# Brand Building: Cable Hall of Fame inductee, recognizing his leadership and impact in cable, sports media, and Black‑owned media institutions.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 31 Mar 2026, 30 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/af135141-e37b-4f33-9ce3-b43301587b94/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Curtis Symonds. Interview Purpose The primary purpose of the interview is to: • Highlight the growth and cultural significance of HBCU GO, the leading HBCU‑focused media and streaming platform under Allen Media Group. • Celebrate Curtis Symonds’ induction into the Cable Hall of Fame, recognizing his 37+ years of leadership and impact in cable, sports media, and Black‑owned media institutions. • Educate audiences on the value of HBCUs—not only academically and culturally, but as a powerful, educated, and economically influential audience. • Reinforce storytelling, ownership, and representation as essential elements in preserving Black history and driving future opportunity. Key Takeaways 1. HBCU GO Was Built to Solve an Access and Representation Gap Curtis Symonds launched HBCU GO after recognizing that Black college sports and stories were severely underrepresented in mainstream media. Early rejection by cable distributors reinforced the need for ownership and persistence. Insight: HBCU GO exists not just as a network, but as a corrective platform for visibility, equity, and cultural preservation. 2. The Byron Allen Acquisition Enabled Scale Without Compromising Vision When Byron Allen acquired HBCU GO TV in 2021, the partnership was grounded in trust, quality, and shared belief in Black excellence. Allen Media Group provided infrastructure and capital while preserving Symonds’ creative and strategic leadership. Insight: Ownership combined with institutional backing allowed HBCU GO to compete at broadcast-quality levels equivalent to ESPN and major networks. 3. HBCU Audiences Are Educated, Influential, and Economically Valuable Symonds emphasized that HBCU graduates represent a disproportionate share of Black leadership across education, government, medicine, and STEM. Insight: HBCU audiences are not niche—they are central to America’s Black middle and professional class, making them highly attractive for brands, advertisers, and financial institutions. 4. HBCU GO Is a Cultural Platform, Not Just a Sports Network While live sports—including football classics, homecomings, and rivalries—are the anchor, HBCU GO is positioned as a broader cultural and educational storytelling platform. Insight: The long‑term vision is to tell untold HBCU stories, educate young people about their legacy, and shape cultural identity through digital‑first media. 5. Longevity, Relationships, and “Betting on Yourself” Define Success Symonds reflected on his career path—from ESPN to BET, from rejection to Hall of Fame—and emphasized resilience, timing, and relationship‑building as critical to long‑term success. Insight: Career impact is measured not by speed, but by sustained contribution and legacy. Notable Quotes “I wanted to show the world that two Black men can get together and do something successfully.” — Curtis Symonds on partnering with Byron Allen “When we put this thing on the air, it had to be quality. We couldn’t put up anything that looked scrappy.” — On competing at a national broadcast standard “HBCU GO has made a statement in the television and streaming business.” — On industry recognition and growth “You’re getting a highly educated audience. That middle‑class audience. That buying audience.” — On the value of HBCU viewers “Every HBCU has a story that people don’t know about—and those stories matter.” — On the…

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Welcome to my show. I'm Rashon McDonald, a host of
[0:02] Speaker 1: Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Well, we encourage people to stop
[0:06] Speaker 1: reading other people's success stories and start planning your own. Now,
[0:10] Speaker 1: you don't want to miss an episode, so please take
[0:12] Speaker 1: a moment right now to follow or subscribe to Money
[0:14] Speaker 1: Making Conversations Masterclass.
[0:16] Speaker 2: It's free.
[0:17] Speaker 1: You can follow me on iHeartRadio, app, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
[0:21] Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your podcast. New Money Making
[0:24] Speaker 1: Conversations Masterclass episodes drop daily. I want to keep you
[0:28] Speaker 1: on alert because my guests provide tips on how you
[0:30] Speaker 1: can uplift your community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or
[0:34] Speaker 1: advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Now, let's
[0:38] Speaker 1: get this podcast started. My guest, longtime friend, is the
[0:42] Speaker 1: co founder and president of Allen Media Group's HBCU Go.
[0:47] Speaker 1: HBCU Go is focused on expanding this coverage upcoming seasons
[0:51] Speaker 1: of football, basketball, baseball, becoming a version of ESPN Plus.
[0:56] Speaker 2: In other words, you click it, you want to those
[0:58] Speaker 2: HPCU to.
[1:00] Speaker 1: The website, hpcu'll go app and they will be available
[1:03] Speaker 1: to you. As well as original programming, Marquee Classics, Homecoming,
[1:08] Speaker 1: Historic rivalries that define the culture and drive national engagement.
