Former Showtime architect and Paramount TV chief David Nevins will join media mogul Peter Chernin’s  The North Road Company as CEO, nine months after he announced his departure from Paramount.

Nevins will oversee North Road’s assets, including scripted film and TV studio Chernin Entertainment, unscripted house Kinetic Content, nonfiction studio Words + Pictures, and a London-based international division.

Chernin will continue to serve as executive chairman.

The North Road launched in July 2022 with a combined $800 million in financing and had an ambitious first-year business plan, purchasing the production assets of Red Arrow Studios (including shows like Love Island) and Karga Seven Pictures, as well as stake in Peyton Manning’s sports firm Omaha Productions.

In January, the company received $150 million in funding from Qatar Investment Authority, adding to the $500 million secured from Providence Equity Partners and $300 million in debt financing from Apollo.

Nevins’ arrival at North Road comes as major media companies are tightening margins after years of heavy investment into creating competitive streaming services and stocking them with content. However, these conglomerates must continue to produce content to maintain relevance and to have something to release in movie theaters that are now recovering from pandemic closures.

North Road is just one of the many entertainment companies looking to supply studios with content, but may have an advantage with Nevins at its head.

“I first reached out to David the day he resigned from Paramount because I’ve always admired David,” Chernin said in an interview with Variety. “The most important thing to us in building a company was putting together a group of the highest quality assets in the industry, capable of producing the highest quality content.” 

“There’s going to be an opportunity for well-funded private companies to be important suppliers and be really strong partners,” said Nevins in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “The big platforms need the product, and they need people who know how to deliver the product.”

Nevins served as the chief of Paramount Premium Group and Paramount Plus scripted series, and also oversaw BET and Paramount Television Studios. He expanded that role significantly while at Paramount Global, landing 244 primetime Emmy nominations for the network and producing series like Yellowjackets, Shameless, Twin Peaks and other shows. 

Nevins even offered to buy Showtime, but was reportedly turned down.

Prior to his work at Showtime, Nevins was president of Imagine Television, producing shows including Arrested Development, and Friday Night Lights. He also led CBS Entertainment before the consolidation of Viacom and CBS.

David Nevins apparently tried to pull a Victor Kiam with Showtime, but Paramount turned him down. 

Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the longtime Showtime chief executive, working with private equity firm General Atlantic, offered to buy the venerable premium channel for $3 billion. 

Paramount, however, demurred, choosing instead in a move announced earlier this month to demote the Showtime brand to within the Paramount Plus ecosystem. 

WSJ also reported that Paramount rejected another offer from Lions Gate to merge Showtime with premium-channel rival Starz. 

And that's still not all -- Paramount is also said to have rejected a $6 billion bid for Showtime from former company executive Mark Greenberg and private equity. 

Nevins, who ran Showtime from 2016 through last year, saw his role at Paramount significantly expand following the re-merger of Viacom and CBS Corp. that created the current "Paramount Global" constellation as we know it. 

He abruptly announced his departure in October, saying in a staff memo, “Quite simply, over the past several months I’ve come to the conclusion that I am ready for the next phase of my life and my career. The industry is transforming rapidly, and I am genuinely excited about what the future holds." 

Paramount hasn't officially commented. 

David Nevins, the longtime Showtime chief executive whose position expanded significantly with the merger of CBS and Viacom three years ago into Paramount Global, is leaving the company. 

“Quite simply, over the past several months I’ve come to the conclusion that I am ready for the next phase of my life and my career. The industry is transforming rapidly, and I am genuinely excited about what the future holds,” Nevins said in a memo to staff Thursday fed to the showbiz trades. 

Nevins, who had led Showtime since 2010, added the title of chief content officer of scripted originals for Paramount Plus after the merger. 

While Nevins is widely respected in the TV programming business and is a trusted lieutenant to Paramount CEO Bob Bakish, Nevins was reportedly frustrated with Bakish's somewhat confusing committee-like power structure. 

In his own memo, Bakish outlined a new power structure:

➤ Chris McCarthy will take over at Showtime, adding the pay cable channel to a purview that already includes Paramount Network, Comedy Central and MTV. 

➤ CBS president and CEO George Cheeks will add Paramount TV Studios and BET to his oversight.

➤ Tom Ryan will take over Showtime’s streaming business. 

Notably, Showtime’s programming was added to Paramount Plus in August. Speculation is increasing that Showtime will ultimately fold into the bigger SVOD service. 

