Streaming service HBCU Go will air five Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) college football games this fall as part of an exclusive partnership with the Division II conference.

HBCU Go will launch its telecast schedule with the 15-member SIAC Conference with the September 9 Fort Valley State-Clark Atlanta contest and conclude October 28 with the Miles-Albany State game, said the Allen Media Group-owned service.

Also: Byron Allen Acquires HBCUGo.TV, Streaming Service for Historically Black Colleges

“The HBCU GO team is excited to partner with SIAC to bring their conference games to a broader audience,” HBCU Go president Curtis Symonds said in a statement. “We are committed to bringing the best of HBCU culture and sports to our growing audience and SIAC fans. We hope to develop a wide catalog of additional sporting events with the SIAC.”

SIAC Commissioner Anthony Holloman added: “"Through this innovative streaming platform, we invite fans from around the world to join us in celebrating the indomitable spirit of SIAC football. This new era of digital engagement opens doors to boundless opportunities and ensures that every thrilling moment will be etched in the memories of our dedicated supporters. We extend our sincere gratitude to HBCU GO for their invaluable collaboration, and we can't wait to share the excitement and passion of SIAC football with fans everywhere."

Few television executives can say they had a hand in building two legendary cable brands while at the forefront of working to diversify the cable industry’s C-suites before launching a successful streaming business. Curtis Symonds can certainly lay claim to that fame, as well as many other TV-industry accomplishments. 

From the 1980s through the 2000s, Symonds was instrumental in steering ad sales and marketing fortunes of ESPN and BET. He also worked behind the scenes to foster greater employment of people of color as an active and influential board member of the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and as president of the T. Howard Foundation.

Later, as an entrepreneur, he launched HBCUGo.TV, one of the first national cable networks or digital services targeted specifically to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Also: Welcome to the 30th Anniversary of the ‘B+C’ Hall of Fame

“Curtis Symonds is one of the great pioneers of the cable industry and a visionary in the new digital era,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, which last year purchased HBCUGo.TV. “Curtis has an impeccable reputation and is also an outstanding media executive.”  

High praise for the Bermuda, West Indies, native who grew up in Wilberforce, Ohio, wanting to follow in the footsteps of his mother, who taught at Central State University. Symonds would earn a bachelor of science degree at the historically Black college. 

“I believed my goal was teaching because I watched my mother for so many years,” he said. “I just loved the way she handled herself and what she did for students.” 

A part-time job laying underground coaxial cable for a local Continental Cable system launched his TV career. Symonds eventually became manager of the system in 1979. He relocated to Chicago in 1983 to work at ESPN’s regional office as a local advertising sales consultant. “At the time ESPN wasn’t the monster that it is now, so I had the opportunity to come on when they were beginning to grow,” Symonds said. 

As ESPN grew, so did Symonds’s profile, as he rose to director of affiliate marketing for ESPN’s Midwest region.

His influence transcended ESPN. He became one of the chief architects in building NAMIC, which sought to encourage African-American participation and employment  in the cable industry. Symonds served on its board for a decade beginning in 1983. 

“That was a critical time because there weren’t a lot of minorities in the business, and I liked the direction that NAMIC was going in because we were making noise about what we deserved from the business,” he said. “I think to this day, the group of individuals who were part of NAMIC’s national board did a masterful job of convincing MSOs and programmers that there was another group of folks who deserved a chance to be in this business and function at a higher level.”

His next big turn came in 1988 with a call from BET chairman Robert Johnson about coming to work at the African-American targeted channel. “I saw the vision Bob had for the network so I took a chance,” Symonds said. 

Symonds became executive VP of affiliate distribution and marketing for BET Holdings, helping transform the entertainment network into one of the industry’s most recognized and celebrated brands. Symonds was able to help increase the network’s annual sales revenue growth to 57% by 2001 by building a brand that had broad appeal. 

In 1998, NCTA recognized Symonds’s marketing prowess with a Vanguard Award. 

Entrepreneur and Advocate

After leaving BET in 2001 — the year the network was sold to Viacom for more than $2 billion — Symonds sharpened his entrepreneurial skills in the Washington, D.C., and Virginia area. He continued his advocacy as president of the T. Howard Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting women and people of color in the satellite and telecommunications industry, from 2003 to 2006.   

