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Showtime isn’t coming out with their own standalone digital-only subscription like their friends at HBO, but they will partner with an existing content distributor to do it. Showtime and Hulu have announced that folks will be able to access Showtime’s vast range of TV shows and movies for an added $9 per month on top of a Hulu Plus subscription of $8.
Showtime says the service will launch in time for July 12th’s premieres of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex. You’ll even get access to premium boxing events that air on Showtime’s Championship Boxing.
Premium cable providers are starting to take heed to the message Kevin Spacey laid out a couple of years ago: give the people what they want, how they want it and at a reasonable price, and they’ll be more than happy to pay for it. Let’s hope more and more companies begin to follow suit in the months and years to come.
[via Hulu]
That’s ininteresting, just last night Hulu showed me an ad saying that the Showtime shows could come at no extra charge.
According to the Hulu site if you are a current subscriber you’ll get a month trial of Showtime for free. That’s probably what you saw.
Ah. They should be more transparent in the commercial, although I don’t watch Showtime programing, I’m sure those who are interested if they don’t do their research like you. Won’t be happy about $9 up charge on their billing account.
Showtime has had the Borgias and Lost Girl, two series I enjoyed quite a bit.
Borgias seemed good. Perhaps something I’ll look into once I finish all the Classic Doctor Who seasons.
I saw some later episodes of Dr. Who and I was SO amazed. I would go back, but… that’s so many episodes. LoL!!
No kidding. I’m only on season 16 and there are 26, with at least 25 episodes each usually. After seeing all of the current episodes though I feel I need to see them all lol
I tried watching some of the Classic Who but I got to a point where everything bothered me – the costumes, the bad acting, the casting seemed off. I might give it another try, though.
Yeah the older episodes are tough to get into, I have to say though they get better as the Doctor regenerates.
How is a $9 upcharge reasonable? I get HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax from Charter for $20 a month and I hate paying that much just for Homeland.
Because licensing those shows is very costly for Hulu.
That doesn’t really hold water. They charge $8 for everything else on Hulu Plus. You can’t tell me they are paying more for Showtime shows than for everything else combined.
They also don’t show ads on all of their content either. My understanding is that these Showtime shows will air on Hulu and the exact same as they do on their cable provided channels as well. So $8 versus what it costs to have a Showtime package from a cable provider isn’t much to ask from those who are interested. These shows probably won’t have ads either since they’ll air with their cable cousins. Ads are of course what keep Hulu as cheap as it is for customers and their business afloat.
“Ads are of course what Hulu as cheap as it is for customer and their business afloat”
And yet Netflix is the same price and they spend 3 times as much on content, and they stay very much afloat without any ads at all.
Netflix also doesn’t get content immediately, especially TV shows which is what Hulu focuses on. Hulu offers episodes as they air, often as soon as the next day. Netflix probably spends as much as they do because they offer movies (I’m guessing). They are two very different services though, one focuses on movies verses TV shows. Apples and Oranges really. Also if you really want the most out of Netflix you’d have to pay I believe what is $13/m because they larger selection via DVD/Blu-ray and that doesn’t even being to factor in the cost for adding more users to be watching at the same time.
I could buy that if Hulu only put ads on just-aired episodes, but they put on ads on everything, no matter how old. There’s even some content that’s on both Hulu and Netflix, with ads on Hulu, without ads on Netflix.
There are plenty of shows that don’t appear with ads, you just haven’t come across them yet most likely. Hulu is beating Netflix with TV shows and watchings a few ads for the price honestly isnt even that big a deal. It beats cable.
You’re right I’ve never come across a show on Hulu without ads. Granted, I seldom use Hulu, precisely because of the abundance of ads. In Hulu’s early years, I could tolerate the ads because they were few and far between. Now it’s ridiculous… the last show I watched on Hulu the show was 24 min long with 12.5 min of ads.
I wouldn’t say Hulu is beating Netflix at TV shows… Netflix has focused more and more on shows and less on movies the last two or three years, and they’re crushing Hulu by any measure you can come up with.
That sucks to hear that you had that many ads, I’ve never been so unlucky with Hulu. Granted I’ve just recently became a subscriber. I did so though because while Netflix has stepped their game up with TV shows they don’t get new episodes nearly as quickly as Hulu. Especially when a season is currently airing. The selection between the two is pretty vast with TV shows alone. I’ve found that for me if one doesn’t have it the other does.
I get why they have ads, but those ads are NOT being tailored to me. I’m SO tired of every Toyota ad. I’m SO tired of that wine glass ad. LoL!!
I mean, I get it’s costly, but my goodness… They better be lucky I like that ad where they drink Mountain Dew and start dancing. But it’s getting old…
I agree. The ads are pretty poorly tailered especially if you’re watching on anything other than a PC or PS4 (the only that allow you to vote in my experience). I’m just glad and lucky that only one show I watch currently has ads lol
I pay $75 for 200+ cable channels with Showtime/Cinemax/HBO including access to all of the apps for those networks included. No way is $17 just for Showtime worth it. Because if I decided to go this route I still wouldn’t watch the other content on Hulu. They need way more partners than what they have to justify their price. Showtime, fox and ABC content is not enough.
That’s what you pay and your opinion. This might be a better deal for many others. The $9 up charge is only for Showtime anyway. Also last I checked Showtime, ABC and Fox aren’t the only companies Hulu has contracts with.
That is way too much extra…
Still cheaper than cable. I think that’s what the main focus is.
Not really… Showtime is an extra 10 max with cable. And most times cheaper if bundled. I love Hulu but *Just* for one stations content more than double the original price of the service? I just dont see it
I was mainly focusing on how much you’re spending total.
In Hulu, you’d be paying $17. With everything that Hulu has to offer, how much would that cost in cable?
Because right now it sounds like you’re saying can get more with cable at a cheaper price. I don’t know what gets bundled with cable and prices related to it. I don’t pay our TV bill, and don’t plan on getting cable. That’s why I’m ignorant on the prices.
Most Customers will not see the value in paying more for the addition than the actual service
Will they be adding their obnoxious, overly plentiful, commercials to Showtime content, or will they be ad-free?
Who’s caught up with Ray Donovan? Can’t wait for the July 12 premier.
Season one last year and just bought Season one on Blu ray I know season 2 is out but I want to rewatch season one again, that show was incredible!