Cable Network Pivot to Shut Down

Just three years after launching, Pivot, the cable destination for the millennial destination, is being shut down by Participant Media. The plan is to go dark by the end of this year. “As the media landscape changes, we have been evaluating how we fulfill our mission to entertain and inspire social action around the world’s most pressing issues,” said David Linde, CEO of Participant Media, in a statement. “That process has led us to the decision to move away from owning and operating a cable network. While this conclusion was not an easy one, it is ultimately in the best interest of all our stakeholders, and allows us to allocate more resources toward the production of compelling content across all platforms.”

Participant founder Jeff Skoll invested over a reported $200 million to form the new linear television network, but it launched right at a time that viewers — particularly its target audience of millennials — were leaving traditional television for online alternatives. Some of the programs it launched included drama “Fortitude,” Australian dramedy “Please Like Me,” reality-themed “Secret Lives of Americans,” and “HitRecord” with Joseph Gordon Levitt.