Comcast Corp. today announced it selected El Rey and BabyFirst Americas to fulfill its promise of two Hispanic-themed cable networks in its line-up.
Hollywood director Robert Rodriguez and FactoryMade Ventures executives John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa pitched “El Rey” to Comcast as an action-packed, general entertainment network in English for Latino and general audiences.
The network’s programming will include a mix of reality, scripted and animated series, movies, documentaries, news, music, comedy, and sports programming that will feature Hispanic producers, celebrities and public figures. The network is scheduled to launch by January 2014.
The second Hispanic-themed network is BabyFirst America – a network designed for infants, toddlers and their parents.
The channel, proposed by Constantino “Said” Schwarz, will focus on the importance of early development of verbal, math and motor skills. Its mission is “to offer Latino parents the ability to help their children integrate into American society, while maintaining a strong connection to their Latino heritage and bilingual communication.” BabyFirst is scheduled to debut by April 2012.
In order for Comcast to get FCC approval of its merger with NBCUniversal, the cable giant offered to create 10 new independently owned channels over 8 years. Four of the 10 networks will be majority African-American owned, two will be operated by Latino programmers and two will offer independent programs.
Comcast today announced it chose entertainment moguls Entertainment moguls and Sean “P Diddy” Combs for 2 of its new multicultural channel allotments. P Diddy’s network Revolt will be music-themed and Johnson’s Aspire will be an inspirational-themed channel. They’re scheduled to launch in 2013.