“David has made sure that Showtime remains central to our differentiated, global, multiplatform strategy, all while supporting our incredible teams at BET and Paramount Television Studios as head of the Premium Group,” Bakish wrote. “He’s helped grow Paramount Plus, our flagship streaming service, too, investing in scripted originals like Halo — which has attracted subscribers and driven audience engagement around the world.” ▪️

Showtime has promoted executives Gary Levine and Jana Winograde as co-presidents of entertainment for the premium service, the network announced Wednesday.

The appointments come three months after Showtime CEO David Nevins was named CBS Corporation chief creative officer and Showtime chairman.

Levine, who joined Showtime in 2001 as head of original programming, and Winograde -- who joined Showtime in 2017 as president of business operations West Coast -- will be responsible for developing and supervising all aspects of Showtime programming across all genres as well as work closely on all programming-related matters with the network's marking, creative, digital media, acquisitions and entertainment communications departments.

“Gary and Jana are peerless in their roles ... both command great respect from their colleagues inside and outside the company, and they have been key in driving our growth,” said Nevins in a statement. “As we invest more deeply in creating world class content for our audiences, this new structure positions us strongly for the future of our business.”

In addition, Showtime promoted Amy Israel to executive vice president of scripted programming, and Vinnie Malhorta to executive vice president of nonfiction programming, reporting to Levine and Winograde. 

"Amy and Vinnie have both been major forces behind the exceptional scripted and nonfiction programming that have shaped what Showtime is today,” Nevins said. “Each has tremendous instincts for the creators and stories that define cutting-edge television, and the proven ability to bring them to fruition. It is exciting for me to see them take on greater roles at the network.”

Showtime Networks said it has named Adam Townsend EVP and chief financial officer, taking the spot vacated by Christina Spade, who was earlier named EVP and CFO of parent CBS Corp.

In his new role Townsend will be responsible for all financial matters relating to Showtime Networks’ businesses, including oversight of finance, strategy and information systems for the network’s divisions, including budgeting, planning, forecasting and accounting of all the business segments within SNI. Townsend will also serve as one of SNI’s primary liaisons to CBS.

“As the media landscape continues to evolve, we are very fortunate to have a strategic and results-driven executive like Adam join our senior management team,” said Showtime Networks chairman and CEO David Nevins in a statement. “With his extensive financial experience and deep knowledge and understanding of our industry – not to mention his impressive leadership and collaborative nature that I have come to know over the years – I am confident he will excel as our CFO and be an incredible asset to the future of our company.”

Townsend joined CBS in July 2008 as EVP, Investor Relations and was responsible for overseeing the Company’s daily outreach to the investment community and analyzing its competitive positioning. Townsend also created and led the company’s investor communication strategy for the IPO of its Outdoor business and the recent split-off of CBS Radio through a transaction with Entercom. In January 2016, he was promoted to EVP, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations at CBS, which expanded his responsibilities to include oversight of the company’s Treasury functions. He also served as a member of the Investment Committee for CBS Defined Contribution Plans.

Before joining CBS, Townsend served as Managing Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy for the E*TRADE Financial Corporation. He also served as a Vice President in Equity Research at Hambrecht & Quist and JP Morgan from 1999-2002 in the firm’s Financial Institutions Group. Prior to JP Morgan, Townsend held various positions at Franklin Templeton Investments in the areas of equity research, marketing research and broker service operations.

Showtime has acquired the rights to adapt the novel The President is Missing, by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson, into a series.

The book is set to publish in June 2018. It tells the story of a U.S. president’s disappearance, with what Showtime said offers the level of detail that only someone who has held the office can know.

“Bringing The President is Missing to Showtime is a coup of the highest order,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks. “The pairing of President Clinton with fiction’s most gripping storyteller promises a kinetic experience, one that the book world has salivated over for months and that now will dovetail perfectly into a politically relevant, character-based action series for our network.”

Showtime describes the book as “a gripping tale of power and betrayal, with a unique perspective on the pressures and stakes faced by a sitting president.”

The 42nd president of the United States, Clinton has written bestselling non-fiction books including My Life, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy, Between Hope and History, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World, and Putting People First: How We Can All Change America.

The President is Missing is Clinton's first novel.

“I'm really enjoying writing this book and working with Jim,” President Clinton said. “And I can’t wait to see Showtime bring the characters to life.”

Patterson has sold more than 380 million books worldwide, including When the Wind Blows, Women’s Murder Club, and the Michael Bennett and NYPD Red series. Among his books adapted for the screen are Zoo, Women’s Murder Club, Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls.

“The White House is such an exciting world to explore and is made even more so with the unique insights of a former President,” said Patterson. “Rich storytelling opportunities for this series abound.”

