SHOWTIME(R) TRAILBLAZING NEW POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES "THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH" SETS AIRDATE

Premiering Sunday, January 17th At 8 PM ET/PT, New Weekly Vérité Series To Capture The Human Rollercoaster Of The Presidential Campaign

NEW YORK, NY - January 5, 2016 - SHOWTIME has officially announced the airdate of its new groundbreaking political series THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH. The series will premiere on Sunday, January 17th at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Produced in cooperation with Bloomberg Politics and featuring Bloomberg Politics managing editors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann and noted campaign strategist and media advisor Mark McKinnon. The real-time documentary series will pull back the curtain on the 2016 presidential race, revealing the intense, irreverent, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines of what promises to be one of the most fascinating and consequential elections in modern history. Premiering in advance of the Iowa caucuses, THE CIRCUS will deliver the stories as they are happening and examine what really goes on behind the carefully constructed facade of a presidential campaign in real time. The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc.

THE CIRCUS will follow multiple individual stories and key characters from the campaigns and capture their unique perspectives in weekly half-hour shows between January and November. With intimate, behind-the-scenes access, cameras will offer viewers a look at what the public rarely sees and explore the high human drama inherent in the pursuit of the Oval Office.

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann are the Managing Editors of Bloomberg Politics, a multi-platform destination for smart, sophisticated, non-partisan political coverage, and co-authors of the New York Times best-sellers Game Change and Double Down. Halperin and Heilemann are also the hosts of Bloomberg TV's "With All Due Respect," where every weeknight they bring their deeply-sourced reporting and access to the Bloomberg audience, including interviews with presidential candidates, elected officials, political strategists, cultural figures, and other newsmakers.

Mark McKinnon is a political consultant, columnist, and commentator. He was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is a co-founder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship and political problem solving.

THE CIRCUS: INSIDE THE GREATEST POLITICAL SHOW ON EARTH will be produced by Left/Right (a part of Red Arrow Entertainment Group) for SHOWTIME. Mark Halperin, John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon, Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman serve as executive producers.