices.
Brief Take: Showtime has dragged its heels on releasing content on TV-connected devices. But with HBO – which has been bringing its content to those platforms for years – recently announcing its highest subscription increase in 17 years, the time to pull the trigger was clearly now.
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