DENVER -- With the major subscription streaming service providers, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, crowding into the television production market, competition for the small, elite cadre of top creative talent has gotten, well, a bit out of hand, according to veteran Showtime executive Tom Christie.

“There is a fairly limited number of show runners that people want to trust with this kind of investment,” Christie said during a fireside chat earlier this week at the Pay TV Show. “I don't think you can limit yourself to the group of 25 show runners in Hollywood who are established anymore.”

The competition is so fierce for these elite creatives, the Showtime COO called it “free agency on steroids.”

Christie has worked for the CBS Corp.-owned premium cable TV programmer for more than 25 years. So he has a somewhat unique perspective on Hollywood and how the demand for original programming wrought by the streaming age has impacted the industry.

“Other than the '30s, I don’t know when the business drove so many jobs,” he said. “It is snowballing. A lot of us are waiting to see if it slows down. Can it continue? I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

Christie, meanwhile, recalls sitting in the Philadelphia high-rise office of NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke back in 2009, just before Burke’s employer, Comcast, put in a successful bid for NBCU.

He remembered Burke gazing out the window and wondering what the television business would look like in 10 years.

“The iPad and iPhone had not been in the marketplace that long, and Netflix had just started to stream,” Christie said. “Then, the whole thing got disrupted.”

Indeed, powerful new digital competitors and delivery platforms have upended the business for Showtime, HBO, Starz and the rest of the premium cable ecosystem.

Still, Christie said Showtime will resist some new paradigms, such as the impulse to indulge the new bingeing habits of consumers by posting entire seasons of shows at one time.

Showtime, Christie said, will continue with its “drip strategy,” debuting one episode a week.

“If your show can get a water cooler thing going, it’s a phenomenon,” Christie noted.

With its all-at-once binge-supporting strategy, he said, “I’m not sure Netflix has created this kind of dialogue. A lot of their shows tend to come and go, and there’s not much of a conversation.”

Christie, meanwhile, was asked if Showtime ever received corporate pressure to license its shows to outside platforms like Netflix.

Mimicking an unnamed top-level CBS executive with a brusque voice, Christie recalled being asked to release Showtime series Shameless to the broader streaming marketplace.

He said he wasn’t supportive of selling that show (prior seasons are on Netflix), but he understands the broader revenue imperative. Christie noted the challenges Disney will face as it pulls back from licensing its shows and keeps them in-house for Disney+.

“It’s going to be no small task to replace all of those revenue streams Disney has relied on over the years,” he said. “That’s a lot of subscriptions.”

Christie also noted how network brands mean less in the streaming age.

“These shows take on a life of their own now,” he said. “Would you still be watching Game of Thrones if it wasn’t on HBO? I think you would.”

Showtime Networks said it has promoted Julia Veale to executive vice president, business, product development and management, citing her leadership in the rollouts of the Showtime streaming service and the Showtime Anytime authenticated viewing platform. The former senior vice president continues to report to Tom Christie, Showtime's recently promoted chief operating officer, and to be responsible for product strategy, development and management for Showtime subscription services across distribution platforms, technologies and devices. Before her work with the in-house product team on the streaming and TV-everywhere rollouts, Veale was a key player in the development of SNI on-demand services, HD multiplex channels and interactive TV. She also was an important part of negotiations with Internet partners on the standalone streaming service and with the Smithsonian Institution on creating Showtime Networks. 

“Julia’s unique combination of talents, which blend long-term strategic vision with an uncompromising attention to detail, has helped guide the company’s business and product development efforts for over a decade,” Christie said in a release. “Under Julia’s leadership, Showtime has demonstrated a near flawless introduction of products starting from subscription video on demand many years ago, to the Showtime Anytime TV Everywhere launch, and of course most recently the Showtime stand-alone streaming service on key internet platforms.”

Showtime has promoted veteran network executive Tom Christie to chief operating officer, the network said Thursday.

Christie, formerly president of distribution, business development and network operations, will have oversight of the network's overall planning and execution of future strategies and new business ventures, according to network officials. He will also continue to lead Showtime’s distribution, sales, affiliate marketing, network operations and new business development teams, as well as the network’s streaming service product group.

 “Tom is an executive of the highest caliber and is one of our key strategic leaders,” said David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc., to whom Christie reports. “He is central to driving our long term growth as we continue to expand onto new platforms, and we’re thrilled that he will be stepping up his role at Showtime Networks.”