Showtime is quietly transforming itself with risk-taking shows, even with "retrograde" City on a Hill

The Ringer

"City on a Hill may not be a particularly novel or exceptional instance of the form, but it does seem like part of Showtime’s efforts to establish a presence in one of television’s most crowded spaces," says Alison Herman. "Showtime’s latest moves aren’t quite radical enough to call a rebrand, nor drastic enough to call much attention to themselves. But quietly, the channel is undergoing a version of the process many of its peers are undertaking in more dramatic fashion. There’s no playbook for thriving as a pay cable channel in 2019, so you might as well diversify and see what sticks."