Showtime is a subsidiary of CBS Corp. CBS chair and CEO Leslie Moonves, who has a relationship with President Clinton, was a key player in getting the deal done.

Melinda Benedek, executive VP, business affairs and production at Showtime, will retire after 22 years with the company.

Benedek, who is responsible for negotiating and managing the business and legal aspects of the development and physical production of all Showtime original productions and licensed original programming, will remain at Showtime through the end of the year.  

“Melinda has touched so much of what we do at Showtime for so long, it’s difficult to imagine our team without her,” said David Nevins, president and CEO, Showtime Networks, to whom she reports. “I have long valued her sharp mind, her integrity and her cool under pressure.”

Prior to joining Showtime in 1995, Benedek spent four years as head of business affairs of the feature film division of Twentieth Century Fox. Before that, she was executive VP of Imagine Entertainment, which she had joined at its inception, under the leadership of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

“I have loved being a part of Showtime’s evolution and growth over the last 22 years," Benedek said.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

PASADENA, Calif. — The Television Critics Association press tour serves as a forum to discuss the best and brightest content on traditional television, but inevitably network executives also addressed the challenge of expanding distribution models as the industry continues to evolve.

With traditional cable networks expanding content distribution into TV Everywhere and stand-alone SVOD services as traditional cable bundles quickly shrink into smaller, “skinny” packages, executives speaking at the TCA Winter Tour (the cable portion kicked off late last week) said creating and distributing content poses greater challenges than in years past.

Get Complete Coverage of the 2017 TCA Winter Press Tour

Showtime Networks president and CEO David Nevins said that the success of its original programming has helped the network cut a swath through several distribution platforms, including the 2016 launch of the Showtime over-the-top service.

“The explosion of television choice has been, without a doubt, a great thing for Showtime,” Nevins said. “With our subscription model, our ever-increasing streaming audience and our strength of schedule, we are uniquely positioned to take advantage of all the trends that are buffeting the media business right now.”

Related: Everything Is 'Magical' for Showtime's 'Twin Peaks'

FX Networks president and CEO John Landgraf said new digital competitors would add to an already crowded marketplace. Apple Music’s proposed content push is another potential entry that could continue to add to last year’s record 454 scripted series offered on broadcast, cable and streaming outlets, per Landgraf, who expects the number of scripted series to peak this year or next.

“There’s extraordinary amounts of resources and capital in the Silicon Valley, and they’re beginning to flow through Netflix and Amazon and now others into the programming business, and that is creating an acceleration at the moment of this increase in programming,” Landgraf said. “You know, we welcome them as competitors.”

Related: FX Signs Donald Glover to Deal With FX Productions

Overall, executives say quality content is more valued than ever, and viewers are the ultimate winners in today’s programming feeding frenzy.

“There’s a lot of good that comes from the fragmentation, and, you know, we see new and diverse voices and young, talented people who would never have gotten an opportunity; they’re getting opportunities,” Landgraf said. “And great television is coming from that.”

Get complete coverage of the 2017 Winter Press Tour.

Pasadena, Calif. -- David Lynch made a surprise appearance at Showtime’s TCA press day, speaking about his remake of Twin Peaks, which comes out May 21. True to character, Lynch did not elaborate much, but did shed a hint of light about the considerable anticipation awaiting the series.

“This word 'expect' is a magical word,” he said. “People expect things and their expectations are met, hopefully, when they see the thing.”

Lynch and Mark Frost are behind the project, which will consist of 18 total episodes. Lynch said it was Frost who catalyzed the reboot.

Lynch seemed to take delight in terse answers that kept his interlocutors guessing. His cast members sung the cryptic director’s praises.“Every day is magical, hilarious," sSaid actress Laura Dern. "You’re seeing something you’ve never seen before. It’s the most freeing, wild, wonderful family ride you could ask for in your life.”

The Twin Peaks reboot will debut on May 21 with a two-hour episode, David Nevins, president and CEO of Showtime Networks, announced at the TCA session.

Nevins also said a season four of drama The Affair is in the works and set an April 19 premiere date for John Ridley’s limited series Guerrilla, starring Idris Elba.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

With Anthony Weiner in the headlines again following new sexting allegations, Showtime viewers can get a larger dose of the former U.S. congressman when the documentary Weiner debuts Oct. 22.

Showtime describes Weiner as “an unrestricted look into the life of former congressman Anthony Weiner, his family and his campaign team.”

Huma Abedin, a key aide to presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, announced her separation from Weiner Aug. 29, following reports that he had again been exchanging sexually charged text messages with a woman.

