Bell Media has struck a deal with Showtime for its recently launched streaming service CraveTV – hit shows like Penny Dreadful, The Affair and Happyish will now be available on the site.
“Netflix got a four-year head start on us in this country and they’re terrific,” CTV President of Sports and Entertainment Programming, Phil King, lightheartedly said Tuesday at a joint press conference with Showtime boss David Nevins (The Canadian Press). “But, boy, with the content we got from Showtime and some others we think we’re going to (gain by) leaps and bounds… The main reasons we did this deal was frankly to get our streaming service going with Crave. Netflix, they may have one or two (new) shows. I just bought 12 from David.”
Josh Hartnett of Penny Dreadful, Maura Tierney of The Affair and Shanola Hampton of Shameless were at the press conference as well.
“For a long time it’s been a frustration (that) people don’t realize necessarily that Homeland and Ray Donovan and Shameless are all coming from the same source,” said Nevins. “I hope that this deal is actually a harbinger of other deals, particularly in English-speaking territories where we can sort of bring the brand as a whole… If you want to wait for it to come to The Movie Network, great. If you want to watch it on CraveTV, great. I don’t care. As long as you like our stuff.”
Photo: Bell Media/Penny Dreadful
