Pivot’s Primetime News Program TakePart Live to launch a Year-Long Campaign Celebrating Younger Veterans and Spotlighting Challenges they Face Returning Home

Pivot’s Primetime News Program TakePart Live to launch a Year-Long Campaign Celebrating Younger Veterans and Spotlighting Challenges they Face Returning Home

Championed by co-host Meghan McCain, “Return the Service” Will Focus on Health, Jobs, and Mental and Physical Well Being of Returning Service Men and Women

Campaign Guided by New Public Opinion Survey Finding the Majority of American’s Believe We Should Do More for Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan

Beverly Hills, CA, May 22, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Pivot’s nightly primetime news program TakePart Live (10PM ET/9PM CT) will unveil a year-long, multi-platform on and off air campaign centered on younger veterans during Thursday’s program. ‘Return the Service’ celebrates the bravery, resilience and contributions of our service men and women, while exploring the challenges they face returning home, and offers avenues for viewers to take action to address these important issues.

Championed by TakePart Live co-host Meghan McCain, whose own family has a long history of military service, ‘Return the Service’ will roll out through regular on-air and online segments, in-depth articles on TakePart.com, polls and collateral to educate and activate Millennial audiences to make a difference in the lives of our veterans.  In addition, Meghan will tape interstitial content to provide specific action that can be taken by viewers, which will run during the show.

“I’m incredibly proud of my father and brother who served our country. I’m also personally aware of the many issues that our returning vets face, especially those who are my age and trying to acclimate into civilian life and start careers,” said Meghan McCain.  “This is a great opportunity to bring attention to our brave military personal and also shed light on serious issues facing them while offering avenues to make change.”

A key programming initiative of ‘Return the Service’ is Pivet 11, a segment that will air on the 11th of each month and feature an amazing vet who has triumphed or been challenged with common issues facing both vets and Millenials.  It’s a celebration of our military heroes and looks more closely at the issues they face.

“This is an example of how the show earns its name: we unpack issues important to our audience that get overlooked elsewhere, through points of view not represented on television.  From there we turn that information into action designed to effect change,” said Belisa Balaban, EVP Original Programming for Pivot.

The campaign includes alliances with several NGOs including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) who have launched a Campaign to Combat Suicide, including advancing legislation at the federal level to support our nation’s veterans.

“Younger citizens aren’t as connected to the military as other generations. In fact, we found that only 30% of Millennials have an immediate family member who has served, yet 90% of people believe returning veterans are not getting the support they need, especially in ensuring their mental and physical well being for their heroic service,” said Chad Boettcher, EVP Social Action for Participant Media.  “We aim to build a shared understanding between those who have served and those who haven’t so that together we can solve these important issues.”

The ‘Return the Service’ campaign and social action opportunities are informed by a national phone survey from Participant Media, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, International (PSRAI), that found that despite Americans’ overwhelming pride in our military veterans, we could do more to support young veterans. 

Highlights of the study found that:

• Military careers are among the most admired by Americans: A career in service ranks at the top of the list of ‘most admired,’ along with teachers and doctors.
• We can do better for our returning service men and women: Despite Americans’ overwhelming pride in our military veterans (94%), an equally overwhelming majority (90%) says that young vets are not getting the support and help they need to successfully return to civilian life.
• Military service provides great training for on-the-job success: The vast majority of Americans agree that military service provides excellent job skills, and yet they recognize the challenges for young vets to find employment after combat.  Over 90% of respondents believe military training gives vets a leg up in the workforce in each category: working under pressure, working together as a team, learning to be a leader, learning to plan and prepare, and having a strong work ethic.
• Budgeting for Veteran’s healthcare should be a top priority for the federal government. American’s believe that getting veterans healthcare including mental healthcare should be a top priority in the federal government budget.

The results of the Participant Media national survey of Americans, "Challenges & Opportunities for Young Veterans," are based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,000 adults, 18 and older, conducted April 29 through May 8, 2014.  Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish. The overall margin of sampling error for questions based on total sample is +/- 3.5 percentage points. Conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, International. A research brief is available here online at: www.Takepart.com/returntheservice.

TakePart Live, is Pivot’s nightly topical news program hosted by Meghan McCain, Jacob Soboroff and Eddie Huang. It airs nightly at 10pm ET/9 PM CT. For more information on TakePart Live and the campaign please visit: www.Takepart.com/returntheservice

About Pivot (Pivot.tv), which launched nationally August 1 is a television network from Participant Media serving passionate Millennials (18-34) with a diverse slate of talent and a mix of original series, acquired programming, films and documentaries. Pivot focuses on entertainment that sparks conversation, inspires change and illuminates issues through engaging content and, through its website TakePart.com, connects audiences to a wealth of content and customizable actions. Pivot is available via traditional Pay TV subscription and integrating a Live and on demand streaming option via its interactive, downloadable Pivot APP. Follow Pivot on Twitter at @pivot_tv and on Facebook at facebook.com/pivottelevision.