Question for those with HBO and/or Showtime

gidgetgh · ‎03-09-2010

My dad is in assisted living. He has Comcast cable. I'd really like him to be able to see some of the newer movies like Spotlight, Brooklyn, The Big Short, etc. To be honest, he can't really get the knack of the whole "on demand" feature on his cable. He doesn't use a computer- just turned 87. DVD player is really out also.

So I thought, I know, I'll get him HBO and Showtime and he can watch the new releases there (my husband and I don't have either of them). Before calling Comcast to add them to his cable, I went to the websites for both to look at the movie lineup. It was pathetic. Really old releases. Like from years ago.

Do either HBO or Showtime get anything new? Any guidance for me?

Why is it, when I have a 50/50 guess at something, I'm always 100% wrong?

truffle · ‎01-04-2016

I have HBO so I can watch Game of Thrones and other interesting series but you're right as far as movies go, they're old and repetitious. One really has to order through On Demand to watch fairly current movies.

Pearlee · ‎06-11-2011

@gidgetgh wrote:
My dad is in assisted living. He has Comcast cable. I'd really like him to be able to see some of the newer movies like Spotlight, Brooklyn, The Big Short, etc. To be honest, he can't really get the knack of the whole "on demand" feature on his cable. He doesn't use a computer- just turned 87. DVD player is really out also.

So I thought, I know, I'll get him HBO and Showtime and he can watch the new releases there (my husband and I don't have either of them). Before calling Comcast to add them to his cable, I went to the websites for both to look at the movie lineup. It was pathetic. Really old releases. Like from years ago.

Do either HBO or Showtime get anything new? Any guidance for me?

Oh yes @gidgetgh I have both HBO and Showtime and HBO esp. gets really current movies. IMO they appear on HBO within a year after they are in the first-run movie theaters. Lots of times within just a few months after they are in the second-run (cheapie) movie theaters. The movies shown during the day on those stations aren't very current though.They also show some excellent original series and documentaries, esp. on HBO.

SaRina · ‎04-17-2015

I only have Showtime as a special add-on to my cable package. To my experience, it does not feature the latest releases. The newest movies I have seen are 1.5-2 years old. Also, Sho repeats these movies over months and moves them around from one channel to the next in its series of channels. For this reason, I wouldn't pay the regular full price for Showtime. I could do without it.

Shaunac · ‎09-22-2010

The offerings are really slim. I would absolutely not expect much in the way of recent movies. Don't bother, not worth it. Even when they offer a free weekend showing of these channels, I can barely find anything interesting. Everything is old, with an occasional good movie.

SaRina · ‎04-17-2015

I should add I have really enjoyed the new series "Billions" on Showtime and look forward to season 2. Terrific actors! :-)

PinkyPetunia · ‎03-09-2010

Maybe you are complicating matters unnecessarily. Does your father want the HBO or Showtime? He may be satisfied with the standard channels lineup. There lots of channels to watch on basic cable. Just a thought.

chickenbutt · ‎03-09-2010

Brand new releases are never going to make it to the Premium channels unless they tank quickly.

BUT, there are always new-ish films on HBO and Showtime. It's not that they are only new films. There are also a lot of original programming shows on both channels, but they may well not be for this particular person.

I usually look at the guide for Saturdays on HBO and find the newest stuff premiering. But then the movies will re-air a bunch of times after that.

On Showtime I also see a lot of new-ish movies (like from last year and the year before, until late in the year where this year's movies might hit). Also, Showtime, and HBO really, does a lot of great documentaries. Seems like Showtime docs were mostly premiering on Mondays but I'm not sure if that's still the deal.

HTH

terrier3 · ‎03-10-2010

The premoim channels used to have new movies every week - now they concentrate on original programming.

All you need to do is check out the Pay per View movies...the On Demand channels have a lot of free movies too.

It will probably cost less than subscribing to a premium channel and waiting for movies to be released through them.

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

@Shaunac wrote:
The offerings are really slim. I would absolutely not expect much in the way of recent movies. Don't bother, not worth it. Even when they offer a free weekend showing of these channels, I can barely find anything interesting. Everything is old, with an occasional good movie.

That's what my husband says. The same movies on today were on a year ago. I'm really not a movie watcher, can't sit still that long!

The only reason we have either of them is because they were included in with our package bundle and will get rid of them when the contract is up and they want to start charging us for them.