This Summer, Participant Media Turns To Television With The Launch of Pivot

“TV That Matters For The New Greatest Generation” Includes: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Open Source Variety Show, ‘HitRECord on TV!’; ‘TakePart Live,’ LIVE Topical Talk Nightly; Shakespeare 2.0 tale ‘Will’ From Craig Pearce & Cineflix Studios; ‘Raising McCain’ starring Meghan McCain; Romeo and Juliet Reality, ‘Jersey Strong’; Bilingual Documentary-Series, co-produced with Univision News

World Television Premieres of Feature Films Including ‘A Place at the Table,’ ‘Terms and Conditions May Apply,’ ‘We Are Legion,’ ‘99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film’

NEW YORK (March 27, 2013) — At a presentation held today at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design, executives from Participant Media, the leading provider of entertainment that inspires and accelerates social change, unveiled details surrounding the August 1^st launch of the company’s new cable network, pivot.

Participant CEO Jim Berk said: “Over the past 9 ½ years, through 43 films, Participant has built a reputation for content that is entertaining, commercial and high quality, while at the same time, inspiring and empowering to audiences. pivot marks a seminal moment for us with the launch of a channel for people who care about the world around them.”

With 40+ million subscribers at launch, pivot’s programming slate is anchored by more than 300 hours of original programming in its first year. The network’s first six greenlit series are: “TakePart Live,” a live talk show, five nights a week; “HitRECord on TV!,” a re-imagination of the variety show from director/creator/star Joseph Gordon-Levitt and executive producer Brian Graden; “Raising McCain,” a genre-bending docu-talk series starring and executive produced by the complex and accomplished Meghan McCain with Go Go Luckey Entertainment; modern period drama “WILL,” from Craig Pearce, writer of “Moulin Rouge” and “The Great Gatsby”;“Jersey Strong,” a real reality series from Peabody Award-winners Marc Levin and Mark Benjamin. The network also announced a pioneering joint venture withUnivision News and Latin World Entertainment to co-produce ten, one-hour documentaries that will air on pivot in English and Univision in Spanish.

Network president Evan Shapiro introduced pivot’s programming slate as well as itsinnovative distribution strategy. “The success of this network will be based on its impact. Both our programming and distribution model are designed to disrupt conventional wisdom. By building the network around our double bottom line, we spark change through entertaining stories told by powerful voices such as Joe, Meghan, Craig, the Marks and Univision. By combining the dominant Pay TV model with an unconventional streaming package, we are adapting to changes our audience has already made.”

pivot will be available through traditional Pay TV packages, offered by multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) across the country. For these subscribers,pivot will offer perhaps the most comprehensive set of TV Everywhere rights in the industry, allowing subscribers to stream the network, Live and On Demand; to any device, anywhere.

Even more unconventionally, for consumers often known as cord-cutters and cord-nevers, pivot will work with its MVPD partners to offer a first-of-a-kind broadband-only subscription, including a linear stream of the network and access to programming on demand.

Reacting to the announcements, Daniel York, DIRECTV’s Chief Content Officer, commented: “We’re proud to be the first to embrace this new independent network.pivot combines Participant’s track record for high-quality content and strong social messages, with an innovative approach to the business that we look for in our content partners. Their programming speaks to the next generation of DIRECTV customers and their flexible rights model will help us reach them.”

Using a new piece of research from Miner & Co. Studio and Beagle Insights andpivot, Shapiro reframed the industry language concerning cord-cutters and cord-nevers – calling these consumers “Broadband Believers.” The research presented demonstrates that this specific audience stands at 10 million-plus homes in the US and growing.

Shapiro added: “Traditional TV viewing is by far the dominant way people enjoy television programming, and pivot will compete for TV Traditionalists every day and night. We also want to serve Broadband viewers. Both communities are MVPD customers. This summer, for the first time, both groups will be able to get this new channel, and pivot will be the first channel, which satellite, telco and cable companies can offer to ALL of their customers.”

The following series have been greenlit for production and will premiere in 2013:

About pivot
pivot is a new television network from Participant Media, serving passionate millennials with a diverse slate of talent and a mix of original series, acquired programming, films and documentaries. pivot focuses on entertainment that sparks conversation and inspires change, using programs such as “TakePart Live”, its nightly talk show, to illuminate issues through engaging content, and its website TakePart.com to continue the conversation and connect audiences to a wealth of content and customizable actions. pivot is also changing the media landscape, available via traditional Pay TV subscription this summer to 40 million-plus homes as well as a live streaming channel via its interactive, downloadable pivotApp. In both content and delivery, pivot is TV for The New Greatest Generation. Follow pivot on Twitter and on Facebook.

About Participant Media
Participant is a global entertainment company founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll to focus on feature films, television, publishing and digital content that inspire social change. Participant’s more than 40 films include “GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.”, “SYRIANA”, “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH”, “FOOD, INC.”, “WAITING FOR ‘SUPERMAN’”, “THE HELP”, “CONTAGION” And “LINCOLN.” Participant’s social action campaigns and digital network TakePart.com continue the conversation and connect audiences to a wealth of content and actions. Its new millennial television network pivot, launching this summer in 40 million-plus homes, is TV for The New Greatest Generation.