The collapse of cable networks Pivot and Esquire will be followed by further closures of small channels, according to TV execs at South by Southwest in Austin.

The comments came as Discovery Channel VP of programming Donna D’Alessandro and MTV senior VP for audience development, strategy and operations Thomas Fishman addressed the growth of cord-cutters and cord-nevers, during a panel entitled The Cord Cuts Back: The Future of Cable TV.

D’Alessandro said that despite having NBCUniversal and Comcast’s support – and the fact it was “a beautiful channel” – Esquire’s demise could precede the industry now “starting to see some of the smaller channels fold” in an increasingly crowded market.

Its forthcoming move to becoming an online-only ^[1] offering, along with Participant Media’s shuttering ^[2] of its millennials-targeted channel Pivot, also raises questions for the future of Vice’s linear cable channel Viceland, the duo mused.

“Vice is an amazing brand,” D’Alessandro said, “but the one thing I’m curious about is the business of Vice was always in and out, shortform. The idea of expanding that into a longer format… that’s an amazing strategy, but it’s an uphill battle. I’m curious how they’re going to expand that.”

However, Fishman added that ratings were not paramount to Vice’s TV operation. “It’s real estate for them,” he said. “Vice has a killer brand. I don’t think that the expectation from Shane Smith on down was that it was going to blow the roof off.”

Elsewhere on the panel, which was moderated by Sawhorse Media exec VP Natan Edelsburg, the execs were upbeat about the cable industry’s chances with a millennial audience.

Audiences “don’t want to fully cut the cord, because the same cord that brings you your TV also brings you the internet,” said Fishman. “Via that cord, the people who bought you cable brought you broadband. By and large for a consumer or a viewer, you still have a Comcast or a Time Warner in your living room.”

He also rejected the notion that the decline in subscriptions to cable TV would lead to the death of cable. “That isn’t going to happen,” he said.

For his part, D’Alessandro said that event programming – which for Discovery Communications includes Shark Week and the PuppyBowl – was among the selling points keeping linear TV relevant.