[1:13] Speaker 1: He has been named to the Cable Hall of Fame
[1:15] Speaker 1: Class of twenty twenty six by the Cable Center, and
[1:19] Speaker 1: we'll be inducted on April twenty third. He is on
[1:23] Speaker 1: the show to discuss the growth of HBCU GO, the
[1:26] Speaker 1: u NC partnership, and his Hall of Fame induction. Please
[1:30] Speaker 1: welcome to Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Curtis Simon. How you doing, Curtis,
[1:35] Speaker 1: heyfy Sean.
[1:36] Speaker 3: It's good talk to you man, A long time no
[1:38] Speaker 3: talk to so it's good to have in fun of him.
[1:40] Speaker 4: Man, I appreciate that.
[1:41] Speaker 1: Well, you know the beauty of our relationship, Curtis, we
[1:43] Speaker 1: go back when it was just be et' that's how fault.
[1:47] Speaker 4: We go back.
[1:48] Speaker 2: It was doesnet but just be et black program would
[1:50] Speaker 2: just be e t. That was it, brother, That was
[1:53] Speaker 2: that was.
[1:54] Speaker 4: It all the way.
[1:54] Speaker 3: That was it all the way, and we kicked it
[1:57] Speaker 3: for a long time over there.
[1:58] Speaker 2: We know the beauty of longevity.
[2:01] Speaker 1: You get see change, see technology, come in and play
[2:03] Speaker 1: games of opportunity. Let's first the fine in your relationship.
[2:07] Speaker 1: We say Alan Media Group. And when I say Alan
[2:10] Speaker 1: Media Group, are we saying Byron Allen, is that the person, Yes, we're.
[2:13] Speaker 4: Talking about Byron Allen.
[2:15] Speaker 3: Byron Allen bought my company HTC go TV back in
[2:19] Speaker 3: October twenty twenty one.
[2:21] Speaker 1: Okay, now when he bought it, what you know this
[2:25] Speaker 1: is called leverage of relationships.
[2:27] Speaker 2: You still involved.
[2:28] Speaker 1: Talk about how that it was a financial win for you,
[2:31] Speaker 1: but you're still involved in the programming and the creative
[2:34] Speaker 1: creative process of hbcuill go tell us how that works.
[2:38] Speaker 3: Well, it was a very interesting concept of how it
[2:41] Speaker 3: truly happened, uh Seana. It was that, you know, I
[2:44] Speaker 3: was out on the street for about I love BT
[2:46] Speaker 3: and O one. I bounced around and did quite a
[2:48] Speaker 3: few things, ran a couple of foundations here in DC
[2:51] Speaker 3: that I ran the WNBA Washington Mystics for a while
[2:54] Speaker 3: for two years. And then it was like I had
[2:56] Speaker 3: this itch on me about doing something that come out
[2:59] Speaker 3: of state University out of Ohio, grew up on the
[3:02] Speaker 3: campus and I wanted to create something around exposure for
[3:06] Speaker 3: a story.
[3:06] Speaker 4: Of black college. So I was trying to sell this
[3:08] Speaker 4: concept on the street.
[3:10] Speaker 3: And really couldn't get a bike, couldn't really get a bike,
[3:14] Speaker 3: and out of the blue been on the street for
[3:17] Speaker 3: about twelve years.
[3:19] Speaker 4: A friend of.
[3:19] Speaker 3: Mine called me from La Byron was on a panel
[3:24] Speaker 3: and was speaking about he was getting an award, but he
[3:27] Speaker 3: was also suing Comcast Cable when the biggest cave opper
[3:30] Speaker 3: really is the biggest cave operator out there around the
[3:34] Speaker 3: United States. And the whost said, please tell us why
[3:37] Speaker 3: you are assuming you know Comcast, and he said, well,
[3:41] Speaker 3: you want the real reason? She said, yes, she said,
[3:43] Speaker 3: a good friend of mine, Curtis Simons, is trying to
[3:46] Speaker 3: start this HBCU Go channel and they wouldn't give him
[3:49] Speaker 3: a channel on That's but pissed me off, and it
[3:51] Speaker 3: made me mad at it wanted to come out. I
[3:53] Speaker 3: thought he was in the moment. He just said, hey, man,
[3:56] Speaker 3: you know when the person send it to me. Another
[4:00] Speaker 3: called me and said I want to send you the
[4:01] Speaker 3: link on him saying that. You know, it was like
[4:04] Speaker 3: late that evening when they called me versus West Coast time.
[4:08] Speaker 3: So I looked at the link the next day and
[4:11] Speaker 3: just repeated back what I just told you, And then
[4:14] Speaker 3: you know, I sent him a note said hey, Byron,
[4:16] Speaker 3: thanks a lot.
[4:17] Speaker 4: Man.
[4:17] Speaker 3: I figured I feel he was just in a moment.
