What Showtime Has Learned From Its Streaming Service
Our Take:
Showtime’s Internet streaming service has been live for two months, and the network has learned a few things about its subscribers, an article from AdWeek reports. For one, subs are watching the live feed more than the network anticipated. Second, documentaries are getting a lot of play. Showtime chairman and CEO Matt Blank attributes this interest to the product’s customer interface, which, instead of presenting titles in a promotional way, encourages viewers to browse titles and discovery them on their own. Showtime president David Nevins called studying viewers habits in this way “fascinating,” given that for the first time there is no middle man between the network and subscribers; Showtime is able to look at the viewing data and learn from it. That said, Nevins admits that the majority of Showtime viewers are still watching the networks through MVPDs–whether live or on a delayed basis.
Two months after its launch, Showtime’s streaming-only subscriber service has been eye-opening for the network. Since the service, which is also called Showtime, went live on July 7-exactly three months after HBO debuted its own standalone streaming platform, HBO Now -Showtime Networks President David Nevins has been receiving detailed, data-fueled reports about its growth and usage each day.
