Polaris, the television network and digital platform owned by radio personality Sway Calloway and Rahman J. Dukes, is partnering with Byron Allen‘s Allen Media Group (AMG) free-streaming digital platform, HBCU GO in an exclusive deal to create content for the video on demand service as well as AMG’s other properties including The Grio.
The programming will be focused on culture, music and news with special coverage around cultural moments including a special celebrating 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, the founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, parent company of HBCU Go. “This new partnership with Polaris will provide excellent programming for our HBCU Go audiences highlighting music, Black culture and more.”
Calloway joins Polaris as a co-founder following his years of working alongside Dukes at MTV together. A recent inductee into the Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2020, the radio veteran is currently the host of SiriusXM’s Shade 45 daily morning show, “Sway in the Morning.”
“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 Calloway in a statement. “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 made its debut in December 2021, exclusively to Vizio users. After seeing some success in 2022 with its coverage of MLK, Black History Month, Essence Festival and the Rolling Loud Festival, the platform recently launched its digital property watchpolaris that promises to deliver exclusive content around culture, music and news.
“This is a vision that spans over two decades and we are excited to see our vision come to fruition,” said Rahman J. Dukes, Polaris founder. “I am excited about our work with AMG and showcasing what we create to the world.”
