Showtime’s stand-alone, over-the-top streaming service will launch in the U.S. Roku Channel Store in July, with no traditional TV service required to subscribe. The launch will come just in time for the Season 3 premieres of both Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex on July 12th, as well as offer unlimited access to Showtime original series, movies, documentaries, and sports events. Live streaming of both the East Coast and West Coast feeds of Showtime will also be accessible with the internet-based service.
News of the Roku launch follows an announcement earlier this month that the Showtime streaming service will be available on Apple TV, and both platforms will offer Showtime for the same price of $10.99 per month ($4 less than HBO’s over-the-top streaming service). If you want to try without buying, Showtime will offer a 30-day trial of the service through both Roku and Apple (although expect to enter a credit card account during set up).
We should mention, however, that those who already subscribe to Showtime through a participating service provider can already access Showtime content through the Showtime Anytime channel app for Roku players and the Roku TV (it just needs to be authenticated first).
We haven’t heard an official name or brand for the Showtime streaming service yet (HBO’s service is called “HBO Now”), but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
