Showtime is now offering an online subscription, allowing customers to watch its shows and movies without also getting cable. The subscription is being offered through a few different apps and sites, including Showtime's iPhone and iPad apps, the Apple TV, Roku, Hulu, and PlayStation Vue. The subscription costs $10.99 — although some services, like Hulu, are offering it for less — and grants access to Showtime's back catalog, its currently screening films, and even some of its live feeds.
CBS, which owns Showtime, seems to be well aware that there's money to be made from viewers who don't subscribe to cable. CBS started an online service last year, and it's been promising to do the same for Showtime since then. Showtime's launch follows HBO's own move online, which was certainly the bigger announcement — Showtime just doesn't have the same kind of hit shows that HBO does. But this is still another premium network divorcing itself from cable, at least for those who want it. It's something that cord cutters have long been asking for, and now these companies are finally ready to take their money.