The Stan/Showtime deal: What TV shows does it get?
The Australian streaming service will have exclusive Australian rights to all new Showtime productions.
Australian streaming TV service Stan today announced that it has signed a long-term deal with US cable channel Showtime, which could potentially create headaches for its local rivals Presto and Netflix.
Under the deal, all new Showtime productions will be broadcast on Stan ahead of any other streaming service or TV network. That will give Stan a potential point of difference to compete with Netflix's Originals and Presto's deal to show content from HBO. While Stan has been more active in producing original Australian content than its rivals, there's a limit to how much of that it can afford to produce, so the Showtime deal is helpful.
The key shows highlighted by Stan at the launch are Billions, which is being offered on Stan straight after each episode debuts, and the revival of Twin Peaks, which will appear in 2017. Those titles will only be appearing on Stan.
For existing Showtime productions, the scenario is a little more complicated. Stan's deal doesn't eliminate existing contracts, so content from Showtime which is already available on Netflix and Presto won't disappear immediately. That will only happen when the terms of the contract expire. Similarly, existing deals with Foxtel and Ten for TV broadcast will be honoured. Stan isn't willing to specify in advance when that will happen for individual shows, so we'll only hear about that as the shows appear on the platform.
Even prior to the deal, Stan already had the rights to Showtime series including Ray Donovan, Californication and Dexter. Currently Presto has the rights to The Affair and Penny Dreadful, but those will show up on Stan in the near future. Weeds is currently available on both Netflix and Presto.
Under the deal, Stan will also get the exclusive local streaming-on-demand rights for TV shows produced by CBS, which owns Showtime. Shows on that list include Elementary, Scorpion, Under The Dome, Limitless, Madam Secretary, Beauty and the Beast and Reign. Note that those shows will still appear on free-to-air TV first, and will be available on catch-up services for a limited period after broadcast.
Curious about what's on offer through each service? We've got the complete lists of the current TV shows they provide below:
