- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
There’s about to be another vacancy on the dial.
Pivot, the three-year-old TV network from Participant Media, is shutting down. The network, which tried to court a millennial audience with shows from the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Meghan McCain, has only been on the air since 2013.
Participant’s decision to pull the plug on the show comes after the media company tapped David Linde as its new CEO in late 2015. The network was initially quite ambitious with original programming, under president Evan Shapiro, but the 2014 executive shuffle that saw Kent Rees named general manager was followed by an increased reliance on acquisitions.
The channel will go dark sometime before the end of the year.
Pivot initially took over the cable real estate occupied by the Documentary Channel and Halogen TV. The decision to shutter without a buyer in place is not uncommon in the increasingly dire cable landscape. The top of 2016 saw upstart Al Jazeera America, which took the place of Pivot’s millennial-focused predecessor CurrentTV, go dark without anything lined up to replace it.
Cable may not have worked for Participant, but the company has thrived in other television arenas with original series. Its film slate also includes the upcoming Mark Wahlberg feature Deep Water Horizon.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day