R.I.P. Showtime. Meet Paramount Plus With Showtime.
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Showtime is about to have a curtain call. The premium channel known for prestige television shows including "Billions," "Weeds" and "Homeland," is no more, at least not in name.
Showtime's parent company Paramount Global announced Monday it will rebrand the linear channel Showtime under a new identity - Paramount Plus With Showtime, a name previously used by the company for a streaming service bundle.
The rebrand, which begins on Jan. 8, 2024, will present some Paramount Plus original series on the television channel, allowing TV subscribers to watch shows such as "Halo," "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Sexy Beast."
"The move aligns the brand with the Paramount+ With Showtime plan, a cornerstone integration for the streaming service, making this the first of its kind multiplatform brand that integrates streaming and linear content," Paramount said in a statement.
The decision follows Paramount's move in August to debut the "Paramount Plus With Showtime" streaming package bundle (an ad-free combination of Showtime and Paramount Plus) with the goal of eventually eliminating Showtime's streaming app.
Showtime launched in 1976 - four years after HBO and as a 24-hour premium channel, quickly becoming HBO's first real competitor. The network appeared to hit its stride in the mid-aughts, with edgy, compulsively watchable hits such as "The L Word," a series centered on lesbian and bisexual women that was groundbreaking when it debuted in 2004; "Weeds," which chronicled a suburban widow's foray into dealing marijuana to support her kids and won two Emmy Awards; and "Dexter," which debuted in 2006 and was a twisted, unique contribution to TV's golden age of anti-heroes that won two Golden Globes and four Emmys.
Shows such as "Californication," "Shameless," "Homeland" and "Twin Peaks: The Return" extended Showtime's run of cult successes, while offerings like "Desus and Mero" and "Ziwe" in recent years highlighted the network's eye for zeitgeist-defining talent.
Showtime was always chasing HBO with its high-quality television shows, according to Michael Kackman, an associate professor of television at the University of Notre Dame.
"It does seem really, really curious to me that they would ultimately step away from that branded identity," Kackman said. But Paramount likely had good reasoning for doubling-down on Paramount instead of Showtime, he said.
"They're leaning back on their oldest name. They're leaning back on the film studio name," he said. "They're clearly still trying to build interconnections across not just streaming platforms but traditional cable, linear cable and broadcast TV."
Showtime's new name follows Warner Bros. Discovery's decision in April to rename the HBO Max app as simply "Max," a move made to eliminate the HBO brand's reputational link to mature content, according to the company. The app has since integrated TNT sports broadcasts and live CNN programs, making it a one-stop shop for WBD's products.
That move threw away decades of brand recognition, similar to Twitter rebranding as "X," Kackman said.
"To take a brand identity and actually just kind of turn it into something much more generic is a little weird," he said.
David Aaker, a professor of marketing strategy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, called Showtime's rebranding decision "crazy" and "just too dumb to conceive of." He said the new name instantly creates confusion for subscribers, which won't help Paramount in the long term as more streaming services consolidate and fight for subscribers.
"They're competing with Netflix, they're competing with Apple and they're competing with Prime," he said. "And there's no room for a confused entry to maximize revenue or profits."
Showtime's rebranding comes amid a messy time for streaming services, where more and more companies seem to be consolidating.
Disney Plus recently added a feature that allows subscribers to access Hulu content, with an eye toward bringing the two apps together now that Disney is poised to fully acquire Hulu. Warner Bros may soon sell licensing rights of its HBO products to other streaming services like Netflix, according to trade publications. Apple Plus and Paramount Plus are also rumored to be eyeing a streaming bundle. And, just last week, Verizon launched a subscription plan that links Netflix and Max together under one package.
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