Showtime Scandinavia (generally referred to simply as ''Showtime'') was a television channel broadcasting action movies to the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

operated by

NonStop Television NonStop Television was a Scandinavian television company, part of Turner Broadcasting System, packaging and distributing a number of specialty channels, mostly to the Scandinavian region. The company is a part of Millennium Media Group. The fir ...

. Its name and logo was licensed by Showtime Networks Inc., owners of the American Showtime. The two channels however do not share any programme content. Showtime Scandinavia was closed on 15 July 2015. In September 2022, Showtime reentered the Scandinavian market with the introduction of SkyShowtime.

History

NonStop Television received a license for a channel with the working title ''NonStop Film'' in January 2004 when the government awarded new licenses for the terrestrial network (DTT). The channel was put into the new fifth multiplex that covered 50 percent of the country. The channel was named ''Showtime'' and started broadcasting at 18:00 hrs. (CET) on 30 September 2004. It was then available from

Boxer TV Access Boxer TV Access is a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB providing pay television channels on the digital terrestrial television network in Sweden. Modeled on the British ITV Digital, it was founded in October 1999. Some channels on the Swedish DTT ...

(DTT in Sweden), Canal Digital satellite throughout the Nordic countries and cable services. In 2005, the channel became available in the basic analogue package for the Canal Digital cable viewers in Norway. In February 2006, the Swedish government took back Showtime's terrestrial license. NonStop Television were however awarded a new license for a channel called ''Nonstop Filmfestival'' (working title). The channel was named

Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

and replaces Showtime in May 2006.

Content

The programming consists almost entirely of action movies (and programmes about movies) dating from the 1970s to more recent days. Movies are delivered by several distributors, such as Buena Vista International Television, Fox,

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

and Universal. Subtitling is available in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish.

Availability

According to NonStop, the channel is available to approximately 1 million households as of February 2006. Via satellite, the channel is distributed through Canal Digital. As of 2006, the channel is added as a bonus when buying both the Canal+ and Family package. The channel isn't (as of 2006) available through Viasat. Showtime is available through many cable distributors, including Canal Digital,

Com Hem Com Hem was a Swedish brand owned by Tele2 AB which supplied Triple Play services that included cable television, broadband internet and fixed-line telephone. Founded in 1983 as Televerket Kabel-TV as part of the former state-owned Telever ...

(Sweden), HTV (Finland), TDC (Denmark) and UPC (Sweden and Norway). Since December 2009 the same

has started also
"Showtime Baltics"
channel in Estonia, which in 2010 should start to operate in Latvia and Lithuania as well.

References

{{Authority control Pan-Nordic television channels Defunct television channels in Sweden Defunct television channels in Norway Defunct television channels in Denmark Defunct television channels in Finland Television channels and stations established in 2004 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2015