Showtime Extends Its 'Anytime' Service Following the lead of its rival HBO, the Showtime network is beginning to broaden an Internet service to let its subscribers to stream hundreds of television episodes and feature films both in and out of the home. The service, called Showtime Anytime, was turned on for Verizon FiOS customers on Tuesday, and will be extended to several other cable and satellite distributors later this year. Already available for Comcast and AT&T U-verse customers, it is part of a rush toward subscriber-only streaming. While many networks, including HBO and Showtime, already make some programming available via traditional video-on-demand systems, the Internet streaming interfaces are more functional and have a deeper selection of shows and films. HBO made a competing service, HBO GO, broadly available to its subscribers last year, prompting rave reviews and motivating other television networks to try to match it. Tom Christie, Showtime's executive vice president of affiliate sales and marketing, acknowledged in an interview that HBO had forged ahead with HBO GO and called it an "excellent product." But he said HBO's head start "had no perceptible effect on our business." "We took a look at what they did, and we took a look at what else was happening in the space that is frequently called "TV Everywhere,"" Mr. Christie said. We took our time to be careful and put together the best product that we could. Both networks treat the streaming services as tools to retain current subscribers and entice new ones to sign up. The services protect the current relationships between distributors and programmers by requiring viewers to log in with their cable or satellite account. HBO moved quickly to line up all the major distributors for HBO GO, with two exceptions, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision. Those companies announced last month that they had belatedly reached agreements with the company for HBO GO. Mr. Christie said the HBO and Showtime strategies differed significantly. "It appears to us that HBO went out and very quickly got it launched on cable systems; they didn't have much of a negotiation with cable affiliates," he said. But once it has launched all over, it becomes a major sticking point in the negotiations. Showtime, instead, has included the new streaming service in negotiations as its agreements with distributors have come due for renewal, he said. The Showtime Anytime introduction with Verizon is part of a larger five-year renewal. Terry Denson, the vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Verizon, said the renewal would allow out of home viewing of Showtime shows on the iPad - a sticking point in some other negotiations between distributors and programmers. Mr. Denson called out-of-home access an important differentiator for Verizon. Though it may sound cliched, he said, "if you look around and say, "Geez, where can you really do it?," there's not a lot of places." Comcast was the first to allow its subscribers to stream Showtime content online in late 2010, though only on its own Web site, not on Showtime's. Mr. Christie said the two companies are now working on an integration. Though he would not comment on pending deals with other distributors, Mr. Christie said "there are several others that will come in for a landing shortly." HBO remains the dominant pay television network, with about 28.2 million subscribers, though it has showed no growth lately. Showtime has been slowly gaining subscribers, with about 21.1 million reported at the end of November. Showtime has gained attention recently for the counterterrorism drama "Homeland," which had its first season finale last month, and a new comedy set in the management consultant world, "House of Lies," which had its premiere on Sunday.