[4:19] Speaker 3: He was just talking and you know, knew what I
[4:21] Speaker 3: was doing and put it out there. But then about
[4:24] Speaker 3: four months later, he's in your hometown of Land at
[4:28] Speaker 3: the breakfast club and they asked him the same question
[4:31] Speaker 3: and he comes off with the same answers. I called
[4:33] Speaker 3: him right after. I said, it looked bat it. We
[4:35] Speaker 3: need to work together and come up with something. And
[4:38] Speaker 3: so he said, look, man, I'm trying to finish out
[4:40] Speaker 3: this Comcast deal. But he said, soon I finish it out,
[4:43] Speaker 3: let's talk and let's see what we can do. So
[4:45] Speaker 3: he gets the Comcast deal closed out and we talked
[4:49] Speaker 3: and he said, Courtage, what do you want to do?
[4:51] Speaker 3: I said, no, I need an investor. He said, well,
[4:53] Speaker 3: look man, I don't invest.
[4:55] Speaker 4: I buy. Now.
[4:56] Speaker 3: I'm falling back in my seat for shot and he
[4:58] Speaker 3: said bye because I didn't have as it was just
[5:01] Speaker 3: me and like three other guys, right, you know, And
[5:04] Speaker 3: so I'm saying, you know, I don't really bring much
[5:06] Speaker 3: to the table. But he knew my pedigree for my
[5:09] Speaker 3: years of BT and what I did at BT, and
[5:11] Speaker 3: he saw me, you know, grow there, right. And he
[5:13] Speaker 3: also knew I worked at ESPN and and had eight
[5:16] Speaker 3: years there, so he knew I came with a tracker
[5:19] Speaker 3: and he said, I tell you what, curse what I'm
[5:20] Speaker 3: gonna do. I'm gonna buy your company because I believe
[5:23] Speaker 3: in your vision. And that's what he did, and we
[5:27] Speaker 3: jumped into it in twenty twenty one, basically nothing, and
[5:30] Speaker 3: we've wrote this thing in four years. We've become a
[5:34] Speaker 3: very good asset to the HBC's circle. And if you
[5:39] Speaker 3: talk to anyone today, it's really the commissioners in the
[5:43] Speaker 3: fort different conferences, they will all tell you that HBC
[5:46] Speaker 3: GO has made a statement within the you know, television
[5:52] Speaker 3: business and streaming business. And I think that one of
[5:54] Speaker 3: the biggest things that Alameda gree brought to the table
[5:58] Speaker 3: that I said to buy around the gates was one,
[6:01] Speaker 3: as you.
[6:01] Speaker 4: Know, I love to say this.
[6:03] Speaker 3: I want to show the world the two black men
[6:05] Speaker 3: can get together and do something successfully. Number two was that,
[6:11] Speaker 3: you know, I said to him, look, we got one
[6:13] Speaker 3: shot when we put this thing.
[6:14] Speaker 4: Up on the air.
[6:15] Speaker 3: It's got to be quality. I said, we can't put
[6:17] Speaker 3: it on YouTube. You know, nothing that looks kind of scrappy.
[6:21] Speaker 3: That audience say, oh, this is just garbage. Why they
[6:23] Speaker 3: even have even so he backed it by putting up
[6:28] Speaker 3: quality programming through the technology that we had, and we
[6:33] Speaker 3: we matched every single network out there with a shot
[6:37] Speaker 3: as far as our quality and how we put on
[6:39] Speaker 3: our show. And we've grown this thing to where we
[6:42] Speaker 3: have advertisers now who are beginning to start understanding what
[6:46] Speaker 3: we're doing, and you know, they're coming in and supporting us,
[6:49] Speaker 3: you know, because they're trying to reach that HBCU alumni
[6:52] Speaker 3: and students.
[6:54] Speaker 4: So.
[6:56] Speaker 2: Educated audience.
[6:57] Speaker 1: You know, a lot of people understand that when you
[6:59] Speaker 1: starting out the facts about HBCU graduate fifty percent of
[7:03] Speaker 1: the school teachers who are black come from HBCUs, forty
[7:07] Speaker 1: percent of congress who are black come from HBCUs, seventy
[7:11] Speaker 1: five percent of the medical doctors who are black and
[7:14] Speaker 1: dennis who are black come from ACPCUS, and thirty I
[7:17] Speaker 1: think roughly thirty three percent of the STEM students who
[7:20] Speaker 1: are graduates come from APCUS. So you're getting a highly
[7:23] Speaker 1: academically trained audience which lies itself in that middle class.
[7:27] Speaker 1: So you're getting the audience there's a maying audience, correct, right.
[7:31] Speaker 4: Exactly exactly, and so.
[7:33] Speaker 3: And then I think I think when when you look
[7:35] Speaker 3: at the quality of what you're doing, you've got to
[7:39] Speaker 3: build on.
[7:39] Speaker 4: One of the things we were successful be BTT was
[7:42] Speaker 4: you know, building.
