Disney Branded Television has named veteran programming executive Gloria Fan as its head of Current Series, overseeing current and new projects for Disney Channel and Disney Plus.

In the newly created role, Fan will oversee original series development over such upcoming Disney Channel shows as Ultraviolet & Black Scorpion, as well as upcoming Disney Plus shows Sneakerella, National Treasure and the Beauty & The Beast prequel, said the company.

Previously Fan worked at 20th Television Studios where she served as vice president of Current Programming. Most recently, Fan's work has spanned across networks and streaming services including National Geographic's scripted powerhouses Genius and The Hot Zone, FX's Mayans M.C., NBC’s Ordinary Joe and Showtime's Homeland.

Fan will report to Disney SVP, Development and Current Series Reena Singh, said Disney. 

Read Also: Ayo Davis Named Disney Branded Television President 

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 3 -- Manhunt: Deadly Games (returning series) -- Spectrum

Feb. 3 -- McMillions (documentary) -- HBO

Feb. 5 -- They’ve Gotta Have Us (miniseries) -- Netflix

Feb. 6 -- Briarpatch (drama) -- USA

Feb. 6 -- Interrogation (drama) -- CBS All Access

Feb. 6 -- The Sinner (returning series) -- USA

Feb. 7 -- All or Nothing: The Philadelphia Eagles (sports/reality) -- Prime Video

Feb. 7 -- High Maintenance (returning series) -- HBO

Feb. 7 -- Locke & Key (drama) -- Netflix

Feb. 7 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (comedy) --Apple TV+

Feb. 7 -- Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (family) -- Disney+

Feb. 9 -- Homeland (returning series) -- Showtime

Feb. 9 -- Kidding (returning series) -- Showtime

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for several shows debuting the week of Feb. 3 to Feb. 9 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

Feb. 3 -- Manhunt: Deadly Games (returning series) -- Spectrum

Feb. 3 -- McMillions (documentary) -- HBO

Feb. 5 -- They’ve Gotta Have Us (miniseries) -- Netflix

Feb. 6 -- Briarpatch (drama) -- USA

Feb. 6 -- Interrogation (drama) -- CBS All Access

Feb. 6 -- The Sinner (returning series) -- USA

Feb. 7 -- All or Nothing: The Philadelphia Eagles (sports/reality) -- Prime Video

Feb. 7 -- High Maintenance (returning series) -- HBO

Feb. 7 -- Locke & Key (drama) -- Netflix

Feb. 7 - Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet (comedy) --Apple TV+

Feb. 7 -- Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (family) -- Disney+

Feb. 9 -- Homeland (returning series) -- Showtime

Feb. 9 -- Kidding (returning series) -- Showtime

Showtime will premiere the seventh season of its Emmy Award-winning series Homeland in February, the network said Tuesday.

The series, which stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Elizabeth Marvel, will premiere Feb. 11, the network said. The political drama series picks up from the previous season in which Danes’ character, agent Carrie Mathison, looks to secure the release of 200 members of the intelligence community arrested after an assassination attempt on the President (Marvel).

Homeland is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and is based on based on the original Israeli series Prisoners of War by Gideon Raff. Executive producers of the series include Danes, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Lesli Linka Glatter, Patrick Harbinson, Michael Klick, Ron Nyswaner, Gideon Raff, Avi Nir and Ran Telem.

Showtime’s decision to offer an early preview of the season six premiere of Homeland helped draw record numbers for the drama series.

The Jan. 15 premiere of the series drew 2.6 million viewers: 1.35 million on premiere night (Nielsen Live+Same Day ratings) with several replays, along with 1.25 million watchers in early online and VOD viewership since Dec. 30. That total matched the show's season three debut for the series’ most viewers ever for a premiere episode, said network officials. This was the first time Showtime had offered on-demand and streaming subscribers' an advance view of a Homeland season premiere episode. 

With the early preview, season six premiere is the up 24% over the season five premiere (which did not feature early sneak peak viewing), as well as 7% ahead of the season five finale.

Homeland’s sixth season, which stars Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and F. Murray Abraham, takes place in New York between a Presidential election day and inauguration day. 

Get complete coverage of #TCA16.

Beverly Hills, Calif. — Showtime has renewed Ray Donovan for a fifth season, the network announced Thursday during the TCA Summer Tour.

