Fox Showcase is an Australian premium dramacable 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. FOX Showcase is now owned and operated by Foxtel Networks; and is their flagship entertainment channel, and airs programming with no ad breaks during shows. FOX Showcase can be found on channel 114 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. On 9 December 2012, it was announced that Movie Network and Showtime would be replaced with a new lineup of Foxtel-branded movie channels to be named Foxtel Movies 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. Following the closure of SoHo and the launch of the channel Binge on 5 October 2016, showcase moved to channel 114.
Original programming
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 ofLove 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". In 2010 Showtime commissioned a 6-hour mini-series Cloudstreet based on the novel by Tim Winton. The series premiered on 22 May 2011. 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.
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 America. 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.
