It’s the start of the winter TV season on the premium channels (HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, and The Movie Channel) and those channels are enticing potential subscribers with a free weekend sampling of their programming. It’s one of the wonderful gifts we viewers receive several times a year. All DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, and cable subscribers will get DVR-filling goodness starting Friday and lasting until Monday night (which usually means 5:00 AM Tuesday morning). 

HBO wants as many eyes as possible tuned to the season premiere of their popular series Girls. Showtime has the returns of Shameless, House of Lies and Californication. Cinemax debuts Banshee. And movies, movies and too many movies to list. A schedule for the various HBO channels is available here. A Cinemax schedule can be found here. Showtime’s homepage is here. 

We at Scoop know that our readers greatly benefit from an early notice for these promotional treats. Set those DVRs and enjoy!