He also had a stint as chief operating officer for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics before launching HBCUGo.TV as a cable network in 2011. The network pivoted to digital, operating independently until Allen acquired it and its 5,000 hours of original content. 

“It couldn’t have been a better dream for me because I’m now doing what I want to do,” said Symonds. “I have a visionary [in Allen] who is really behind me and I believe we’re going to make some big noise with HBCUGo. In fact, I predict that HBCUGo will be bigger than BET in the next five years.” ■

The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame -- the premier industry event paying tribute to the pioneers, innovators and stars of the electronic arts -- returns with a full, in-person live gala celebrating the event’s 30th anniversary. The Hall of Fame celebration will take place at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom on Thursday, April 14, 2022.

The new B+C Hall of Fame inductees join the ranks of more than 400 honorees previously recognized by Broadcasting+Cable magazine. The new Hall of Fame inductees (alphabetically) are:

Emily Barr, president & CEO, Graham Media Group.

Nomi Bergman, president, Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership.

Brandon Burgess, former president & CEO, ION Media. 

Susanne Daniels, global head of original content, YouTube.

Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor and chief legal correspondent, TODAY & NBC News.

Hoda Kotb, co-anchor and co-host, TODAY & TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.

Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman, Universal Studio Group.

Leo MacCourtney, president, Katz Television Group.

Dan Mason, chairman emeritus, The Broadcasters Foundation of America, and past president and CEO, CBS Radio.

Steve Miron, chief executive officer, Advance/Newhouse Partnership.

Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO, Hearst.

Curtis Symonds, president, HBCU GO TV/Allen Media Group.

ESPN, Iconic Network. 

While the Hall of Fame previously has inducted iconic shows, ESPN is the first network to be admitted into the fold. “It’s a tremendous honor for ESPN to receive the first Iconic Network Award from The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame,” Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and Sports Content, told B+C/Multichannel News. “When we launched in 1979, ESPN immediately created an indelible bond with sports fans by matching their passion. Thank you to the thousands of dedicated ESPN employees who, over four decades, have continued to create a non-stop immersive sports experience.”

“The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame has always been one of the entertainment industry’s signature events,” said Bill McGorry, chairman of the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame. “In a year like no other, we are beyond thrilled to be able to welcome back our community with a star studded live 30th Anniversary gala that will surely be a night to remember. With great anticipation, we look forward to celebrating together in April.”

“Each year we are completely awed by our Hall of Fame honorees and this class of 2021 raises the bar yet again,” B+C Editor-in-Chief Bill Gannon said. “This class is particularly noteworthy for the visionary and innovative leaders who have changed the industry both before and during the pandemic. The Hall of Fame is thrilled to add these exceptional individuals to the prestigious classes of honorees that have come before them.”

“Broadcasting+Cable’s Hall of Fame is one of the most important events in broadcasting,” Jim Thompson, president of Broadcasters Foundation of America, said. “Their generosity in donating a portion of the proceeds to support the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation of America is admirable, and we cannot thank them enough. Over the past 30 years, the Hall of Fame has contributed more than $700,000 to help our fellow broadcasters who have been hit by debilitating illness, accident, or disaster. We are grateful for the continued support of the Hall of Fame. With their help, we can continue to provide aid to our colleagues in desperate need.”

Since the event’s inception, a portion of the proceeds goes to the Broadcasters Foundation of America, a charitable organization that provides financial grants to those of our industry colleagues and their families who are in acute need due to critical illness or accident, advanced age, death of a spouse or other serious misfortune. In addition, the event benefits The Paley Center for Media, a non-profit organization leading the discussion on the social significance and advancement of television, radio and emerging platforms for the professional and media-interested public.

For sponsorship, table, ticket and advertising information, please contact Jessica Wolin at  jessica.wolin@futurenet.com or 212-685-4233.

For more information please visit the B+C Hall of Fame website.

Follow the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame at #BCHOF2021. ■

Comcast has pledged to launch two African-American owned and targeted networks in 2019, bringing to eight the number of multicultural services it will have supported as part of conditions the MSO agreed to in its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal.

Throwing its name into the mix for one of the two slots is Washington D.C.-based digital service HBCUX, which focuses on creating programming for and about the 105 historically black colleges and universities around the country. Led by veteran cable executive Curtis Symonds, the network launched as a digital video service in 2014.

Symonds and I spokeabout HBCUX’s linear channel prospects, as well as the void TV HBCUX can fill for quality, entertaining, educational programming targeted to African-American audiences. An edited version of the interview appears below.

MCN: What do you think of your chances to secure one of the two channel slots Comcast is creating for African-American owned-and-operated networks?
Curtis Symonds: Well I’m hoping my chances are good, because the content I’m talking about is revolving around the HBCU community that has received a lot of attention just recently. For example, President Trump recently said that he has to spend more time in the HBCU circle, so the 105 presidents of historically black colleges and universities coming to see President Trump was a major milestone that had not happened in many years. Now, there was a lot of scuttlebutt about the breadth of the conversation they had, but at the end of the day it was it was more about looking at what we need to do to support HBCUs.

Putting a channel together that could help draw exposure to these universities in a light that people have not seen before is a great position to be in and a great way to help more people understand what these universities are trying to do. That’s why I think that my timing is right, because I believe I can bring some meaningful programming to the table that makes people say, “Wow, didn’t know this was going on over at HBCU schools.”

MCN: You were up for one of the first four multicultural channel slots Comcast had committed to launch back in 2012. What prevented you from getting a slot at that time?
CS: I think what prevented me then was that we weren’t financially set as a network, whereas this go-around I have financial backers. At the time, Comcast didn’t want to deal with a channel that didn’t have the financial background to be able to step right into the door and do something. Now I believe I can make it happen.

MCN: Can you reveal your financial backers?
CS: I can’t do that. All I can say is, I have some very good people behind me on this go-around.

MCN: There have been attempts to showcase HBCU life in scripted shows, most recently BET’s The Quad. Do you believe that such shows have provided a reasonable depiction of HBCUs?
CS: I think it paints an often-slanted picture of what’s going on because the one thing that’s being missed in a show like The Quad is that it’s not showing much on the educational side. Everything is tied to some drama, which is what happens on television, but there are ways in which you could have played that to make me as a viewer think a little bit more. They could have played up a little bit of HBCU historical programming within that program for example.

MCN: What are you currently offering from a content perspective on the channel?
CS: We will be offering educational programming that will be considered by the universities. We will be coming up with lifestyle programming that will be a combination of HBCUX and universities-based programming. We will be coming up with a lecture series, and we will reach out to some of the top political people and strategists and educators to participate. Sports will also be a big part of it. We’re hoping to have a great relationship with the conferences from the SWAC to the MEAC to the SIAC and CIAA. ESPN airs a lot of the games, but you’ve got 105 historically black colleges out there, so there’s room.

And then what we hope to try to do is get a lot of people coming out of the woodwork who have produced programming targeted to this audience that can help produce content from comedy to short stories to movies.

MCN: If you’re not successful in getting a channel slot from Comcast, would you consider launching an HBCUX app or an over-the-top service?
CS: In today’s world, I don’t think you can back away from any opportunities for distribution. You would be limiting your mindset if you say I’m not going to do OTT because I have a linear channel. You don’t know what’s going to happen, so you have to play all the games and just see how the chips fall.

Comcast has pledged to launch two African-American owned and targeted networks in 2019, bringing to eight the number of multicultural services it will have supported as part of conditions the MSO agreed to in its 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal.

Throwing its name into the mix for one of the two slots is Washington D.C.-based digital service HBCUX, which focuses on creating programming for and about the 105 historically black colleges and universities around the country. Led by veteran cable executive Curtis Symonds, the network launched as a digital video service in 2014. Symonds spoke to Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about HBCUX’s linear channel prospects, as well as the void TV HBCUX can fill for quality, entertaining, educational programming targeted to African-American audiences. An edited version of the interview appears below.

MCN: What do you think of your chances to secure one of the two channel slots Comcast is creating for African-American owned-and-operated networks?
Curtis Symonds: Well I’m hoping my chances are good, because the content I’m talking about is revolving around the HBCU community that has received a lot of attention just recently. For example, President Trump recently said that he has to spend more time in the HBCU circle, so the 105 presidents of historically black colleges and universities coming to see President Trump was a major milestone that had not happened in many years. Now, there was a lot of scuttlebutt about the breadth of the conversation they had, but at the end of the day it was it was more about looking at what we need to do to support HBCUs.

Putting a channel together that could help draw exposure to these universities in a light that people have not seen before is a great position to be in and a great way to help more people understand what these universities are trying to do. That’s why I think that my timing is right, because I believe I can bring some meaningful programming to the table that makes people say, “Wow, didn’t know this was going on over at HBCU schools.”

MCN: You were up for one of the first four multicultural channel slots Comcast had committed to launch back in 2012. What prevented you from getting a slot at that time?
CS: I think what prevented me then was that we weren’t financially set as a network, whereas this go-around I have financial backers. At the time, Comcast didn’t want to deal with a channel that didn’t have the financial background to be able to step right into the door and do something. Now I believe I can make it happen.

MCN: Can you reveal your financial backers?
CS: I can’t do that. All I can say is, I have some very good people behind me on this go-around.

MCN: There have been attempts to showcase HBCU life in scripted shows, most recently BET’s The Quad. Do you believe that such shows have provided a reasonable depiction of HBCUs?
CS: I think it paints an often-slanted picture of what’s going on because the one thing that’s being missed in a show like The Quad is that it’s not showing much on the educational side. Everything is tied to some drama, which is what happens on television, but there are ways in which you could have played that to make me as a viewer think a little bit more. They could have played up a little bit of HBCU historical programming within that program for example.

MCN: What are you currently offering from a content perspective on the channel?
CS: We will be offering educational programming that will be considered by the universities. We will be coming up with lifestyle programming that will be a combination of HBCUX and universities-based programming. We will be coming up with a lecture series, and we will reach out to some of the top political people and strategists and educators to participate. Sports will also be a big part of it. We’re hoping to have a great relationship with the conferences from the SWAC to the MEAC to the SIAC and CIAA. ESPN airs a lot of the games, but you’ve got 105 historically black colleges out there, so there’s room.

And then what we hope to try to do is get a lot of people coming out of the woodwork who have produced programming targeted to this audience that can help produce content from comedy to short stories to movies.

MCN: If you’re not successful in getting a channel slot from Comcast, would you consider launching an HBCUX app or an over-the-top service?
CS: In today’s world, I don’t think you can back away from any opportunities for distribution. You would be limiting your mindset if you say I’m not going to do OTT because I have a linear channel. You don’t know what’s going to happen, so you have to play all the games and just see how the chips fall.

An online video service targeting the 105 historically black colleges and universities, overseen by former BET executive Curtis Symonds, is set to launch today (Sept. 15) with hopes of eventually becoming a linear cable channel.

After several starts and stops, the ad-supported website at HBCUX.com will launch with 10 individual channels — five for free and five sold for a collective $3.99 per month — featuring sports, entertainment and original programming by and for HBCU schools, HBCUX president Symonds said.

HBCUX unofficially launched this past Saturday with an exclusive telecast of the first annual Bahamas HBCUX Classic football game between Central State and Texas Southern.

It targets current and former HBCU students — and hopes to draw a wider multicultural audience curious about HBCU schools.

“The whole premise of the channel is to educate people on what historically black colleges are all about,” Symonds said. “People don’t understand the history, legacies and stories of these universities, and until you really hear and see it, you don’t have a great appreciation for it.”

Among the five free channels offered by HBCUX, according to Symonds, will be one dedicated to HBCU sports programming, simulcasting HBCU games streamed by ESPN3; a radio channel with content from as many as 60 HBCU radio stations; and a channel featuring blogs from various HBCU student writers.

The premium channels, which cost a combined $3.99 a month, will feature the network’s own live-game telecasts of HBCU sports programming; a channel featuring original content from both the network and HBCU schools; a channel which will focus on students doing great things within their schools and communities; and channels for pay-per-view programming and original movies.

Symonds said he sees network as eventually moving from its online roots to become a full-fledged linear cable channel at some point.

“The long-term goal is to build this into a linear network, but first we have to create a demand for the channel,” he said. “Our target audience is on their computers, iPhones and tablets, so if I can push the demand through digital then it should eventually fold into a demand for a linear product.”