Showtime is a major group of premium cable channels offering first-run movies, original movies, sports events coverage, and more. Showtime is available to 29.7 million households in the United States, and more by licensing around the world.

“Showtime” is a generic term—a description, not a unique name—so the word needed to be made visually special in some way. As the shorthand for Showtime in network listings has always been SHO, this abbreviation inspired our solution: highlighting SHO in the name by shining a spotlight on it—a simple, appropriate metaphor for show business.

Not only does the treatment instantly make the generic word unique, it also creates a focused visual icon for use as on-screen channel identification, social media avatar, app icon, etc. In fact, SHO is such an obvious abbreviation for “show” that many people don’t even realize that the W has fallen away. The company has so thoroughly embraced the shorthand that the family of brands has locked up the SHO with all its sub-brands, such as ShoExtreme and ShoBeyond, and the official URL is simply sho.com.