By the late 1980s, Showtime had fewer subscriptions than HBO but still aired very similar programs. Since 1994, however, when the current Showtime Networks chief executive officer, Matthew C. Blank, selected Jerry Ofsay to take charge the network's programming, the channel has aggressively pursued alternative original content and as a result has won awards for its daring and captured audiences that had fallen through the programming gaps of other cable channels. In 2003, Blank replaced Ofsay with a new chief of entertainment. Robert Greenblatt, previously the executive producer of HBO's popular series Six Feet Under in a drive to further improve Showtime's original programming and foster more contacts with Hollywood.

     Touting its new "No Limits" logo, Showtime has recently sought to define itself as the edgier alternative to HBO. Although HBO has nearly twice the subscription rate and over twice Showtime's programming budget, Showtime has compensated and remained competitive in several ways. First, it has lowered its production costs by shooting much of its original programming in Canada: in addition, it produces all its original series in bulk. It has also been successful at luring Hollywood actors and directors to the network to make low-budget Showtime movies by encouraging them to produce their own pet projects without corporate interference. Showtime has pushed the envelope for non mainstream content in its original shows, most notably in Queer as Folk and The L Word, both of which have won acclaim for their candid representation of gay sexuality. The network makes a point of not censoring its writers. The result is a channel that has become a vital source of original cable programming in the early 2000s.

     Following the multiplexing trend of other cable networks, Showtime has used its brand name to develop several specialized channels, such  as  Showtime Women, Showtime Family Zone, and Showtime Extreme, which are often prepackaged in cable and satellite subscriptions. In addition, the Showtime Network operates The Movie Channel and Flix; it also manages The Sundance Channel under the Showtime Networks corporate umbrella, although Robert Redford and Universal Studios are additional  co-owners.  Striving  to be a technical pioneer, all the channels bearing the Show­ time banner broadcast at least some of their daily content in high-definition format  (HDTV)  and broadcast all their programming in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.

     Showtime's parent company, Viacom, Inc., survived the media merger fervor of the 1980s and 1990s and has emerged as one of the most powerful conglomerates in the television industry. As a result, Showtime has been at least partially owned by several different companies in its history. In 1985, Viacom repurchased from Warner Amex the 50 percent of Showtime sold in 1979 to the Teleprompter Corporation. In June 1987. Sumner Redstone took over Viacom International, and soon afterward, in response to industry fears over the Time Warner merger in 1989, Viacom partially merged with TeleCommunications Inc., the largest cable operator in the country, which bought a 50 percent interest in Showtime. In 1992, Showtime announced the formation of the Showtime Entertainment Group, which was designed to make original motion pictures to premiere on Showtime, and then in 1994 the channel officially formed Showtime Networks, which included The Movie Channel and Flix. The Showtime Network added The Sundance Channel to its lineup in 1996.

     Much of Showtime's programming history is entwined with HBO's, as the two have taken programming cues from one another. When Showtime and HBO first aired in the 1970s, both were used as uncensored outlets for recently released theatrical films before they premiered on the broadcast networks. However, as videocassette rentals claimed a growing portion of this second-run movie market, both channels began to create original content in the 1980s in an effort to retain their audiences. Utilizing the freedoms of cable TV, both simultaneously developed series that incorporated risque content, such as nudity, sexuality, adult language, and drug use, making their programs unique to cable and removing any potential competition from the commercially funded broadcast channels. Two of Showtime's early series, Brothers and It's Garry Shandling 's Show, were well received by cable audiences . Brothers, the first sitcom made specifically for cable TV, opened new social territory in 1984 because of its openly gay sexual content. It's Garry Shandling 's Show was quickly purchased by the newly established FOX Network. Both shows unveiled a powerful American market for challenging prime-time content that could be accurately developed only outside the reign of the broadcast network censors. These viewing preferences were also reflected in the annual Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Awards (Emmys); by the late 1990s, both Showtime and HBO were receiving a substantial portion of the original programming nominations.

     As Showtime and HBO continued to vie in the late 1990s for pay-TV market shares, the Showtime programmers took a different tack. They began to target specific underrepresented audiences. In 1999, they pursued African-American audiences with the drama series Soul Food, based on the popular movie of the same title. They also pursued the American Latino audience with Resurrection Blvd., the first and only English-speaking television series with a predominantly Latino cast to air in the early 2000s. In 1999, they struck programming gold by adapting an openly gay British television series, Queer as Folk, which went on to become one of the network's highest-rated shows. These types of niche-focused programming decisions have allowed Showtime to continue to grow and innovate regardless of its share of the pay-TV movie channel market.