Speaking at the TCA Summer Press Tour earlier this month, David Nevins, Showtime Networks president and CEO, spoke about the film’s “unfettered access” to Weiner during his ill-fated comeback bid to be New York City mayor in 2013.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Related: Rocking Steady at Showtime | ‘Roadies’ Strikes a Romantic Chord: A Q&A With EP Winnie Holzman

Few executives in the television industry have the experience in the business — or a wit as dry — as Showtime Networks chairman Matt Blank.

Nearly a year after he tapped David Nevins to succeed him as CEO, Blank is settling into the role of chairman just fine. “I barely come to the office anymore,” he said with a straight face on a recent visit, to the guffaws of his public relations chief and two reporters. “My friends ask, ‘How do you know it’s Saturday?’”

At Showtime now for nearly three decades (since 1988) — and at HBO for 12 years before that — Blank is a fixture not only at the company he’s built, but in the industry where he grew up. With a producer’s gut instincts and a comedian’s timing, the affable Blank has earned distinction as a bona fide cable- TV pioneer with a long list of accolades. He remains active on a bevy of boards, from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association to the Manhattan Theatre Club.

When Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt left in 2010 to join NBC, “not only was I looking for a good content person, I was looking for someone who might be a successor,” Blank said. “I looked at David’s shows [Arrested Development and Friday Night Lights among them] and thought, ‘These shows could have been Showtime shows.’” Nevins quickly impressed Blank by shepherding a string of hits, including Homeland, Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex, Penny Dreadful and The Affair.

Nevins had “the experience, the business acumen and the desire … and, over the years, it became clear to me he’s the guy,” Blank said. “He’s been on a fast track.” The two men have become inseparably close, speaking at least twice a day on matters large and small. Says Blank, “He’s family.”

Blank has a theory on the current chaos brought on by new over-the-top players, generational viewing trends and cord-cutting. Over the past several decades, “there was a disequilibrium in the industry,” Blank said, with the “haves” being powerful content giants and distributors, and the “have-nots” being smaller independent producers, networks and programmers. The cable industry was, in effect, a closed system.

“Now, we’re moving into a period of much greater equilibrium,” Blank said. “And David’s content will have a chance to very much stand on its own.”

Blank is still deeply involved with programming decisions and, looking back, he’s most proud of Showtime’s brand and its cast of original deeply flawed but likeable characters — and how they resonate with good long runs. (Dexter and Weeds each ran eight seasons, and Homeland will run at least eight; Nurse Jackie ran seven and Shameless has been renewed for a seventh go-round). The network is now branching out with comedy (I’m Dying Up Here) and with music. Blank is like a proud papa describing Roadies: “It’s a different show for us. It’s not smack you in the face like Ray Donovan. But there is a soul to it.”

He seems hardly concerned at the mention of Netflix, Amazon and other OTT players spending heavily to find the next hit. Showtime is better prepared against all competitors because its monthly subscription business, he said, “travels very well” even direct to consumer.

“OK, so now we’ve got 100 OTT players? Well I grew up in a world where it was just HBO. Then HBO and Turner. Then Showtime,” he said. “It may be easier to have a [platform] now, but it doesn’t make it any easier to be a success.”

A year ago almost to the day, Showtime Networks chairman Matthew Blank announced he would be passing the CEO reins to network president David Nevins. Blank had hired Nevins — then the president of Imagine Television, responsible for such hits as Fox’s 24 and NBC’s Parenthood — in 2010 to oversee development of original programming for the premium service and to succeed him this past January, when he stepped down from the CEO role after more than 20 years.

Related:Chairman Likes Showtime’s Standing Amid TV’s Chaos: A Q&A With Matt Blank

By then, Nevins had already built a stable of successful, long-running original series, including the Emmy-winning Homeland and The Affair, Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex. As CEO, Nevins would be steering into a new digital age full of opportunities and potential pitfalls as the industry at large sorts out a new landscape that includes new over-the-top competition from Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. On the cable homefront, Showtime must also to contend with Emmy darling HBO and rising player Starz for premium TV supremacy.

Nearly six months into Nevins’s term as CEO, Showtime is firing on all cylinders. The Jan. 17 debut of Billions drew its biggest audience ever for a freshman original series. The Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti-starrer, about an ego-driven billionaire and the ambitious U.S. attorney looking to take him down, finished its freshman run as the network’s most-watched series behind Homeland.

Nevins is high on the music-themed Roadies, debuting June 26, which chronicles the lives of stagehands who build and take down concert sets for rock ‘n’ roll bands. Showtime can also look forward to the much-anticipated 2017 return of director David Lynch’s drama series Twin Peaks.

