More television choice as network expands to 50 channels

The new channels - Paramount +2, TV Land +2, The Movie Channel +1 and Discovery +1 - mean that the network now offers 50 premium channels of television entertainment for all the family.

Additionally, Showtime has announced that programming on the popular factual documentary channel Discovery Civilisation and children's entertainment network Nickelodeon have also been boosted to 24 hours a day. Previously each channel aired for 12 hours a day.

Peter Einstein, Showtime president and chief executive, explained: "We have taken four of the most popular channels on the network and time-shifted them by either one or two hours later than the original channel.

"This means that viewers have even greater choice and a greater opportunity to see the array of programming available across the network, and now have the opportunity to choose between two different prime time viewing periods.

"Showtime offers the widest choice of convenient broadcast times. A key benefit is that viewers will no longer have to make a choice between watching their favourite programmes broadcasting at the same time. Viewers should never have to miss their favourite shows when there is a scheduling clash with other channels."

With the Showtime network broadcasting across four time zones to the Middle East and North Africa, the development also provides viewers with appropriate local prime time viewing for each country in the region and, with 50 entertainment options to choose from, viewers always have the widest possible choice of programming.

The addition of the four new channels, and the extension to the broadcast times of Discovery Civilisation and Nickelodeon, are milestones for Showtime which now offers 50 channels of premium entertainment.

Mr Einstein commented: "Yet again Showtime has set the benchmark for added value entertainment options in the Middle East. These latest channels closely follow the launch of Al Shasha, the Showtime premium Arabic movie service. Subscribers can expect more exciting developments in the near future."

The four new channels are 'time-shifts' of plus two hours for Paramount and TV Land, and plus one hour for The Movie Channel and Discovery. They are free to subscribers who currently watch the non-time-shifted channels in their existing packages. Subscribers will need to retune their decoders to receive the new channels.

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