Production is slated to begin on the 12-episode season next year. Season four premiered June 26.

The cabler also revealed premiere dates for the sixth season of Homeland (Jan. 15) and the second season of Billions (Feb. 19).

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

Hulu and Twentieth Century Fox reached an agreement Monday that gives Hulu exclusive off-network streaming rights to Showtime’s Homeland.

Seasons one through four of Homeland — starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin — are now available on the OTT platform, their first launch on a non-Showtime streaming service. In June, Showtime ordered three more seasons of Homeland from the Fox studio. Season six is slated to premiere in early 2017.

“On the heels of another critically acclaimed season and multiple Emmy nominations, Homelandis the perfect addition to Hulu’s growing library of premium exclusive programming,” said Craig Erwich, senior VP and head of content, Hulu, which also bundles in full subscriptions of Showtime for an additional $8.99 monthly. 

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

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 Thursday offered a first look at the fifth season of its terrorism-themed drama series Homeland.

The series, which stars Claire Danes, picks up Danes’ ex-CIA character Carrie Mathison in a self-imposed exile in Berlin, two years after her ill-fated tenure as Islamabad station chief.

Season five also stars Rupert Friend, F. Murray Abraham, Sebastian Koch, Miranda Otto, Alexander Fehling, Sarah Sokolovic, and Mandy Patinkin.

Showtime has picked up Wall Street drama Billions, starring Damian Lewis.

CBS Corp.'s premium cable service has ordered a dozen installments of the high-stakes financial drama. The show, scheduled for a 2016 bow, will mark the return of Lewis to Showtime, where he earned a best actor Emmy for his portrayal of Nicholas Brody on Homeland.

Paul Giamatti is Lewis’ costar in Billions, with Maggie Siff, Malin Akerman, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile and Condola Rashad as part of the cast.

Billions, written and executive-produced by Brian Koppelman, David Levien and The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin, will feature Lewis as hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod. Giamatti is his antagonist, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades.

The order follows Showtime's greenlighting of scripted comedy with Andrew Dice Clay.

The ratings roll reached an eighth straight week for Homeland.

The terrorist drama, starring Clair Danes, ran its skein of audience growth in its premiere window to two full months as Sundays night’s installment, entitled "Kreig Nicht Lieb," captured 2.11 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour, according to Nielsen data.

Not only was the Dec. 14 debut the highest-rated episode and highest-rated night of season four, but it stands as Showtime’s biggest of the year, besting the 1.97 million viewers who tuned in the second-season finale of the sophomore run of Ray Donovan.

Sunday night’s delivery was up 8% from the Dec. 7 episode and marked a 31% jump from the 1.61 million for the season four debut.

All told, the penultimate episode of Homeland’s fourth campaign, tallied 2.7 million for the night, up 5% from the previous week and 34% from the 2 million on this season’s opening night.

The Affair, Homeland’s lead-out, averaged 837,000 watchers, 10% more than the prior week and 65% more than the 507,000 who saw the pilot. 

With encores, penultimate installment of The Affair’s first season drew 1.1 million watchers. That matched its total of the past three weeks, according to officials at the premium network, and registered 31% amelioration from its premiere night.

Showtime’s Sunday night original pairing of Homeland and The Affair continues to build, with the series garnering their best time slot and nightly deliveries of their seasons to date.

Terrorist drama Homeland grew for the fifth consecutive week, delivering its top episode of the season on Nov. 16 with 1.66 million viewers for its 9 p.m. premiere, according to Nielsen data. The encore of “Halfway to a Donut” tacked on another half-million viewers or so, lifting its total for the night to 2.1 million.

Thus far, Homeland’s fourth campaign is averaging 5.6 million total weekly viewers across platforms. Showtime executives reports that 74% of the audience for the Claire Danes-starrer is tuning in on a time-shifted basis.

The Affair, starring Dominic West and Ruth Wilson (pictured), averaged 778,000 watchers during its 10 p.m. open on Sunday, up 16% from the prior week, and 53% more than for its premiere.

Adding in more than 200,000 with the encore of “6,” The Affair drew a season high of 985,000, a 26% jump from Nov. 10’s 781,000 and 22% above its debut night’s 809,000 watchers.

