Showtime, which will soon be available as stand-alone option on Apple devices, Roku players, Roku TV, and Sony’s PlayStation Vue, will also be available as a premium addon for Hulu customers. Starting in July Hulu’s pay service which costs $7.99 will offer an additional slate of programming from Showtime (for the additional cost of $8.99 per month) featuring its full catalogue of shows as well as sports content, documentaries and movies. Watching Showtime and Hulu team up to provide premium content reminds us of another new service.

Expansive content library mimics cable could compete with Sling TV
This upcoming arrangement means for about $17.00 per month Hulu customers can purchase access to premium cable content, access content from multiple networks less than 24 hours after it airs, enjoy an extensive Hulu movie archive and a library of CBS shows including the full run of CSI. The Showtime addition is optional. What this does in essence is expand the reach of Showtime’s new service ahead of any new distribution deals with individual devices. The arrangement is much like the HBO deal with Sling TV which allowed customers without Apple devices to sign up for the premium service on top of its “Best of Live TV” offering. This arrangement may provide the first viable option to Sling TV especially for viewers who do not care for live sports.