Some Roku owners may be excited to see the new Showtime Anytime app appear in the Roku channel store over the next few days, but many will be frustrated to learn that access to the app will not be available because their cable or satellite service either don’t yet support it or have no intention of ever supporting it.
According to a recent Roku blog post, Showtime subscribers will soon be able to watch live and on-demand Showtime content, including movies and current and past-season episodes of their favorite Showtime original series, through their Roku box. Unfortunately, the list of cable providers supporting the service is short, though Roku did indicate there are “more to come.” Currently the list of providers supporting the app are: AT&T U-verse, Brighthouse, Cablevision’s Optimum TV, DIRECTV, Grande Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS. Notably absent are Comcast/Xfinity, Charter and Dish Network.
Since rival service HBO GO is available through Charter and Dish Network, it seems likely they’ll soon be added to the list of providers supporting Showtime Anytime on Roku players. Unfortunately, Comcast does not support HBO GO on Roku players, so it seems unlikely Showtime Anytime will be available Comcast’s Roku owners anytime soon. The last time Comcast made HBO GO available on a device other than a PC or mobile device was in April 2012, when it authorized the HBO GO app for Xbox 360 owners.
For those who do subscribe to Showtime through one of the aforementioned providers, access to some of of Showtimes hottest shows like Homeland and Dexter will be available live and on-demand through Roku boxes without any need for a cable box. This may come in handy for users looking to expand their viewing options in their home without necessarily renting additional hardware from their cable or satellite provider.