Nevins is also spearheading Showtime’s continued push into digital, overseeing the rollout of the Showtime OTT service, available on Apple TV, Roku, Hulu, Amazon and other digital distribution platforms. Still, Showtime is building its success in a perilous TV marketplace where a lackluster performance from a high-profile series or a big breakout hit from a competitor could hit the network hard.

Nevins has his hands full guiding the fortunes of the premium programmer but took some time to discuss his strategy for Showtime’s future growth with Multichannel News, B&C and Next TV editorial director Mark Robichaux and MCN programming editor R. Thomas Umstead.

MCN:There’s been a lot of movement in the C-suite at Showtime lately. Is this a changing of the guard?

David Nevins: Matt hasn’t gone anywhere and is not going anywhere anytime soon, but sort of more and more of the daily decisions and budgeting and how we sort of organize ourselves is going through me. It’s been an orderly transition that’s been going on with Matt’s full support and kind of design, you know, going back probably three years.

I think it’s really working well and it’s a good moment for us. A lot of the trends in the business are favoring us right now.

MCN:How is your new OTT product doing?

DN: We’re about 10 months in. You can buy us on top of your Hulu subscription or through Apple or Roku and shortly thereafter Android, Google, and Amazon added us in a similar way as Hulu, and it’s been really working.

Our base business is, I think, as high as it’s ever been through our more traditional satellite/telco/cable distributors. So, there’s been no real cannibalization; we’re at an all time high in that business. And the more direct, sort of OTT business has really worked. It’s now becoming a pretty meaningful contributor to our revenue and it’s growing fast.

MCN:As the transition continues to more digital content, do you see that business rising and this linear side falling, or do you see incremental increases without losing linear?

DN: I don’t know what’s going to happen over time. I’m hoping for growth on both sides of the ledger. Thus far, we’ve seen growth on both sides of the ledger and we’re budgeting growth on both sides of the ledger for next year.

MCN:Do you think it’s a zero-sum game? Do you think there’s a limit, a ceiling, on the growth of over-the-top products and skinny bundles?

DN: There’s a de-bundling and then there’s going to be a re-bundling. And probably when there’s re-bundling, it will be good for us. We’ve taken a very agnostic position. Our attitude is we want to be sold in as many places as possible by as many sellers as possible.

MCN:How does that affect your relationship with the guys that brought you to the dance, the cable guys?

DN: I think they understand it. We’re not going to undercut them. We don’t want to undercut them. And there was cable and then satellite showed up and did good things for our business, and was a little competition to the cable guys. And then the telcos got into the business, and I think they understand that’s how the world works. So it’s kind of baked in.

MCN:Are you surprised by all the OTT competition?

DN: I come in as a programmer and as a producer, but with real interest in this sort of marketing and development of the business. It was clear to me five or six years ago, when I was a year into this job, that this is where it was going, because Netflix was already making the shift from DVDs to internet-delivered service.

And, you know, partly because I’m an outsider, it was just like a blinding glimpse of the obvious that delivering over the Internet was where it was eventually going to be, and we had to be ready for it and do it in a way that creates a good user experience. And we began building for it a while ago, so we’re doing all our programming, computer programming and service delivery, we’re doing it all in-house. And we’re going to have to start building all the core capabilities of customer service and customer attention that cable companies have spent a lot of time doing. That’s going to be competence that we’re going to have to develop.

MCN:Netflix is spending a pile of money — do you need to spend as much to compete?

DN: No. Still, we’re in expansion mode. So we probably have 11 sort of A-level scripted shows this year. It will be 12 next year, maybe even 13 next year, depending on how the year goes. So we’re definitely building up.

MCN:As opposed to what? What would be a typical year?

DN: Six years ago, it was maybe four. So we have definitely built up over the course of time. We have strength throughout the year, so that we’re able to roll from Homeland and The Affair into Shameless and Billions, into Penny Dreadful, into Ray Donovan and Roadies. They’re going to come this summer.

You know, probably in the old business, it was more important to have one giant show that forces the cable operators — like you can’t possibly drop [HBO], because how can you not have Game of Thrones? In the new business, where it’s easy to sign up and easy to cancel, it’s probably more important to have consistency across the schedule.

So we’re putting on two to three new shows a year. This year it’s Billions and Roadies. And next year it’ll be I’m Dying Up Here and Twin Peaks and some things that we haven’t announced yet in the back half of the year.

MCN:Is that sustainable? Do you want to keep that number roughly the same in coming years?

DN: I think it’s sustainable and I think it’s expandable. But we are expected to deliver earnings for our shareholders, so I’m not going to suddenly start spending 100% of our revenue. But the trick is to make your shots count when they come. And Billions counted.

