Upfront Review: Pivot’s Quest for “Upstanders”

PivotVenue Lower level of the famed Lamb39s Club on W 44th St around the corner from the Broadway studios of amp8220Good Morning Americaamp8221 El Rey Network kicked off this event parade two months ago from Lamb39s secondfloor Stanford White Room This lower eating locale was bigger framed by bold designs and headshots of the channel39s top talent Give the house chef credit for sensitivity toward attendees marking Passover by having matzoh at all tables and a tasty egg whites dish as an alternative to French toast Unfortunately the egg whites could have been somewhat bigger Grade 4 5 JacksPresentation In just eight months Pivot has plenty to tout and thatamp8217s exactly what president Evan Shapiro and parent Participant Media chief executive officer Jim Berk did More than 45 million households can get the channel original series like Please Like Me Jersey Strong and TakePart Live picked up favorable reviews across the country and 196 advertisers have joined in with campaigns quotHere we are a young fledging channelquot Berk said quotWe believe in the power of media to compel people to live a powerful lifequot Millennials or Generation Y as Shapiro defines them are the audience Pivot is out to compel with its format Videos featuring some Y constituents who watch the network regularly suggested Pivot is drawing a solid audience in advance of qualifying for Nielsen ratings Moreover Pivot is attracting quotupstandersquot the 1834 Gen Y subset that according to a new Nielsen segmentation report gets more involved in social issues and rewards companiesbrands that do likewise amp8220They love TV on TV They want TV to take on the most important issues of the dayquot Shapiro said quotThey expect more from TV and want the brands they use to stand for somethingquotPivot joined other pressdirected events this year in spreading talent appearances throughout the presentation Grade 5 JacksNews TakePart moves from midnight into primetime for its second season debut May 12 with Watch What Happens Live Talking Dead and Cutthroat Kitchen producer Embassy Row involved as collaborator A new monthly feature there will be quotChange Labquot an indepth investigation of global issues underwritten in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Cesar39s Last Fast kicks off the10part PivotUnivision documentary series May 24 simultaneously running in English and Spanish Three new series are set to debut in the second half of 2014 Docuseries Human Resources life inside a waste recycling facility and Welcome to Fairfax a Los Angeles incubator for creative artists and improv musical comedy Freestyle Love Supreme Separately ecothriller Fortitude the Sky TV production Starz first agreed to coproduce then backed out of a few weeks ago will now have Pivot coproducing Will the young Will Shakespeare surreal drama from The Great GatsbyMoulin Rouge writer Craig Pearce announced at Pivot39s press conference debut last April is still in play further details ahead Series in development include animated Leader Town scripted Panic Years Prison Earth and Thirst nonfiction American Rewind America39s Got Issues and I Am Young Detroit and Creative Collection a shortsubject anthology series designed in part to pilot new programming concepts Grade 5 JacksHost Wellrounded and informative turns by Shapiro Berk and executive vice president of ad salespartnerships John Arianas Grade 45 JacksOverall Grade 5 Jacks This network is on a mission and knows how to showcase it The clips and talent left us impressed that for Pivot year two playing in the universe of TV channels will bust some important movesAnother observation from the upfront paradeTwo years ago Scripps Networks was the only programmer devoting considerable time at an upfront event to inventive campaigns by sponsors which far exceed 30second buys Great to see other presentations follow suit this year including Discovery Communications and GSN Pivot39s effort last Wednesday morning described by Arianas moved the needle even more thanks to an organization known as Students of the World Young filmTV production talent from college campuses put together elements of MonstercomMonster Worldwide39s quotFind Betterquot campaign on the channel including 10minute TakePart Live segments and a 30minute Generation Job special Other Students of the Worldaffiliated talent produced spots for a number of firsttime national advertisers such as Storyfield Organic foods Keep watching what Students of the World does from here for Pivot and other TV networks5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Worse than badSpeaking of Scripps Networks their event is up tomorrowUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may 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Upfront Review: Pivot’s Quest for “Upstanders”

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