Why Showtime Was Happy to Send Halo to Paramount+

Early in 2021, ViacomCBS announced that Halo, a long-in-the-works adaptation of the wildly popular video game franchise that was being developed by Showtime, would migrate over to the company’s newest streaming service Paramount+ when it was ready to air. As the series readies to debut in early 2022, Showtime says there are no hard feelings. During the Television Critics Association’s annual summer press tour, held virtually this year due to Covid-19, Showtime’s presidents of entertainment said the science fiction series was always an odd addition to the premium cable brand’s slate of programming. “The truth is that it was always a bit of an outlier for us in terms of its fit for the Showtime universe,” Jana Winograde, Showtime president of entertainment, told reporters Tuesday. “We did an amazing job of imbuing into the series the character drama that we’re so well-known for, but at the end of the day it is a big, broad, big-tent show. When Paramount+ came into being, it really was a natural fit there.” To account for the shift, Showtime snatched up a Paramount+ title that executives thought might perform well in a premium environment like Showtime. The eventual result was Showtime’s pick-up of The Man Who Fell to Earth, a series adaptation of the book and David Bowie-led 1976 film of the same name that will follow a new alien character played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Netflix Doubles Down on International Content as US Viewers Embrace It That swap doesn’t mean either service is looking to make programming trades a part of their development process. “At the end of the day, we are going to be developing content for Showtime and Paramount+,” Winograde said. Gary Levine, Showtime Networks president of entertainment, stressed that the arrangement was a “one-time” thing. “These are two distinctly different services with two very different missions, and we will stay true to our brand,” Levine said. “We have high hopes for Paramount+ to define itself.” The programming switch won’t leave a gap in Showtime’s ambitious programming plans for the fall. Showtime’s original programming output will increase by 26% compared to a year ago and 29% compared to 2019’s original programming line-up, Winograde said, and Showtime’s latest quarter was its third consecutive quarter of record-breaking OTT sign-ups and “extraordinary levels” of hours watched on the service. As Showtime parent company ViacomCBS is keen on giving Showtime a budget to keep investing in big programming swings, the company is leaning in on its biggest hits. Showtime is bringing back The Chi, whose last season averaged 4.2 million viewers and has more streaming viewers than any show in Showtime history. Also coming back is a second installment of Your Honor, the gripping limited series starring Bryan Cranston, which has been renewed for a second season, the company announced today. While the series was initially billed as a limited series, Cranston and showrunner, EP and writer Peter Moffat were interested in continuing the series after coming up with a way to continue the story. “They still haven't told it to me, I'm completely in the dark and I'm very nervous about it,” Levine admitted. “But Brian was thrilled with what Peter pitched, and Brian said, let's put the band back together and do it again.” Showtime is also doubling down on unscripted series, which the network first bulked up on to keep the content pipeline strong during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Documentaries UFO’s premiere episode in August delivered the biggest debut week ever for Showtime series. “Given how well it worked for us, we'll continue to showcase unscripted series on Sunday,” Winograde said. More series are coming, including the rural crime series American Rust and Dexter: New Blood, the ten-part special event that aims to finish the story of the long-running serial-killer mystery series. Billions is also returning beginning on Sept. 5, with its sixth season returning in January, with more shows coming in 2022, including the Vanessa Bayer-led comedy I Love This For You and the Nathan Fielder and Safdie Brother project The Curse. “In my 20 years at Showtime, we've never come close to taking this many swings and bold new series in such a concentrated period of time,” Levine said. “With our talented Showtime execs working with these extraordinary filmmakers, I could not be more bullish about what lies ahead for our network.” 2022 will be even bigger, and in fact, executives are wading through a wealth of scripts and new project ideas that they hope will fuel their future growth. “The thing that continued unabated during the pandemic was writing,” Levine said. “Writers could write, we had virtual writers’ rooms, and our showrunners and writers did incredible work, virtually. We had more scripts on more productions, and we were more prepared for production than we've ever been in history of the network as a result of the pandemic.”

Streaming & OTT

Here's Why Showtime Was Happy to Send Halo to Paramount+

But the premium cable and OTT brand say it was a one-off trade

Kelsey Sutton

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Kelsey Sutton