Season-to-date, The Affair is averaging 3.8 million total weekly viewers across platforms, with time-shifted viewing accounting for 86% of the number.

The premium programmer recently renewed Homeland and The Affair for fifth and sophomore runs, respectively.

Showtime has renewed two of its popular drama series, Homeland and The Affair, for new seasons, according to network officials.

Homeland will return for a fifth season in 2015 with 12 episodes. The revamped, Emmy Award-winning series is averaging 6 million viewers across several platforms in its current season four run, according to Showtime. 

The Affair (pictured) will return will return for a sophomore campaign in 2015 with 10 episodes, said the network.  The series is currently averaging 3.9 million viewers a week across various platforms. Approximately 87% of The Affair’s audience is time-shifted, putting it on track to be Showtime's most time-shifted series ever, according to the network.

“In its fourth season, Homeland has brilliantly reinvented itself.  It continues to capture the attention of a devoted fan base, and has provided an enviable platform for the successful launch of The Affair,” said David Nevins, president, Showtime Networks in a statement. “With thought-provoking, relevant and addictive storylines, both series have been embraced, dissected and much debated week after week.  We’re excited to see more from these complex shows in 2015.”

Showtime drama series Ray Donovan garnered its highest ratings in series history during its Sunday night season two finale, Showtime reported Monday.

The series' season two final episode drew 2 million viewers during its 9 p.m. premiere airing, outperforming the 1.2 million viewers generated for the season two premiere episode and the 1.4 million viewers for the 2013 season one finale, said network officials.

Overall with replays, the Ray Donovan season two finale drew 2.52 million viewers, topping the season two premiere night by 43% and the season one finale by 21%, according to Showtime. Ray Donovan now ranks third among all Showtime original series behind Homeland and Shameless, averaging 5 million weekly viewers per week across platforms.

Following Ray Donovan, the season two finale of Masters Of Sex drew 889,000 viewers, outperforming the season two premiere telecast by 8%, but it fell short of the 1.2 million viewers the season one finale averaged last December.  Overall, Masters Of Sex averaged 2.7 million subscribers (77% of its weekly audience) after its original weekly Sunday airings, said Showtime.

Showtime is launching the first ever tactile feedback video for Android mobile devices, available on the fourth season of the drama series, Homeland.

Technology company, Immersion, will provide the virtual effects, making viewers feel as if they are immersed the high-impact series. The trailer is available in the “Coming Soon” area on Showtime Anytime for select Android devices.

“We’re always looking for innovative ways to create memorable fan experiences on mobile devices and it’s exciting to partner with Immersion for our number one series, Homeland,” said Executive Vice President, Program Marketing & Digital Services, Showtime Networks Inc, Don Buckley.

After installing the update, the trailer will provide a multi-layered sensory experience through tangible feedback. Viewers’ sight, sound and touch will be heightened as they experience the tactile effects of each dramatic scene.

Haptic technology has never been used through video on mobile devices, and Showtime is the first to market it through mobile advertising.

“The subtle, yet impactful placement of the haptic technology builds anticipation, giving the trailer an added element of suspense, achieved through a combined sensory experience,” said Buckley.

Two new back-to-back episodes of Homeland will air on October 5th at 9 p.m., in which the innovative trailer will then be available.

Beverly Hills, Calif. -- Showtime will bow the fourth season of its top series, acclaimed terrorist drama Homeland, on Sunday Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

During the fourth campaign, Carrie Mathison, played by Emmy-, SAG- and Golden Globe-winner Claire Danes, is assigned to one of the most volatile and dangerous CIA stations in the Middle East, where she is back on the front lines in the war on terror. Along with Emmy- and Tony Award- winner Mandy Patinkin, who portrays Saul Berenson,  Emmy nominee Rupert Friend will return for season four, along with Nazanin Boniadi and Laila Robins both of whom are now series regulars.

The premium network unveiled the key art for the show's upcoming season at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, making Danes' Mathison the lady in red.

Last season, Homeland averaged 7 million total weekly viewers in its various airings. Produced by Fox 21, Homeland has garnered a total of 25 Emmy nominations and seven Golden Globe nominations. For an early look at season four, go to:  http://s.sho.com/1jFILkq. The trailer was also unveiled during Showtime's TCA session.