After Comcast merged with NBC Universal in 2011, they were given several guidelines by the Justice Department. Comcast is not only making good on these guidelines but has officially fulfilled it’s distribution requirement to broadly distribute 10 new Independently-owned channels. Eight of the channels were required to be owned and operated by people of multicultural decent. Thursday, March 14, Comcast held a launch event and celebrated that AFRO and CLEO TV are both now available for Comcast customers to watch on Xfinity.
I had the honor of being able to attend the launch celebration event in Washington, DC at the Newseum. There were many of the AFRO and CLEO TV stars in attendance. Please see the photos below for more details:
It’s great to see more television shows for people who are from diverse backgrounds.
Some of the shows that viewers can look forward to seeing are:
Yves Bollanga
CEO of Afrotainment
Afro
Afrotainers
Erika Washington is the host of the entertainment television show called
Kaya Chipungu
Sandy Laborde
Candice Blake
Point of View
A daytime talk show hosted by multi-ethnic women.
Journey
Is a talk show with guests from various walks of life who are on a journey. The show is hosted by Gigi who is a Puerto Rican Afro-Latina.
James Yon
That Other Show
That Other Show with James Yon is for comedy lovers. James uses his personality to connect with people on a personal and direct level.
Katrina Lee-Jones
Style Check
Unique, lively, creative, and with loads of sophistication hosts, Katrina and CL, keep viewers in tune with all things related to fashion and the hottest trends.
CLEO TV
Jernard Wells
New Soul Kitchen
I can’t wait to watch New Soul Kitchen. Two chefs, Chef Jernard Wells and vegan chef Porsche Thomas, provide ways to cook soul food in a healthy way.
Syleena Johnson, Trina Braxton, and Rashan Ali
Sister Circle
Is a talk show hosted by four African American women:
- Quad Webb-Lunceford, from the reality show “Married To Medicine” reality-TV breakout star
- Syleena Johnson, best known as a Grammy-award nominated singer and “R&B Divas” reality-TV star
- Rashan Ali, TV Host, sports reporter,
and radio show host - Trina Braxton, Entrepreneur and “Braxton Family Values” reality-TV star and singer
Tai Beauchamp
Lens of Culture
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Widening the African American Voice
Honestly, these African American-centered channels are not new ideas. For example, a few African American channels that you may be familiar with are: Own, TV One, Aspire, Bounce, etc, so the concept isn’t new, but CLEO TV is marketing to a whole new generation, millennial and Gen X women like me. On one hand, I’m super excited about a network that can deliver a voice I’m familiar with. On the other hand, I’m nervous because having a channel geared towards African American women can feel like a tall order. Simply because we are opinionated and the expectations may seem too high and almost unattainable when starting out.
David Cohen
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Comcast
Highly Anticipating
Nonetheless, they definitely have a new supporter, I’m looking forward to tuning in to see how each show freshly delivers new unique content. As long as there is a robust marketing initiative to get the word out there that the channel exists, I don’t think there will be anything to worry about. It can be difficult trying to convenience people to give your content a try without previous knowing who you are, but after meeting many of the network’s talents their positive personalities when engaging with fans will give them an advantage.
Frankly, I believe the founders of Afro (Yves Bollanga) and CLEO TV’s (Michelle Rice) are looking to change the way people in our multicultural world consume TV. So please t
Candice and Katrina
Not Yet Available, But I’d Like to See
One show, they don’t have that I would love to see is an African-Inspired health awareness show with young doctors and health professionals that help give African Americans insight into health issues that primarily affect African American C
Learn More
To learn more about the 10 independently owned channels now distributed on Comcast visit: Comcast Sets TV One’s Cleo TV, Afro as Latest Independent Channel Launches