Showtime, Brightcove Team for Emmy Campaign

LOS ANGELES, January 31:
Showtime Networks is working with Internet TV service
Brightcove to launch a customized Internet-based offering for its 2008
Primetime Emmy Campaign, which will allow voting Academy members to view full
seasons of the network’s original series.

Showtime will
use Brightcove’s soon-to-be-released Internet TV service, Brightcove Show,
which is a new application that delivers an instant, full screen,
broadcast-quality viewing experience direct to each member’s computer through
standard web browsers. Showtime is the first network to use the service to make
entire seasons available to Academy members via the Internet.

The offering
provides members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) an
eco-friendly option to screen eligible programming for awards consideration,
with Showtime only sending a brochure/mailer with program information and
select episodes on three DVDs, down from the 20 it sent last year. ATAS members
will also receive a unique passcode that will allow access to the site, which
will offer full seasons of Showtime’s series beginning February 15 through the
June balloting and final August judging phases.

Titles
available include current seasons of Weeds, Dexter, Brotherhood,
Californication and The
L Word. Shows which
have not yet debuted on the network—including The Tudors Season 2,
Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union, This American Life Season 2 and the new TV movie An American
Crime—will roll
out throughout the campaign season as they become available.

"This year's
Primetime Emmy Campaign initiative was driven by a goal to create a new and
unique way for voters to view Showtime's eligible programming anywhere in the
U.S.," said Richard Licata, the executive VP of corporate communications
for Showtime. "Rob Hayes, the senior VP/general manager of Showtime
Digital Media, suggested we collaborate with the creative minds at
Brightcove—a win-win not only for Showtime and its programming but for
the thousands who will enjoy this cutting edge TV/Internet experience. This
will eliminate the enormous amount of packaging which has inundated members and
ultimately ends up in our landfills," he added.

"Showtime's rollout
of Brightcove Show to support its 2008 Primetime Emmy Campaign is demonstrative
of the network's continued willingness to push innovation on all fronts, from
its original programming to the way it interacts with Academy members,"
said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove’s chairman and CEO. "This campaign is the
latest extension of Brightcove and Showtime's ongoing relationship to deliver
high-quality web video to Showtime's broader online audience. We look forward
to helping Showtime execute a successful Primetime Emmy campaign."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski