Polaris Partners With Byron Allen’s HBCU GO to Create Exclusive Content Across AMG Properties

Today, POLARIS, the 100% black-owned television network and digital platform has announced an exclusive partnership with Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) free-streaming digital platform, HBCU GO — the leading media provider for the nation’s 107 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

As part of their partnership, POLARIS will create content for HBCU GO, VOD as well as AMG properties including TheGrio. Content will be focused on culture, music and news with special coverage around cultural moments, the 50th year anniversary of Hip Hop, and an investigative series around Jam Master Jay.

“It’s important for us to showcase not only the amazing sports and news programming, but also the heartbeat of the HBCU and Black Experience,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group.

“This new partnership with POLARIS will provide excellent programming for our HBCU GO audiences highlighting music, Black culture and more”

In addition, POLARIS announces iconic journalist and radio personality Sway Calloway as co-founder of the network. Sway has been a pivotal part of music and culture for over two decades and is a recent inductee into the Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2020. Sway is also currently the host of SiriusXM’s Shade 45 daily morning show, “Sway in the Morning.” This marks the first time Calloway has teamed up with POLARIS founder Rahman J. Dukes following years of dominance together at MTV.

“I am ecstatic to be a part of POLARIS and to be able to put my two decades of work in TV and radio into a network that is 100% Black owned and focused on uplifting voices within our culture,” said Sway Calloway, Co-Founder of POLARIS. “To be able to partner with Byron Allen’s AMG, HBCU GO and TheGrio is huge and I am excited to see the impactful content we create together.”

POLARIS, one of the fastest growing platforms to enter the streaming space, made its debut in December 2021, exclusively to VIZIO users. The television platform saw success in 2022 with its coverage of MLK, Black History Month, Essence Festival and the Rolling Loud Festival. The platform has recently launched its digital property watchpolaris.com that will also serve up exclusive content around culture, music and news.

“Aligning forces with Byron Allen, HBCU Go and the Grio is a tremendous opportunity to craft and curate content that people will look back at years later as cultural landmarks.” said Rahman J. Dukes and Shaheem Reid, co-founders of POLARIS.

“This is a vision that spans over two decades and we are excited to see our vision come to fruition.”

For more information about HBCU GO, visit HBCUGO.TV or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram. Find out where to watch and how to download the FREE app at https://hbcugo.tv/how-to-watch.

For more information about POLARIS, visit Watch POLARIS // Follow POLARIS on Twitter.

About POLARIS

Rooted at the intersection of Black culture, entertainment and technology, POLARIS aims to revolutionize content consumption across TV, digital and social platforms. The 100% Black-owned multimedia entertainment brand is driven by a commitment to illuminate the culture with premium, cross-generational content and programming that entertains, educates, inspires, and uplifts. Airing on WatchFree+, VIZIO’s free streaming service, POLARIS’ 24-hour streaming channel will uncover narratives created by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) storytellers, empower emerging content creators, and collaborate with some of hip-hop’s finest. At the helm of POLARIS is principle founder, esteemed TV industry veteran, Rahman J. Dukes. A former executive at MTV and REVOLT TV, the behind-the-scenes power-player, has developed and produced game-changing and thought-provoking content across platforms for almost two decades. POLARIS was co-founded by iconic journalist Sway Calloway, esteemed music historian Shaheem Reid and TV executive Rahman Dukes.

About HBCU GO

HBCU GO is a cultural lifestyle destination and leading sports media provider that embraces and represents the voice of Black Excellence every day of the year through an all-new platform that captures the rich history, diversity, perspectives, and cultural experiences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). HBCU GO also provides a platform for emerging creatives in media production, branding, and broadcasting. We offer our viewers the best in live sports, original series, documentaries, films, comedy, and edutainment programming produced by African-American leading producers, directors, and students from select HBCUs.

Launched in 2012, the free-streaming service HBCU GO was purchased by Byron Allen in 2021 and is part of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG). AMG is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Charleston, SC. AMG owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and thirteen 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO.TV, BLACK NEWS CHANNEL, THIS TV, and PATTRN. AMG also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, THE GRIO STREAMING APP, SPORTS.TV, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP, and LOCAL NOW — the free-streaming AVOD service powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. For more information, visit www.entertainmentstudios.com