Showcase (Australian TV channel)

Showcase (formerly Fox Showcase) is an Australian premium drama cable and satellite television channel. It was initially part of the Showtime Australia channels and was managed by PMP chief executive officer Peter Rose. In 2007 Rose said Showcase "provides a real home at last for quality drama in Australia, and this list of outstanding event television is just the start". Showcase launched with the Australian TV premieres of Dexter and Australian-made series Satisfaction.

Showcase

Country	Australia
Programming
Language(s)	English
Picture format	576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Timeshift service	Showcase +2
Ownership
Owner	Foxtel
Sister channels	Foxtel Networks channels
History
Launched	1 December 2007[1]
Replaced	FX
Former names	FOX Showcase (2018-2023)
Availability
Streaming media
Foxtel Go	Channel 112
Binge	binge.com.au

Showcase is owned and operated by Foxtel Networks; and is their flagship entertainment channel, and airs programming with no ad breaks during shows.

Showcase can be found on channel 112 on Foxtel and Optus TV.

Foxtel took over managing and producing Showcase and the other Showtime channels as of 31 October 2012, with it purchasing assets of the PMP.^[2] On 9 December 2012, it was announced that Movie Network and Showtime (with the exception of Showcase) would be replaced with a new lineup of Foxtel-branded movie channels to be named Foxtel Movies^[3] Showcase would continue to be the home of premium dramas from HBO and other international networks, original programming, documentaries, and independent films.

On 3 November 2014 Showcase moved from Foxtel's Premium Movies and Drama package to the newly founded Drama package. In addition, the channel moved from channel 404 to channel 115 and showcase + 2 moved from channel 414 to channel 158.^[4][5]

Following the closure of SoHo and the launch of the channel Binge on 5 October 2016,^[6] Showcase moved to channel 114.^[7]

On 28 September 2023, after Real Life launched, the channel rebranded to its former name Showcase with a new logo.^[8]

Background

Showcase launched with the Australian premiere of Satisfaction, based around high-class Australian escorts and their clients. The show ran for three seasons.

Showcase also aired all three series of Love My Way, a series which moved from FOX8 to W to Showtime each season yet was re-run on Showcase all together for the first time in 2007–2008.

In 2008, Foxtel and Showcase announced a new Australian drama called Tangle. Tangle is from the makers of Love My Way, and features an all-star Australian cast of Matt Day, Kat Stewart, Justine Clarke, Ben Mendelsohn and Catherine McClements. The series debuted on 1 October 2009 to rave reviews: "Tangle puts Free to Air Television to shame. Australian drama desperately needs more voices that emanate from truth".^[9]

In 2010 Showtime commissioned a 6-hour mini-series Cloudstreet based on the novel by Tim Winton. The series premiered on 22 May 2011.^[10] The stellar cast includes Essie Davis as Dolly Pickles, Stephen Curry as Sam Pickles, Emma Booth as Rose Pickles, Kerry Fox as Oriel Lamb, Geoff Morrell as Lester Lamb, and with Todd Lasance as Quick Lamb and NIDA graduate Hugo Johnstone-Burt as Fish Lamb.^[11]

Logo history

• 
  Original logo
• 
  Logo used 26 September 2018 - 10 October 2019
• 
  Logo used 10 October 2019 - 28 September 2023

Original programming

• Love My Way (2007) - previously aired on FOX8 (2004–05) and W Channel (2006)
• Satisfaction (2007–10)
• Tangle (2009–12)
• Cloudstreet (2011)
• Devil's Playground (2014)
• Deadline Gallipoli (2015)
• Secret City (2016–19) - co-production with Netflix
• The Kettering Incident (2016)
• A Place to Call Home (2016–18) - previously aired on Seven (2013–14) and SoHo (2015)
• Wentworth (2017–21) - previously aired on SoHo (2013–16)
• Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018)
• Mr Inbetween (2018–21) - co-production with FX
• Fighting Season (2018)
• Lambs of God (2019)
• Upright (2019–22) - co-production with Sky Atlantic (season 1) and Sky Comedy (season 2)
• The End (2020) - co-production with Sky Atlantic
• The Twelve (2022–present)
• High Country (2024–present)

Overseas programming

Many of the programs featured on FOX Showcase are Australian premieres, and feature on cable networks in America which feature adult themes and mature issues such as HBO, Showtime and FX in the United States.