And Billions was noticed. I always knew that certain power circles would love the show, but the question was, would it expand beyond that? And it really did. I mean Billions was our biggest freshman show ever. It was bigger than Ray Donovan and bigger than Homeland. And Roadies is going to count.

MCN:How do you know today thatRoadiesis going to be big?

DN: You don’t know what’s going to be a hit. I’ve never been great at predicting hits. But I know [if something has] enough cultural resonance and enough entertainment value that it’s going to get traction. It’s going to get noticed. Whether it’s going to hit or be medium, you never know. But if you’re doing something that feels original that is differentiated enough in the marketplace, that’s got enough sticky elements, whether it’s concept or actors or filmmakers behind the scenes who people want to watch, you know that you’re going to get noticed.

MCN:At what moment did you say, “Wow, this is going to connect?” Was it a song? Was it a line that was read by an actor?

DN: For me, the real moment is the script. So when I read a script and I have a certain feeling about it — I mean there’s always a leap of faith that you take. But the moment when I either emotionally connect or emotionally disconnect is reading the script. And then it becomes about trying to fulfill that vision or that’s great about the script.

MCN:Are you more like a third base coach, given your background with the showrunners?

DN: Yes. I love it. You know, you get to work with the smartest, most creative people, and ultimately, it’s their vision and I’m the third base coach; I’m not playing. But I invest in the people who I believe in and you get to make that decision. So it’s third base coach, it’s general manager, to use your baseball analogy, you get to choose who goes on the field and then try to get them to perform at their highest.

MCN:Showtime was once a network of flawed characters:Dexter,Nurse Jackie. What is it today?

DN: I think we really pride ourselves now on a diversity of shows and we try really hard not to copy ourselves. We want each show to carve out its own territory among the shows on our air and among the competition. So [if] there’s a Mafia show, it better be really differentiated from The Sopranos. Let me just say I try hard to stay away from things that are on our air and other people’s air.

But to answer your question, I think our shows have pretty deep characters, rich characters that have depths and layers to them, have kind of a deeper psychology. We’re definitely programming for adults. Now, I think we’re going to get gradually younger. You’ll see us do some things and the next couple years that are maybe slightly younger than the stuff you see on the walls now, but not dramatically so. [We] want to be forward leaning and not sort of going backwards. A lot of television is trying to do what has already had success somewhere else, and we’re trying really hard to lead the pack.

MCN:When Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lionsgate left Showtime in 2009 to form EPIX, there was a question as to whether Showtime would be able to make up for the loss of their films. Does the movie business still play a major part in your overall strategy?

DN: Well, I’d say it’s not top of the list. We know that the most important thing in terms of every buying decision that the customer makes, whether it’s to buy or to keep you, or their general perception of our brand, is based on original series. As you know, movies are seen in so many different places in so many different ways, they become more and more commoditized. That said, we’re building up, you know, we’ve added [studios] Open Road, we’ve added STX, which it looks like they’re going to be a big factor and they’ve been a big factor in the last year and a half. And they’re starting to make more adult dramas, adult comedies, thrillers.

MCN:Are you leaning to make more comedies or more dramas?

DN: More comedies, more dramas, documentaries, sports. We made a pretty big push into both sports and documentaries in the last couple years and it’s starting to pay off.

I mean, we’re very well situated right now in the boxing world with [Deontay Wilder] and Anthony Joshua. So there’s a lot of hope for renewed interest in the heavyweight division and we seem to be well-positioned there … and the documentary area is increasingly important. It’s interesting how it drives audiences more and more. And The Circus has really had impact for us.

MCN:The timing was great forThe Circus.

DN: The ongoing election — yeah, that was kind of a big risk. You have no idea what you’re going to get. You have no idea whether the campaigns are going to give you any access. And you know, you’ve got to plunk down $10 million before and just hope something good comes out of it. And it really worked.

MCN:And what gave you the cajones to put down the $10 million?

DN: I feel like it’s a kind of documentary that we’ve been working on. I’ve wanted to use this sort of All Access model of very rapid filmmaking that we did for All Access or Inside the NFL or the college football show [A Season With] … for something other than sports.

Just the ability to edit things so rapidly to be able to shoot things on a Friday, have them immediately ingested into an editing machine and be able to spit it back out and put it on the air on Sunday — that would not have been so easy five years ago. When Bernie Sanders hosted Saturday Night Live, that’s Saturday night at midnight, Sunday morning. We were on the air … 14 hours later.

MCN:What other shows do you have high hopes for?

