Showtime Heats Up In July With Special Event Programming Every Saturday Night

LOS ANGELES, June 23 -- In July, Showtime will be putting on some fireworks of its own with a showcase of the network's hottest event programming featuring music heavyweights like USHER, Jay-Z, and Britney Spears and comedy kings George Lopez and Christopher Titus. The encore special events will air every Saturday night at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

The special event showcase will begin on July 9th with comedian Christopher Titus who shatters the institution of family while mining comedy from tragedy and his real-life childhood memories, including living with an alcoholic father and a suicidal mother. The special NORMAN ROCKWELL IS BLEEDING was taped live at UCLA's Freud Playhouse on the university's campus in Westwood, California.

Then on July 16th Showtime will offer a double feature with an encore presentation of the concert event of the year: One Night One Star Usher Live. This concert is the multi-Grammy(R) winner's only televised concert in 2005 and features songs from Usher's chart-topping album, "Confessions." This will be followed at 11:35 by Multi-platinum recording artist Jay-Z's first full length, televised concert JAY-Z IN CONCERT, which aired on Showtime in 2003. The concert was the first time a hip-hop artist had a full-length concert broadcast live on television.

On July 23, multi-platinum superstar Britney Spears will turn up the heat in a full-length, concert taped live during THE ONYX HOTEL TOUR 2004. The showcase will wrap up on July 30 with the critically-acclaimed comedy special, GEORGE LOPEZ: WHY YOU CRYING? which was Lopez's first solo televised special. This hour-long special was taped before a standing-room-only live audience at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California.

For more information on this terrific line-up visit SHO.com

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Viacom Inc., owns the premium television networks SHOWTIME(R), THE MOVIE CHANNEL(TM) and FLIX(R), as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME(R) TOO(TM), SHOWTIME(R) SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME(R), SHOWTIME BEYOND(R), SHOWTIME NEXT(R), SHOWTIME WOMEN(R), SHOWTIME FAMILYZONE(R) and TMC xtra. SNI also offers SHOWTIME HD(R), THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD(R), SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(R) and THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON DEMAND(TM). SNI operates and manages the premium television network SUNDANCE CHANNEL(R), which is a venture between NBC Universal, Robert Redford, and Showtime Networks Inc. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME(R) PPV. Additionally, the advertiser-supported television network SHOWTIME is available in Turkey through a joint venture with UK-based Zone Vision.

SOURCE Showtime Networks Inc.
Web Site: http://www.SHO.com