[November 15, 2018] |
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Comcast Announces Agreements with Two New African American Majority Owned Independent Networks
Comcast (News - Alert) Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) today announced it has selected two
new African American majority owned independent networks to be broadly
distributed on Comcast Cable systems beginning in January 2019. After a
thorough evaluation of dozens of proposals, Comcast selected AFRO and
CLEO TV, both of which will provide quality entertainment that
highlights and features TV and movie content about African American and
black communities.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181115005621/en/
AFRO and CLEO TV Will Launch on Comcast's Xfinity TV in January 2019 (Graphic: Business Wire)
"The offerings from both AFRO and CLEO TV serve as an excellent
complement to the growing catalog of programming choices we offer about
global black communities," said Keesha Boyd, Executive Director,
Multicultural Products at Comcast Cable. "We remain committed to
delivering a wide array of programming by partnering with independent
networks, such as the two we're announcing today, to better serve our
increasingly diverse customer base."
AFRO, a channel from Afrotainment, is a 24-hour polycultural black
network mainly broadcasting top-rated Nollywood and black movies,
dramas, sitcoms, music, talk, and late night comedy shows.
"We are excited to bring AFRO's live content and growing on demand
catalog of more than 300 hours of original programming to millions of
Xfinity customers. Comcast's selection of AFRO, which is a recognition
of the rich diversity in black content and culture, solidifies our
position as a leader in polycultural black home entertainment in North
America," said Yves Bollanga, Founder and CEO of Afrotainment.
CLEO TV is a lifestyle and entertainment network targeting Millennial
and Gen X women of color. Derived from the name Cleopatra, one of the
most powerful, trendsetting, rule-breaking and iconic women in history,
CLEO TV will offer quality content that defies negative and cultural
stereotypes of today's modern women. The network promises a unique and
diverse offering of short-form and long-form content including travel,
home design cooking, talk shows, movies, docu-series, sitcoms and much
more.
"We're at a pivotal moment in history where women are making a huge
impact in our society and culture, especially women of color," said
Michelle Rice, TV One's General Manager. "CLEO TV will offer a diverse
mix of lifestyle and entertainment content through the unique lens of
Millennial and young Gen-X women of color, an audience segment that is
currently underserved. CLEO TV will leverage the comprehensive media
platform of our parent company Urban One, Inc. which includes digital,
television and radio divisions that will each play an integral role in
bringing this new network to the marketplace. We are grateful to Comcast
for the tremendous opportunity to elevate new voices in our industry."
To narrow down the proposals received, the main criteria Comcast
considered were: the content of the network; whether the network is
fully financed; whether the network's ownership and/or management
group(s) are well established, have relevant experience, and are
substantially owned by African Americans; whether the network is already
launched and has existing or potential multichannel video programming
distributor (MVPD) distribution; price; and whether the network and its
potential carriage provide value to Comcast and its customers.
AFRO and CLEO TV will join over 100 diverse networks available across
Xfinity platforms, which offered over 14,000 hours of diverse on demand
and online programming in 2017. In 2011, as part of Comcast's
commitments made in connection with the NBCUniversal transaction,
Comcast agreed to launch 10 new independently owned and operated
networks by 2019, including eight that are minority-owned or -operated.
Six minority-owned networks have already launched, including BabyFirst
Americas (2012), El Rey (2013), Kids Central (2017), and Primo TV (2017)
which are primarily Hispanic American owned and operated; and ASPiRE
(2012) and REVOLT (2013) which are majority African American owned. AFRO
and CLEO TV will be the next two networks to launch as part of this
commitment.
About Comcast
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology
company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed internet,
and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand,
and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides
wireless and security and automation services to residential customers
under the XFINITY brand. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and
sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks,
television production operations, television station groups, Universal
Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for
more information.
About Afrotainment
Afrotainment, a Florida-based company edits, operates and distributes
eight networks from its state-of-the-art film and television studios in
Orlando and Queens, New York. Afrotainment channels are available in the
US and Canada via cable, satellite, fiber-optic and OTT platforms. Visit www.afrotainment.us
for more information.
About CLEO TV
Launching in January 2019, CLEO TV is a lifestyle and entertainment
network targeting Millennial and Gen X women of color. Derived from the
name Cleopatra, one of the most powerful, trendsetting, rule-breaking
and iconic women in history, CLEO TV will offer quality content that
defies negative and cultural stereotypes of today's modern women. The
network promises a unique and diverse offering of short-form and
long-form content including travel, home design, cooking, talk shows,
movies, docu-series, sitcoms and much more. CLEO TV is solely owned by
Urban One, Inc., formerly known as Radio One, Inc. [NASDAQ: UONE and
UONEK, www.urban1.com],
the largest African-American owned multi-media company primarily
targeting Black and urban audiences.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181115005621/en/
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