TakePart’s Parent Company Announces New TV Network

TakePart's parent company, Participant Media, announced yesterday that it will launch a new cable television network in summer 2013 aimed at Millennials, aged 18-34.

Carrying on TakePart and Participant's mission of presenting socially relevent content and entertainment, the as-yet-named network will reach an estimated 40 million+ households when it launches next year. 

"We're going to cross all genres—comedy, drama, scripted and reality—as long as it meets the mission of 'Entertainment that Inspires Change' and meets the tastes of the Millennial viewers we want to reach," Evan Shapiro, who will head up the new network, told TakePart. "We will have great stuff every day—series, films, documentaries, specials—that transport the viewer, but that also spark a conversation."

Among the entertainment veterans signed up to help shape the programming on the new network: former MTV executive Brian Graden, blogger and political commentator Meghan McCain, Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and The Jim Henson Company's Brian Henson. 

Participant recently completed the acquisition of The Documentary Channel and the distribution assets of Halogen TV. Both will be rebranded and combined to form the new network. 

So why should TakePart readers tune in? 

"Most TV networks for Millennials are built around POP Culture. As a result, they have to chase fads and make derivatives of what everyone else is doing," Shapiro told TakePart. "We believe in the power of this generation to change the way media works and to change the world around them. We will create programming that speaks to your heart and your mind on a network that you can truly call your own."

Stay tuned. 

Max Follmer is the Executive Producer of Series and Franchises at TakePart.com. He has previously covered politics and courts for the Biloxi Sun-Herald, The Huffington Post, and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.