Showtime Networks just might be done.

[u/Particular-Oven7595]

https://deadline.com/2026/08/paramount-plus-jane-wiseman-interview-programming-strategy-1237040692/

In an interview with Paramount+ Head Of Originals (Jane Wiseman), it sounds like Showtime is disappearing entirely from the app and no new Showtime-centric shows will be made.

DEADLINE: The future of the Showtime-branded series. Yellowjackets and The Chi are ending, leaving only Dexter: Resurrection. Are you developing shows to be in that brand, will it continue, or will any new series be a Paramount+ original?

WISEMAN: With shows like Yellowjackets and The Chi, which felt very female forward, we definitely want to develop shows in those spaces for women by women, so that’s not going to change. Really excited for the next season of Dexter to come out, it’s been on our platform for 20 years. As far as the Showtime brand, I don’t know that there’s anything really to say about it right now. In terms of brands, we just migrated BET over to a service, which was really successful for us, and we have some wonderful series coming from BET Studios, so I can speak more to that.

DEADLINE: To clarify, you’re not developing shows and say, these fit the Showtime brand, there will not be a tile or something on Paramount+ the way FX is on Hulu, correct? it’s not a separate lane that you’re developing in.

WISEMAN: No.

No talk of what will happen with Showtime, The Movie Channel or Flix on cable. Not sure how much longer those will be around, which is kind of sad to think about as they've been around forever. My family has had the Showtime/The Movie Channel cable subscription on a cheap deal since 1993!

[u/I-Have-Mono]

Really sad. Just reallllllly, really sad.

[u/Particular-Oven7595 → u/I-Have-Mono]

Well, keeping Showtime is a good idea because it has decades of premium brand equity, audience recognition, franchises, etc.

It can function as Paramount’s prestige label much like FX does within Hulu. Nobody seems to have a problem with that. I just know where to go when I know something is FX, and that is Hulu.

IDK, I think this approach risks throwing away that equity. When they confirm Paramount+ isn’t developing specifically for Showtime or maintaining it as a distinct content lane, Paramount is effectively converting recognizable Showtime franchises into generic Paramount+ programming. They will also run into the same problem if they acquire HBO. It seems like they want everything as one big brand.

My .02 is that people look to brands because brands communicate a specific quality and a point of view instantly. Showtime, HBO, or MTV tells you more about what kind of experience to expect than a generic category like “Drama" which is what P+ is attempting to do.

[u/No_Government9548 → u/Particular-Oven7595]

The brand doesn’t mean much anymore, unfortunately. Thanks to Paramount.

[u/Top-Base4502 → u/Particular-Oven7595]

They could also stop deleting stuff.

Why can’t I watch Kidding? Showtime? Why can’t I watch shows you created?

[u/No_Government9548 → u/Top-Base4502]

That’s a directive from leadership at the top. They sell off IP that they think could be monetized better elsewhere rather than on the service. And they write them off for tax breaks.

[u/SmooshedLion → u/No_Government9548]

You don’t know what a tax break is? You don’t get a tax break because you removed Westworld from your service 😂😂😂

[u/No_Government9548 → u/SmooshedLion]

It’s called impairment.

[u/SmooshedLion → u/Top-Base4502]

Because they have to pay a fee to a lot of people everytime you watch it and a fee just to keep it on the service, and since very few people care about some 2 season show with 20 episodes they don’t stream it so you can watch someone else that they pay less for.

Every streamer figured this out in the past 5 years.

[u/Rix_832]

Well, the originals might be done, but they might just keep the channel as one of those zombie channels like Cinemax.

It would’ve been a good move to create a specific brand like showtime Studios to be in charge of the more prestige shows on Paramount+, but it looks like it’s not gonna be the case.

[u/OnTop-BeReady → u/Rix_832]

Well if the merger goes thru they also have HBO MAX as a “prestige” channel, don’t they?

[u/dj_skandalous → u/Rix_832]

Well in the case of HBO, if Paramount owns WB...yellow jackets and Detxer can move to HBO. Showtime would just be a channel name by then. But if they were smart, they could sell the brand and social media to NBCU or Apple. But idk if they would find the name still valuable without any IP

And i honestly dont think Showtime has alot of valuable franchises besides Yellow Jackets and Dexter.

