Showtime Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Showtime Australia is a three-tier Australian pay-TV movie service, consisting of Showtime, Showtime 2 (Showtime delayed two hours) and Showtime Greats. It is produced by the Premium Movie Partnership (PMP), a joint venture in which Sony, Universal, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Liberty Media have equal shares. Not surprisingly, Showtime sources most of its movies from those studios.
Showtime started out in 1995 as part of the basic package on the now-defunct Galaxy service, showing first-run films. It later became available as part of the Austar and Foxtel services when they were launched. At the same time its sister channel, Encore, launched, showing older, 'classic' movies. Encore was renamed Showtime Greats in 2004. The Showtime channels are now also available on Optus Television.
It is unrelated to the American Showtime service, but pays a licence fee for the use of the name and trademark.
It also produces some Australian movies, such as Bad Eggs, in conjunction with other companies.
