Showtime Renews 'Homeland,' 'Masters Of Sex'

Showtime has greenlit new seasons for Emmy-award winning series Homeland and freshman series Masters Of Sex, the network announced Tuesday.

The terrorism-based drama Homeland (pictured), which stars two-time Emmy-winning actress Claire Danes, will return for a 12-episode fourth season in 2014. The network’s most watched series is averaging 6.5 million viewers across all plays and platforms, up 26 percent compared to the 5.1 million viewers the show generated during for its second season during the same time frame.

Masters Of Sex, which follows the lives of human sexuality pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, will return next year for its sophomore campaign with 12 new episodes, said network officials. The series is averaging 5.4 million viewers across all plays and platforms, up 33% from Homeland’s first season in the same time frame.

Homeland continues to prove its strength for Showtime, and is one of television's most exciting, provocative and widely-discussed shows ... it has grown its audience significantly in each of its three seasons," said David Nevins, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc., in a statement. “The critical and audience reaction to Masters Of Sex since its great launch has been incredibly gratifying.” 

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.