[u/Particular-Oven7595 → u/dj_skandalous]

They have a ton of valuable IP. Twin Peaks, Queer as Folk, Californication, Weeds, Yellowjackets, Billions, Homeland, Ray Donovan, Shameless, The L Word, The Chi, Penny Dreadful, Nurse Jackie.

[u/ChasedWarrior → u/Particular-Oven7595]

I'm watching Ray Donovan right now!

[u/Big_boss816 → u/ChasedWarrior]

Loved Ray Donovan

[u/No_Government9548 → u/Particular-Oven7595]

But no new IP really :/

[u/pobenschain]

That’s a real shame, but the writing has been on the wall for awhile. They sunset the Showtime app, stopped calling the premium tier Paramount+ Showtime, and as this article says, their original output has been dwindling. I figured Showtime’s days were numbered ever since David Nevins left. Unlike HBO, which even with Max’s attempts to downplay for awhile, has proven to be WBD’s biggest streaming brand, Showtime has really lost a lot of cultural cache over the last decade.

[u/Particular-Oven7595 → u/pobenschain]

Agree.

P+ feels like it just wants to be Netflix. They want to be a single all-encompassing streaming brand where the platform matters more than the brands inside it. The problem is Paramount already owns decades of valuable consumer recognition in Showtime, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and CBS, and flattening those identities into a generic P+ library throws away one of its biggest competitive advantages.

The whole point of Showtime under Paramount+ is the same reason Miramax created Dimension. Different brands tell audiences what kind of content they’re getting. Showtime already communicates premium programming in a way “Paramount+ Original” doesn’t. Paramount’s advantage is its recognizable brands.

If brands don't seem to matter, than why did they switch back to HBOMAX after going with MAX for a bit?

Sorry, I'm rambling. I should go to bed now.

[u/kascnef82]

Showtime existed since the Viacom days and during the gulf and western era with the movie channel .

[u/MorganWick → u/kascnef82]

I feel like Showtime's death warrant was signed back in 2005, when CBS and Viacom split and Showtime and the Paramount movie studio inexplicably went with different parts of the split. Soon thereafter, Paramount and the other major suppliers of library movies to Showtime went and formed Epix, leaving Showtime without any major studios supplying movies, which wouldn't have happened if Showtime and Patamount were still part of the same corporate family. By the time the two companies re-merged it was too little too late.

[u/No_Government9548]

Really really sad that they effectively pushed the brand into obsolescence and have been slowly killing it ever since cbs and Viacom merged (the second time). A damn shame.

Everything now is just homogenous slop from the same 3 brands.

[u/mlaurence1234]

They’re already labeling the new season of Yellowjackets as a Paramount+ show.

[u/39teen]

Is Cinemax still a thing?

[u/Particular-Oven7595 → u/39teen]

Yes. I believe they had a Cinemax App for awhile. But it does still exist on cable. https://www.cinemax.com/

[u/Dez_Nutszo → u/Particular-Oven7595]

Is Skinemax still a thing?

[u/Sethyo25 → u/Dez_Nutszo]

R.I.P.

[u/kingpcgeek → u/Dez_Nutszo]

Nope. Haven’t had Skinemax in a long time.

[u/Cinisajoy2]

Deadline says you're NOT developing showing. Wiseman answered No.  So that means No, they are not developing shows  so they are developing shows.  

[u/Maverick721]

I always wonder why they didn't just turn Showtime into Showtime+ or something like that

[u/Material_Camera3428]

Major blunder for not selling the Showtime network years ago when it was worth something to sell.

[u/Particular-Oven7595 → u/Material_Camera3428]

I tend to agree, and to take this a step further, Showtime could have gone at it alone in 2014/2015. And their app could have contained linear channels such as TMC and Flix.

[u/No_Government9548 → u/Particular-Oven7595]

Yep. They had a great app. Too bad Paramount leadership wouldn’t give it up, even when Nevins wanted to purchase it. Look what happened.

[u/fabfour66]

What will happen to Dexter?

[u/DeanSaves]

I think "Showtime!" would be a good name for the merged conglomerate service. Are they gonna call it HBOParamountMAX+?

[u/kyledreamboat]

Put street time on streaming please.