Participant Media Shuts Down Cable TV Network Pivot, Series’ Future In Question

Participant Media is shutting down its TV cable network Pivot, after a re-evaluation of their core business. Pivot TV launched in 2013. Parcipant’s CEO David Linde said, “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. 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.”

The move puts into question what will happen to Please Like Me, Josh Thomas’ coming-of-age comedy from Australia, which just got the greenlight in July for Season 4. Asked if it would be shopped elsewhere, a spokeswoman for the company would not comment.

Participant cited the growing competitive environment and “the wave of consolidation” among cable TV distributors as another reason for its exit from owning and operating a TV cable network, which obviously refers to the recent $4.4billion acquisition of Starz by Lionsgate.

They said those factors has driven up the cost of programming and they have seen the “continued migration by consumers and advertisers toward online video and away from traditional linear video.”

Further in a company statement, they say: “At the same time, demand for high-quality content has continued to grow as consumers spend increasing amounts of time watching content at home, at work and on-the-go.”