Comcast Expands Subscriber Bases For Eight Hispanic Nets By A Combined 14 Million

Fulfilling a commitment that is part of its acquisition agreement for NBC Universal, Comcast is expanding the carriage of eight Hispanic networks by a combined 14 million subscribers.

Azteca America, Galavision, Hispanic Information & Telecommunications Network, LATV, mun2, Telefutura, Telemundo and Univision will all see their sub bases grow on Comcast systems. Some of the rollouts have begun, while others will occur on a staggered basis in the weeks ahead. These are the latest steps from Comcast to increase the availability of minority-focused fare on its systems. Since April, it has announced plans to boost the reach of Mnet, the English-language Asian pop culture channel, by more than 2 million subscribers. Moreover, two African-American-aimed services, The Africa Channel and TV One, in which Comcast holds an equity position, will gain a combined 2.3 million subs through new system bows. When Comcast acquired the controlling interest in NBCU from General Electric on Jan. 28, the company agreed to increase the distribution of at least three services networks that are American Latino-owned or -controlled or target the Latino community by at least 10 million digital-basic subscribers within six months of the deal close. With these launches, Comcast, which controls broadcaster Telemundo and cable cousin mun2 via NBCU, said it will surpass that goal by 40%. Under another merger stipulation, Comcast also pledged to launch 10 new independent channels over the next eight years, including eight that are Hispanic- and African-American owned or operated. Sources familiar with the situation indicate there were approximately 100 applicants for the first three: a channel that is "American Latino operated and programmed in English" is slated to bow by July 28, 2012, while a pair of majority African-American-owned services will launch by Jan. 28, 2013, the second anniversary of the union.