Showtime to Be Available to More Than 70 Million Homes for Free Preview This Weekend

Showtime will be available to over 70 million households during a Free Preview Weekend from Saturday, January 16 through Monday, January 18. Viewers nationwide will be able to sample the network's award-winning programming on SHOWTIME, Showtime ON DEMAND®, Showtime ANYTIME® and select distributors' TV Everywhere portals. The Free Preview weekend will include sampling of the series premieres of the powerful new drama series BILLIONS, starring Oscar® nominee and Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Paul Giamatti and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Damian Lewis, and the groundbreaking new political series THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH. Immediately following the series premiere of BILLIONS, Showtime will offer a special sneak peek of the second episode on demand, on Showtime ANYTIME and on the Showtime streaming service starting at 11 p.m. ET. Additionally, viewers will be able to sample new episodes of the hit comedy series SHAMELESS, along with Showtime CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING heavyweight matches and feature films, including the world television premiere of the Oscar®-winning film The Imitation Game.

Free Preview Weekend viewers will have access to current and past episodes of critically-acclaimed Showtime original series including HOMELAND, THE AFFAIR, SHAMELESS, PENNY DREADFUL, RAY DONOVAN, MASTERS OF SEX, HOUSE OF LIES, EPISODES and NURSE JACKIE, all available on Showtime ON DEMAND and Showtime ANYTIME. The network will also air over 300 feature films available on Showtime ON DEMAND and Showtime ANYTIME including Boyhood, Drive, St. Vincent, The Hundred-Foot Journey, August: Osage County and The Giver. Documentary programming will include the Showtime documentary LISTEN TO ME MARLON, which unlocks personal audio materials of the enigmatic legendary actor and two time Oscar-winner Marlon Brando and IVERSON, an in-depth look into 11-time NBA All-Star Allen Iverson whose audacious rejection of conservative NBA convention and unapologetic embrace of hip-hop culture sent shockwaves throughout the league and influenced an entire generation.

Saturday's line-up will be anchored by the television premiere of Academy Award® and Golden Globe Best Picture nominee The Imitation Game, and the 30th Anniversary of Showtime CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® with the history-making night of four heavyweights meeting in two world championship fights, live from Brooklyn's Barclay's Center. At 8 p.m. ET/PT, Showtime will premiere The Imitation Game, set during World War II, which stars Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch as mathematician Alan Turing who tries to crack the Nazi's enigma code to end the war. Immediately following, Showtime CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING debuts at 10 p.m. ET with the undefeated WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder, who has knocked out all but one of his 35 opponents, making the third defense of his title against brawling Polish contender Artur Szpilka in the main event. Plus, undefeated challengers Charles Martin and Vyacheslav Glazkov will battle in the co-feature for the vacant IBF Heavyweight World Championship. The Jan. 16 live Showtime CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader will mark the first heavyweight world championship fights in Brooklyn since James Jeffries knocked out James Corbett in the 23rd round on May 11, 1900, on Coney Island. Additionally, for the first time in boxing history, both heavyweight world championship bouts will be available on the Showtime Sports® YouTube page. The offering serves to give boxing fans everywhere access to the Showtime Sports flagship series featuring Wilder, the first American heavyweight champion in nearly a decade and one of today's brightest stars.

On Sunday, January 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Showtime will debut the groundbreaking new political documentary series THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH. The series is produced in cooperation with BLOOMBERG POLITICS and features BLOOMBERG POLITICS managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and noted campaign strategist and media advisor Mark McKinnon. The real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the 2016 presidential race, revealing the intense, irreverent, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines of what promises to be one of the most fascinating and consequential elections in modern history. Premiering in advance of the Iowa caucuses, THE CIRCUS delivers stories as they are happening and examines what really goes on behind the carefully constructed facade of a presidential campaign in real time. THE CIRCUS follows multiple individual stories and key characters from the campaigns and captures their unique perspectives in weekly half-hour shows between January and November. With intimate, behind-the-scenes access, cameras offer viewers a look at what the public rarely sees and explore the high human drama inherent in the pursuit of the Oval Office. THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH is produced by Left/Right (a part of RED ARROW Entertainment Group) for SHOWTIME. Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman serve as executive producers. For more information about THE CIRCUS, visit http://s.sho.com/TheCircusOnShowtime and join the conversation using #SHOCircus.

Then, starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT, viewers nationwide can sample the second episode of the network's No. 1 comedy series, SHAMELESS. The sixth season of SHAMELESS stars Oscar nominee and Emmy winner William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher and Golden Globe nominee Emmy Rossum as daughter Fiona. This season SHAMELESS picks up shortly after last year's finale, as the Gallaghers prepare for yet another long Chicago winter. Season six will see more than just the arctic Lake Michigan winds whipping through the Southside. Change is hard, and the Gallaghers are as surprised as anyone at how life is turning out for them. But the question remains, as they come into their own and find out who they are, is it really possible that the Gallaghers could grow apart for good? Along with Macy and Rossum, the series stars Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney and Cameron Monaghan. Based on the long-running hit U.K. series, SHAMELESS is executive produced by Emmy Award winning television and film producer John Wells, Andrew Stearn, Christopher Chulack, Davey Holmes, Nancy M. Pimental and Krista Vernoff. Wells developed the series for American television. Paul Abbott serves as executive consultant. SHAMELESS is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc., in association with John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television. For more information about SHAMELESS, visit http://s.sho.com/ShamelessOnShowtime, follow on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook,and join the conversation using #Shameless.

Premiering at 10 p.m. ET/PT, the bold, contemporary new drama series BILLIONS, which melds the worlds of ultra-wealth, influence and corruption as personified in two highly ambitious opposing figures: hard-charging, blue-blooded, politically connected U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) and brilliant, calculating, blue-collar billionaire hedge fund king, Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis). Set amongst the Machiavellian machinations of New York City power politics and finance, BILLIONS weaves a complex, intricate narrative featuring a high-stakes game of predator-versus-prey. Maggie Siff, Malin Akerman, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile and Condola Rashad also star. BILLIONS is created, written and executive produced by Brian Koppelman and David Levien (Ocean's Thirteen, Rounders), and Andrew Ross Sorkin (Too Big To Fail). The pilot was directed by acclaimed director Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Divergent), who also serves as an executive producer on the first two episodes. For more information about BILLIONS, visit http://s.sho.com/BillionsOnShowtime, follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and join the conversation using #Billions. Immediately following the series premiere, Showtime will offer a special sneak peek of the second episode of BILLIONS, available on demand, on Showtime ANYTIME and the Showtime streaming service starting at 11 p.m. ET/PT.

The Free Preview Weekend is available on both SD and HD feeds to digital subscribers of participating providers only. Select providers will offer the Free Preview via Showtime ON DEMAND and Showtime ANYTIME. The preview will be available from a number of distributors including AT&T, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, DISH, Hulu, Mediacom, RCN, Suddenlink, and Verizon, among others. Available platforms will vary by participating distributor. Previews may contain PG, PG-13, TV-14, TVMA and R-rated programming. For additional details and a full schedule of programming, go to SHO.com/freepreview.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, and also offers Showtime ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND®, and the network's authentication service Showtime ANYTIME®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME®. Showtime is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple®, Roku®, Amazon and Google. Consumers can also subscribe to Showtime via Hulu, Sony PlayStation® Vue andAmazon Prime Video. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™ and Smithsonian Earth™ , through SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a Pay-Per-View basis through Showtime PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

Photos: SHOWTIME

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