CBS Corp and Canada’s Bell Media have entered a long-term exclusive content licensing and trademark agreement to bring Showtime to the Great White North.  The deal marks the first time that the Showtime brand will be available in Canada, with hundreds of hours of current and library programming going out across Bell Media platforms in English and French.  CBS and Bell previously operated under an agreement that licensed current Showtime series to Canadian pay-TV.  Showtime fare will be available on CraveTV, the streaming service Bell launched as a rival to Netflix in late 2014, as well as pay-TV service, The Movie Network.  Over the course of the new pact, both of those outlets will become Canada’s exclusive home of Showtime-owned first-run programming along with the majority of its catalog of scripted and unscripted series, documentaries and specials.  The launch of Crave’s Showtime-branded environment is imminent, and later this year, a Showtime-branded block will debut on The Movie Network.  the companies said today. 

“This new partnership with CBS Corporation illustrates Bell Media’s commitment to provide additional value to subscribers of CraveTV and The Movie Network, while significantly extending CraveTV’s advantage over its streaming competitors,” said Kevin Crull, President, Bell Media. 

“This is a great moment in the history of Showtime, when for the first time our award-winning programming will be distributed and aggressively marketed as one brand beyond the United States,” said David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks. 

At launch, the Showtime collection will feature the immediate past seasons of The Affair, Ray Donovan and Penny Dreadful along with Masters Of Sex, Nurse Jackie, Weeds and others.