DN:I’m Dying Up Here is based on a book of the same name about the early days of standup in L.A., and it’s a comedy and it’s a drama. It’s Jim Carrey producing. It really gets inside the minds of standup comedy, and it’s Melissa Leo and an interesting ensemble. And of course, next year, Twin Peaks. I’m incredibly excited to see what David Lynch has done. I think he’s one of the living geniuses of our business, and I think he’s going to do something magnificent.

MCN:Post-linear, on-demand viewing is growing. What percentage of viewing is done when a show’s not in season?

DN: Over half. Yeah, they’re all over 70%.

MCN:What does that tell you?

DN: It tells you people have complicated lives. [Laughs.] Television’s gotten more convenient.

But more and more, it’s on-demand. And you know, more topical shows or water cooler shows get more [live] viewers, a slightly higher percentage. But the difference is Homeland maybe it’s slightly over 30%, 35%, watching the live show versus who’s going to watch the rest of the week.

MCN:Why hasn’t Showtime dropped more entire seasons to allow binge-watching?

DN: I fundamentally don’t believe in it. … Our shows are built for hooks, and I think there’s benefit in the water cooler. And if we had to do it all in one week, I don’t think it does justice to the creativity of the shows. Our shows are very hand-crafted. Ray Donovan is going to make noise when it comes on.

MCN:What about selling to OTT providers?

DN: Our shows tend to have a lot of value when they come off of our network because they’re high-quality and they’re only seen in a limited universe, so there’s great demand from Netflix and Hulu and Amazon. We tend to do that only very late in the run, because we want people to know, “You want Ray Donovan; you want The Affair? You’ve got to go to Showtime.” So we try very hard not to muddy that by making The Affair available; just wait a season and then we’ll come on Netflix. No, you’re going to have to wait years if you want to wait for Netflix.

MCN:You’ve said in the past that Matt has been very supportive of you. And I’m just curious, what’s your vision of what you want your tenure to be like at Showtime?

DN: My goal is for Showtime to be one of the cutting-edge creative companies making the best content in a very hungry ecosystem looking for great content.

We have the business model already that everybody in the entertainment and media ecosystem wants, which is subscription-based. People see the value of writing a check for our brand on a monthly basis.

And I think also we can be a creative haven. I want, within the Hollywood community, people to feel like, “Go to Showtime, they will take care of you. They will make you the best version of yourself. They will take care of your shows so that you feel when you’re walking in, you’re going to a place where creativity is fostered.”

MCN:Do you think we’re in a content bubble right now?

DN: I think there could be some froth. I don’t think there’s a ton, because it’s a profitable business and there’s a lot of people trying to get their share. There’s already been some failure.

But I don’t see massive contraction because I think there’s enormous demand, and you have a lot of hungry viewers around the world who are getting connected, getting wired and consuming content, enjoying it.

Showtime has renewed its drama series Homeland for three more seasons and has greenlit a new series with Jamie Foxx, Showtime CEO David Nevins said Wednesday.

Nevins, stating the network is in “the best competitive position that it’s ever been in,” said Homeland will return for season six, seven and eight as part of a new deal with series producer Twentieth Century Fox. Showtime will move the launch of its season six from its typical October period to January 2017, he said.

Nevins said that Homeland “remains our flagship series” and has proven to reinvent itself  with every season. “Its not on a straight character trajectory path that changes from season to season,” he said. “It has an open ended expiration date.”

The network has also greenlit a new comedy series with Jamie Foxx dubbed White Famous. The series will take a comic look at what it takes for an African-American comedian to become accepted by a broad audience. 

Nevins also said the network has also picked up a drama series, Purity, starring Daniel Craig as part of its original programming strategy that will showcase a new series launch virutally every month of the year. 

The news came at around the same time that Starz said it greenlit two more seasons of original series Outlander.

Get complete coverage of the TCA16 Winter Press Tour.

Pasadena, Calif. — Showtime will move from its traditional “Noah’s Ark” release schedule, as David Nevins, president and CEO, described pairing up premieres of popular series, in favor of a monthly premiere agenda. That includes House of Lies in April, Penny Dreadful in May and Ray Donovan in June.

The Andrew Dice Clay comedy Dice also debuts in the spring.

“In today’s streaming world, you have to earn your viewers every month,” Nevins said.

Lead-ins in a time shifted world don’t matter a whole lot, he added.

“Some people love Homeland, some are obsessed with The Affair, some love both,” Nevins said. “People tend to set their own schedules.”