At Foxtel's 2013 programming highlights presentation on 26 February 2013, Foxtel announced an agreement with HBO that was to see HBO content be exclusively shown on Showcase, with it not to screen on free to air television for at least five years.^[12]

• The Affair
• Allegiance
• American Horror Story Apocalypse
• The Americans
• Bates Motel
• Better Things
• The Big C
• Big Little Lies
• Breaking Bad
• Boardwalk Empire
• Bored to Death
• Braquo
• Brotherhood
• Californication
• The Corner
• Dexter
• Divorce
• Eastbound & Down
• Elementary
• Entourage
• Fear the Walking Dead
• The Firm
• Funny or Die Presents
• Game of Thrones
• Generation Kill
• Girls
• The Good Wife
• Graceland
• House of Cards
• House of the Dragon^[13]
• House of Saddam
• How to Make It in America
• Hung
• In Treatment
• John Adams
• John from Cincinnati
• The Killing
• Law & Order: SVU
• The Life and Times of Tim
• Lip Service
• Longmire
• Looking
• Mad Men
• Major Crimes
• Mildred Pierce
• Nashville
• The Newsroom
• Orange Is the New Black
• Outlander
• The Pacific
• Raised By Wolves^[14][15]
• The Riches
• The Ricky Gervais Show
• Rizzoli & Isles
• Rogue
• Romanzo criminale
• Saving Grace
• Scandal
• Shameless
• Sleeper Cell
• Sons of Anarchy
• The Sopranos
• Togetherness^[16]
• Treme
• True Blood
• The Tudors
• Vinyl^[17]
• The Walking Dead^[18]
• The West Wing
• Westworld
• White Collar

See also

• Showtime movie channels

References

1. Knox, David (14 September 2007). "Showcase – New Foxtel Channel". tvtonight.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 January 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
2. "Foxtel to acquire Showtime channels TV Tonight". David Knox. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
3. "New movie channels for Foxtel TV Tonight". David Knox. 9 December 2012. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
4. "Foxtel announces a new value revolution for subscription TV" (PDF) (Press release). Foxtel. 4 September 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
5. Knox, David (3 November 2014). "BoxSets, Discovery Kids launch on Foxtel". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
6. Johnston, Rae (1 August 2016). "Foxtel Has A New 'Binge' Channel". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
7. "Foxtel reveals programming for new channel Binge". MediaWeek. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
8. "Foxtel Magazine (October 2023) - Your monthly guide to a world of entertainment". Foxtel Magazine. p. 32. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
9. "Tangle". TV Tonight. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
10. "Airdate: Cloudstreet". TV Tonight. 17 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
11. "Stellar cast announced for Cloudstreet adaptation – FOXTEL Insider – What's On". FOXTEL. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
12. Knox, David (27 February 2013). "Foxtel launches 2013 programming TV Tonight". TV Tonight. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
13. Foxtel. "House of the Dragon". Foxtel. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
14. "The Raised By Wolves Trailer Has Dropped And We're Getting Goosebumps". Foxtel. 6 August 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
15. Knox, David (6 August 2020). "Airdate:Raised by Wolves". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
16. Higgins, D (30 March 2015). "APRIL on FOXTEL: Game Of Thrones, Mad Men, Wentworth, Deadline Gallipoli and 200+ other new shows". The Green Room. Foxtel. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
17. Knox, David (5 November 2015). "Foxtel Upfronts 2016: Local thrillers, Lifestyle & US Drama". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
18. "Here's your A-Z of The Walking Dead as it arrives back on our screens for its final season". Foxtel. 23 August 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.