The!New!York!Times! http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/business/media/pivotHtvHpitchesHtoHyoungH viewers.html?_r=0! !
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! Toward!the!end!of!Evan!Shapiro’s!semesterHlong!course!on!television!management!at!New!York! University,!he!spends!an!hour!on!the!topic!“Building!a!PostHNetwork!Channel!from!the!Ground!Up.”!For! the!19H!and!20HyearHold!students!—!the!fickle!viewers!that!advertisers!and!programmers!so! desperately!want!to!reach!—!the!final!assignment!is!to!pitch!some!sort!of!TV!innovation,!be!it!a!new! way!to!schedule!shows,!a!distribution!strategy!or!even!a!brandHnew!network.!! The!question!is!more!than!academic!for!Mr.!Shapiro,!a!former!president!of!IFC!and!the!Sundance! Channel,!who!is!honing!his!own!plan!for!something!new,!a!channel!for!young!people!called!Pivot!that! will!become!available!in!40!million!homes!on!Thursday.!Being!around!students!has!reminded!him! again!and!again!how!hard!it!will!be!to!keep!their!attention.!!
“There!are!a!bajillion!media!choices!out!there,”!said!Mr.!Shapiro,!now!the!president!of!Pivot,!probably! slightly!underestimating!how!many!options!there!really!are.!“This!generation!has!information!and!data! and!content!thrown!at!them!at!lightning!speed.!The!idea!that!they!will!actually!care!about!us!and!know! about!us!is!probably!our!biggest!challenge.”!! So!Pivot!is!keeping!expectations!low!—!it!won’t!be!rated!by!Nielsen!at!the!outset!—!while!trying!to!be! on!every!screen!it!can.!The!channel!is!part!of!a!drive!into!television!by!Participant!Media,!the!film! company!behind!“An!Inconvenient!Truth,”!“Lincoln,”!“A!Place!at!the!Table”!and!others.!It!comes!at!a! time!of!intense!skepticism!about!whether!people!under!35!are!watching!traditional!television!at!all! anymore,!now!that!alternatives!like!Netflix!and!YouTube!are!available.!! Nielsen!data!backs!up!Pivot’s!claims!that!oldHfashioned!television!is!still!paramount!among!young! people.!In!the!first!quarter!of!2013,!the!typical!adult!aged!18!to!24!watched!about!four!hours!of!TV! every!day,!most!of!it!live,!and!16!minutes!of!Internet!programming.!Those!aged!25!to!34!watched! about!an!hour!more!TV!than!the!younger!group,!and!almost!as!much!on!the!Internet.!! Still,!the!trend!lines!are!ominous;!traditional!TV!consumption!has!been!slipping!among!those!under!34! for!the!last!two!years.!And!many!people!suspect!that!the!shift!is!happening!faster!than!Nielsen’s!data! suggests.!So!why!start!a!channel!for!the!soHcalled!millennial!generation,!besides!the!obvious!answers! involving!advertisers!who!pay!a!premium!for!younger!demographics?!! Mr.!Shapiro’s!answer!involved!a!great!deal!of!flattery.!Where!others!see!stereotypes!about!“navelH gazing!entitled!narcissists,”!he!said,!“we!see!the!most!openHminded,!most!connected,!most!generous,! most!giving!generation!alive!on!the!planet!today.!We’re!betting!heavy!on!their!ability!to!make!the! changes!that!the!world!so!badly!needs.”!! Participant!Media’s!progressive!mandate!—!“entertainment!that!inspires!and!compels!social!change”! —!will!carry!over!to!Pivot!through!onHscreen!graphics!about!how!viewers!can!help!combat,!say,! hunger!in!America,!or!support!antibullying!efforts.!But!Mr.!Shapiro!stressed!that!Pivot!will!be!a!general! entertainment!channel,!complete!with!an!original!comedy!called!“Please!Like!Me”!and!repeats!of! “Friday!Night!Lights”!and!“Farscape.”!! “We!can’t!fulfill!the!second!part!of!our!mandate!if!we!can’t!fulfill!the!first,”!he!said.!! Mr.!Shapiro,!46,!is!not!himself!a!millennial,!nor!is!his!senior!management!team,!and!when!told!during!a! telephone!interview!that!this!reporter!was!27,!he!exclaimed,!“You’re!a!child!”!At!other!times,!he!used! “kids”!before!correcting!himself!and!saying!“young!people.”!But!he!said!“half!the!programming!group! are!millennials.”!! The!channel’s!celebrity!backers!include!Joseph!GordonHLevitt,!whose!variety!show,!“HitRECord!on! TV!,”!will!come!on!early!next!year,!and!Meghan!McCain,!whose!onHtheHroad!talk!show,!“Raising! McCain,”!will!premiere!in!September.!! In!an!interview!Ms.!McCain,!28,!daughter!of!Senator!John!McCain,!Republican!of!Arizona,!admitted!to! some!hesitation!before!her!first!meeting!with!Pivot,!given!the!history!of!highHminded!startHup!channels! “that!quite!frankly!don’t!do!that!well.”!(Participant!acquired!two!failed!channels,!the!Documentary! Channel!and!Halogen!TV,!last!year!to!allow!the!creation!of!Pivot.)!But!she!said!she!came!away! convinced!by!the!channel’s!potential.!! “When!I!was!growing!up,!MTV!News!had!such!a!big!impact!on!my!life,”!Ms.!McCain!said.!Now!it! scarcely!exists,!she!added,!implying!that!Pivot!could!fulfill!a!similar!purpose.!Mr.!Shapiro!included!MTV!
in!Pivot’s!competitive!set,!along!with!ABC!Family,!BBC!America,!the!forthcoming!FX!spinoff!FXX,!Hulu! and!Netflix.!! “Our!bet!is!on!a!pluralistic!view!of!the!future!of!television,”!he!said,!meaning!viewers!can!choose! scheduled!or!onHdemand!offerings.!Kent!Rees,!Pivot’s!top!scheduler,!said!the!channel!has!been! constructed!with!binge!viewing!in!mind:!For!instance,!the!first!six!episodes!of!“Please!Like!Me,”!an! Australian!comedy!starring!Josh!Thomas!that!made!its!debut!in!that!country!earlier!this!year,!will!be! shown!several!times!in!a!row!during!Pivot’s!first!week.!They’ll!also!be!available!on!demand.!! While!Pivot!is!dependent!on!the!support!of!cable!and!satellite!providers,!some!of!which!have!declined! to!carry!it,!the!channel!also!wants!(and!needs)!to!reach!the!viewers!it!calls!“broadbanders”!(and!others! call!cordHcutters),!who!pay!for!Internet!but!not!bundled!TV!channels.!It!is!encouraging!broadband! providers!to!sell!a!small!bundle!of!channels,!Pivot!included,!for!Internet!streaming.!! “It!would!be!the!first!product!of!its!kind,”!Mr.!Shapiro!said,!sold!through!the!broadband!provider!—!if! any!agree!to!do!it,!that!is.!Exuding!confidence,!he!said!the!Internet!version!would!“roll!out!in!the!next! 12!months.”!By!then,!Pivot!hopes!to!be!premiering!its!first!scripted!drama,!“Will,”!about!Shakespeare’s! life!as!a!millennial.!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !