PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comcast 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.
“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.
