Dedicated to pop culture TV, cable channel Trio was recently dropped from the DirecTV satellite line-up. An anonymous Trio source says the move cost the New York-based network 12 million of its 20 million subscribers. While Trio execs were unable to comment, an official company statement reads, ‘We are committed to programming the network and the website for our loyal viewers and cable distribution partners.’

A program service of NBC Universal Cable, the statement also says that NBC Universal ‘continues to evaluate the future of the network in relation to its overall digital strategy.’

World of Wonder ep Fenton Bailey contends that the recent changes don’t make the channel a failure.’It’s just slightly ahead of its time,’ he says. With offices in London and L.A., World of Wonder has produced several projects for Trio over the past three years, including Gay Republicans, 101 Rent Boys and Party Monster.

Bailey notes that with the current blog and iPod explosion, audiences are ‘becoming increasingly sophisticated experts on pop culture,’ which he says will help Trio’s future. ‘[These audiences] aren’t going to be fobbed off with the inferior content they currently have to put up with on television. They know what they want and where to get it, and if it isn’t to be found on TV, they’ll just go elsewhere.’