Further out, Twin Peaks, the ballyhooed series reboot from David Lynch, is halfway done with shooting and is set to premiere in the first half of 2017. The network also announced it has renewed Shameless for a seventh season.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Gary Levine has been named president of programming at Showtime Networks, where he will now add responsibility for casting and program operations to his previous duties, the development and creative oversight of the network's original series, documentaries and specials across all platforms.

Levine joned Showtime as executive VP of original programming in 2001, in his new position, he will continue continue reporting to David Nevins, president of Showtime Networks.

"Gary has been an integral part of building Showtime Networks' stellar original programming brand," Nevins said. "He also happens to be one of the most respected creative executives in the business because he knows how to bring out the best in everyone who works with him. Gary has proven to be an invaluable creative partner to me since the day I arrived at Showtime. I am confident that in his expanded role he will lead our programming team to outstanding new heights."

Showtime's originals include series Homeland, The Affair, Ray Donovan, Shameless and Masters of Sex, as well as a batch of movies and documentaries.

Prior to joining Showtime, Levine was president of Internet entertainment company Icebox. Previously, he headed development at Warner Brothers Television, Witt-Thomas Productions and ABC (drama).

Read mroe at broadcastingcable.com.

Showtime will bring back 1990s drama series Twin Peaks in 2016 as a limited series, the network said Monday.

Showtime’s rekindling of Twin Peaks, which aired on ABC for two seasons in the 1990s, will include original series creators and executive producers David Lynch and Mark Frost, who will write and produce all nine episodes of the limited series, said network officials.

Showtime will begin its new episodes of Twin Peaks, which followed the investigation of the murder in a small Washington town of its popular homecoming queen Laura Palmer, 25 years after the event of the season two finale.  

“What more can I say – Twin Peaks with David Lynch and Mark Frost on Showtime in 2016!” said Showtime Networks president David Nevins. “To quote Agent Cooper, ‘I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.’”

Showtime will re-air the first two seasons of Twin Peaks, in advance of the new episodes, although the airdates have yet to be set.

Beverly Hills, Calif. — Nearly one week after his predecessor, NBC Entertainment chairman and former Showtime chief Bob Greenblatt complained during the TCA summer press tour of the advantages held by cable networks, Showtime Networks president David Nevins acknowledged enjoying an edge in certain areas over his broadcast competitors when it comes to programming.

“It’s one of the luxuries of where I sit,” Greenblatt said Friday, responding to a question during his press tour executive session about planning the end of long-running series well in advance. “You’re less buffeted by market forces [than in broadcast]. It’s less about we’re losing revenue in that time period that we could be making through higher ratings.”

On Sunday, Greenblatt said that cable networks can “go into subject matter that just feels cooler” than what broadcast can do. Nevins talked Friday about being able to experiment with portrayals of sex on shows like Masters of Sex and the upcoming The Affair.

“I think it’s really interesting that we can get into that certain side of humanity and human relationships with a depth that’s hard to do in broadcast media, because there’s such squeamishness about sex,” Nevins said. He also noted that he anticipates Showtime doing more documentary series along the lines of the recent Years of Living Dangerously. “That kind of programming, that sort of deep-dive, long series to look at something, I definitely think it’s a good form of programming for us,” Nevins said, adding, “I think it’s one of the things that we can do in pay cable, go with depth into a difficult subject that’s probably not cut out for broadcast television.”

Nevins addressed the issue of Emmy categories, and the network’s decision to submit Shameless, formerly entered in drama categories, as a comedy.

“I don’t envy the TV category trying to categorize,” Nevins said. “I think there’s always a degree of arbitrariness.” He defended the decision to move Shameless, saying producer John Wells “always wanted it to be a comedy.”

Nevins added later, when discussing miniseries and anthology series, “I think we all cry foul when True Detective takes up two best actor slots.”

Other highlights from the panel included:

*Nevins said that the status of Happyish, the comedy series that had been slated to star Philip Seymour Hoffman before the actor’s death in February, is undecided but that the project could still continue. “I’m now sitting on five scripts from [creator Shalom Auslander] that I think are brilliant,” he said. “If I can cast it the right way, it’s something I’ll probably make it. But there’s no guarantees.”

*Asked whether Microsoft’s decision to close Xbox Studios would affect plans for the Halo series, based on the videogame, that Showtime and Microsoft are partnering on, Nevins said, “I don’t think so.” He added that conversations with Microsoft around Halo “are ongoing.”

*Regarding the possibility that Showtime would invest in scripted miniseries or anthology series, as FX has done with Fargo and American Horror Story and HBO has done with True Detective, Nevins said, “I’m fundamentally focused on renewable assets where we can bring it back.” But, he added, “ I wouldn’t rule it out.”