James Delahunty
7 Feb 2006 14:22
Showtime, CBS's premium movie channel has added three of its TV shows to the 50 existing shows available via Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes service. They will sell for $1.99 each and new episodes will be available one day after they are shown on TV. Company executives made the move in attempt to drag in more viewers. Showtime will make the first seasons of Weeds, Sleeper Cell and Fat Actress available via iTunes. It is believed that it will bring in more subscribers to the channel.
"iTunes allows fans of these hit Showtime programs to purchase and watch them in an innovative way," Showtime chairman Matthew Blank said. "It is also a tremendous opportunity for non-subscribers to sample Showtime's programming." Indeed, some shows that already exist in the iTunes store line-up have enjoyed higher ratings, and the 12 million videos Apple has sold so far proves there is significant demand for content.
While Showtime is actually owned by CBS, no agreement between the network and Apple to offer content via iTunes has been announced yet, despite President Larry Kramer admitting CBS was in talks with Apple.
Source:
Betanews