Magic Johnson, Sean “Diddy” Combs to Launch Channels with Comcast

PHILADELPHIA: Comcast has selected four new minority-owned independent networks, including channels led by NBA Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson and rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, from more than 100 proposals to receive distribution on its cable systems.

Two of the channels, Aspire and Revolt, are targeting African Americans. Aspire, led by Magic Johnson in partnership with GMC TV, is dedicated to airing enlightening, entertaining and positive programming. The schedule will feature movies, documentaries, short films, music, comedy, visual and performing arts and faith and inspirational programs. The network will launch by summer 2012. "Aspire will be a network that encourages and challenges African-Americans to reach for their dreams and will appeal to all generations. Aspire will celebrate our heritage, our groundbreaking achievements and the fearless talent that has shaped American culture. I’m most excited about Aspire creating opportunities for the new voices, new visions and the next generation of storytellers," said Johnson.

Revolt, proposed by Diddy and MTV veteran Andy Schuon, is focused on music and pop culture. The channel will feature music videos, live performances, music news and interviews, along with incorporating social media elements. The network has entered into an agreement to launch in 2013. "Revolt is the first channel created entirely from the ground up in this new era of social media" said Combs. "We’re building this platform for artists to reach an extraordinary number of people in a completely different way. Revolt will be live, like all great moments in television history. Revolt will also be immediate, like today’s social networks. We know it was a highly competitive process and we want to thank Comcast for this opportunity to truly change television with Revolt."

The other two networks, El Rey and BabyFirst Americas, are targeted toward Hispanics. El Ray is led by legendary Hollywood director Robert Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures execs John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa. The general-entertainment network is geared toward Latinos, but is broadcast in the English language. The schedule will include a mix of reality and scripted series, as well as animated content, movies, documentaries, news, music, sports and more. January 2014 is the tentative launch date. "This partnership with Comcast signals an important moment for the Latino community in this country—we are passionate about creating a wildly entertaining destination that we can be proud of by appealing to both Latino and mass market audiences," said Rodriguez and Fogelman. "We engineered El Rey to address a burgeoning opportunity to deliver unique, high-quality and compelling content to a hard-to-reach demographic and are excited to bring more opportunities to generations of talent, storytellers and dreamers through this special partnership."

BabyFirst Americas was proposed by Constantino "Said" Schwarz. The service is geared toward infants, very young children and their caregivers. Set to launch this April, the channel will emphasize the importance of early development of verbal, math and motor skills for children. "We are thrilled to partner with Comcast and commend them for recognizing the importance of quality education for young children," commented Schwarz. "BabyFirst Americas aims to bring the essential academic building blocks for kindergarten readiness into the home, making it accessible for families all across the U.S."

The launches are part of Comcast’s voluntary public interest commitments in connection with the NBCUniversal transaction. Part of the commitments is to launch ten new independently owned and operated networks over the next eight years. Of the ten, four will be majority African-American owned, two will be American Latino owned, two will be operated by American Latino programmers and two will provide additional independent programming.