Sky strikes deal to screen CBS's Showtime programmes in Europe

Jan 21 (Reuters) - European pay-TV group Sky Plc (LSE: BSY.L - news) has struck a deal to screen programmes from CBS Corp's popular Showtime stable, including Billions starring Damian Lewis, as competition for top shows heats up among European broadcasters.

The licensing deal will allow Sky to offer programmes from the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . group's premium television network to its 21 million customers across all its markets, including Britain, Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , Germany, Austria and Italy.

Billions, the story of a U.S. attorney going after a hedge fund manager, premiered in the United States on Jan. 17 and won instant popularity among viewers.

The deal comes as Sky tries to extend its reach in European markets through its main platform and online.

The company is also set to launch a mobile service in 2016 with O2 to better compete with British rivals BT and Virgin Media and so-called Over The Top or online players such as Netflix (Xetra: 552484 - news) .

The CBS deal includes all new and future series on Showtime and also covers new seasons of hits such as Ray Donovan and The Affair, the companies said in a joint statement.

Sky, formed by the combination of Britain's BSkyB, Sky (Amsterdam: BK8.AS - news) Deutschland and Sky Italia, had revenues of more than 11 billion pounds ($15.6 billion) in its last financial year.

($1 = 0.7053 pounds) (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)