Five individuals smiling for a camera in front of an AFRO and CLEO TV backdrop
Our Values In Action

Filling Content Gaps: Two New Diverse Networks Launched

As part of our commitment to expand opportunities for diverse and independent cable programming, we have added over 20 independent networks since 2011, including four with Hispanic American ownership or management and four with African American majority ownership. The four Hispanic networks are BabyFirst Americas (2012), El Rey (2013), Kids Central (2017), and Primo TV (2017), while the first two African American networks were ASPiRE (2012) and REVOLT TV (2013).

In 2019, following a thorough evaluation of dozens of proposals, Comcast launched two new additional African American majority-owned independent networks to be broadly distributed on Comcast Cable systems. AFRO and CLEO TV are filling critical content gaps with top-quality programming and lifestyle offerings targeting the black community.

“We are committed to delivering a wide array of programming that appeals to the cultural origins, interests, and passions of our customers,” says Keesha Boyd, Executive Director of Multicultural Products at Comcast Cable, “and we’re thrilled to be delivering on that promise with the additions of AFRO and CLEO to our increasingly diverse programming lineup.”

AFRO, an offering from the Afrotainment family of channels, is a 24-hour polycultural black network mainly broadcasting top-rated Nollywood (Nigerian) and black movies, dramas, sitcoms, music, talk, and late-night comedy shows. CLEO TV (the name is derived from Cleopatra) is a brand-new lifestyle and entertainment network from Urban One that offers movies, docu-series, sitcoms, talk shows, and travel, home design, and cooking shows geared toward young women of color.

“We’re at a pivotal moment in history where women are making a huge impact in our society and culture, especially women of color,” says Michelle Rice, General Manager of TV One (which is owned by Urban One). “CLEO TV offers 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 has been underserved.”


100+

diverse networks on Xfinity platforms

8.5K+

hours of diverse On Demand programming offered in 2018

10K+

hours of diverse Online programming offered in 2018


All told, we have more than 100 diverse networks available across our Xfinity platforms and reached 379 million diverse Subscriber Network Instances1 in 2018 alone. We also offered more than 18,000 hours of diverse On Demand and Online programming in 2018. In our unique destinations across Xfinity On Demand and Online, we curate inclusive stories that reflect our communities, making high-quality, diverse TV shows and films readily accessible through the X1 Voice Remote.

1 Subscriber Network Instances are defined as the number of networks that subscribers have as a part of their programming packages. For example, if a subscriber has a Hispanic programming tier with 40 channels, that would count as 40 Subscriber Network Instances.