Comcast officially announced yesterday that they will be working with Sean “Diddy” Combs and Earvin “Magic” Johnson to launch their own branded cable channels!
The move comes as part of a congressional mandate given to Comcast to support TV networks owned by minorities. The independently owned channels will be broadly distributed to Comcast Cable systems between July 2012 and July 2014.
Diddy’s new network will be called “Revolt,” and will reportedly target young people. The channel is set to launch in 2013.
Watch Diddy talk about his new cable TV channel below:
According to the a press release from the network:
REVOLT is a revolution in music on television, a place where artists and their viewers come together and engage with technology and social media. It’s a channel where new artists can share their work in the way it was meant to be: raw, uncut, and uncensored. REVOLT was selected by Comcast to be the first music network to truly leverage the power of social media, fueling the live music dialogue and influencing the music culture for the video-centric generation.
Also launching their very own cable channel is Magic Johnson.
His TV network, called “Aspire,” will focus on what Johnson himself calls positive, uplifting images of African-Americans. The network will launch sometime in 2012.
Magic Johnson said in a statement, “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.”
Lots of people are comparing Diddy and Magic Johnson’s move to launch their own networks to Oprah launching her own network last year. However, hers isn’t doing so well right now, so it will definitely be interesting to see how this goes for Diddy and Magic.
