New York, NY - Legendary basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson, having transformed himself into a successful real-estate developer, is now setting his sights on television.

Mr. Johnson and Comcast Corp. are expected to announce Tuesday that Magic Johnson Enterprises will launch a general interest cable channel on Comcast aimed at the African-American community. The channel, which will be known as Aspire, will feature a wide variety of programming, including original shows, movies and documentaries. 

"African-Americans have choices, and now they have another one," Mr. Johnson said in an interview.

The channel is part of an effort by Comcast to offer more opportunities to minority-owned networks, fulfilling a commitment the company made to the Federal Communications Commission ahead of its purchase of NBC Universal from General Electric Co. last year. The cable operator plans to help launch as many as 10 minority-owned networks during the next decade, of which four will be majority-owned by African-Americans. 

Comcast is also working with Sean "Diddy" Combs on a music-based network called Revolt to be launched later this year, says a person familiar with the situation. A representative for Mr. Combs couldn't immediately be reached for comment. 

Comcast is the biggest cable operator in the U.S., serving 22.3 million subscribers. But Aspire is expected to be distributed as part of its digital basic tier, available in only a limited number of Comcast's homes. It is expected to launch in the summer.

Mr. Johnson is partnering on Aspire with GMC, owners of a family-oriented network formerly known as Gospel Music Channel. Eric Holoman, president of Magic Johnson Enterprises, declined to disclose the amount of the company's investment in Aspire, but Mr. Johnson said it planned to build slowly to avoid repeating the mistakes of minority-focused networks that failed.

"We're not going to spend $200 million on day one," Mr. Johnson said. "We need to come in and take our time and make sure the programming is relevant and stay within our budget."

He said his goal was to create opportunities for African-American actors, directors, producers and technicians in an effort to create the next BET, the network pioneered by Robert Johnson