Comcast announced Monday it will launch 10 new independent channels over the next 8 years, and is now accepting proposals for the first 3.
The first one to be launched will be American Latino operated and programmed in English, with an air date of July 28, 2012. The other two will be majority African-American owned and will launch by January 28, 2013.
Of the 10 channels, 2 will be majority Hispanic-owned, 2 will be operated by American Latino programmers and 4 will be majority African-American owned. All the channels will be added on select Comcast systems as part of the D1 digital tier.
The launch of the 10 minority owned and operated networks is part of the public interest commitments made by Comcast to get the NBCU merger approval.