[7:43] Speaker 3: Talent, you know, and that you know, the anchor for
[7:47] Speaker 3: us is Charlie Neil, who is the black voice and
[7:50] Speaker 3: black cous bore right, and so you know, he was
[7:55] Speaker 3: able to really help kick off the network we call
[7:58] Speaker 3: the John Madden of HBCUs, you know. But he brought on.
[8:02] Speaker 3: We brought on some you know, great more chalent. John
[8:04] Speaker 3: Kelly works with him, Uh James had not Sideline help
[8:09] Speaker 3: is incredible. We've got uh Lorenzia Molten and we've got
[8:15] Speaker 3: Nia Simon doing a silent with either two great young
[8:18] Speaker 3: ladies who who I put him up against anybody?
[8:21] Speaker 4: And then we've added more talent. You know. Steve Washing
[8:24] Speaker 4: just came on from NFL Network.
[8:26] Speaker 2: That's my boy right there.
[8:27] Speaker 1: You know, he's he's hand sexy, you know, see you know,
[8:30] Speaker 1: he's he's Siver had sexy.
[8:32] Speaker 4: Though he got.
[8:39] Speaker 2: Shain't off my gray hairs, courtey, Steve.
[8:42] Speaker 1: He made great hand Look boy, I showed if my
[8:45] Speaker 1: grayhead looked like that like that, like Steve, I'll still.
[8:47] Speaker 2: Be wearing it, bro, I still be wearing it.
[8:49] Speaker 4: Man.
[8:49] Speaker 3: You know, Steve, he's brought a lot of good flow
[8:53] Speaker 3: to us and he and he's got a good.
[8:55] Speaker 1: Follower, absolutely absolutely big fan for many years off just
[8:58] Speaker 1: se him in sports in general, the beauty of So
[9:01] Speaker 1: let's let's talk to the audience before we get to
[9:03] Speaker 1: your induction. That's really I want to spend some time
[9:06] Speaker 1: on that. But I want everybody to be educated by
[9:08] Speaker 1: HBCU go, how do you access it? Is it only
[9:12] Speaker 1: on website? Is an app? Talk to us?
[9:15] Speaker 3: Yes, it's only at an app as HBC. You go
[9:18] Speaker 3: dot TV, if you go to the app store, you
[9:20] Speaker 3: can pull it right up. We're on Android, we're on iPhone.
[9:24] Speaker 4: You know. We have Roku on Fire TV, We're on
[9:27] Speaker 4: Apple TV.
[9:29] Speaker 3: And now we just had to deal put together last
[9:31] Speaker 3: year with Amazon Prime. You can pick us up in
[9:34] Speaker 3: Amazon Prime now and we'll be making an announcement. I
[9:37] Speaker 3: can't say it right now, but we have a big
[9:39] Speaker 3: announcement coming up in July to weill add another ten
[9:42] Speaker 3: million subscribers the agency go that I think the world
[9:45] Speaker 3: is going to like say, wow, these wives are really exploding.
[9:50] Speaker 3: So we've got some great awareness. I mean, the thing
[9:53] Speaker 3: is and you've been around it for sean longs and
[9:56] Speaker 3: you've been around me long enough that. I mean, we're
[9:59] Speaker 3: just trying to get more more people talking about HPC
[10:02] Speaker 3: you go, just the same way we deal with BC. Right,
[10:04] Speaker 3: you know, we can get we can tap the community
[10:08] Speaker 3: and get the communities that really.
[10:09] Speaker 4: Taugh and and and and the brand is growing.
[10:12] Speaker 3: I mean my first year taking it out there, ra Sean,
[10:15] Speaker 3: it was like, right, well, eat an HBC go t
[10:18] Speaker 3: shirt out there and.
[10:19] Speaker 4: People are like, what is that? Right?
[10:21] Speaker 3: You know, now I put it on and walk anywhere,
[10:24] Speaker 3: people say stop me and say, I watch your network.
[10:27] Speaker 4: You know, I love what you're doing. You know, I
[10:30] Speaker 4: graduated from such such such such.
[10:32] Speaker 3: You know we need more of that, you know. So
[10:34] Speaker 3: it's really showing me more and more and we've got
[10:37] Speaker 3: to do more. We've got to do more, you know,
[10:39] Speaker 3: there's no doubt about it. But at least I know
[10:42] Speaker 3: A people watching it and b the brand is beginning
[10:45] Speaker 3: to grow, and it takes time.
[10:47] Speaker 2: My show here, Marcus, he's used it, yes, he said,
[10:50] Speaker 2: I have. I use HBC you go all the time.
[10:52] Speaker 2: I use all the time, and.
[10:54] Speaker 4: So appreciate it.
[10:55] Speaker 2: Now it's not just sports.
[10:56] Speaker 1: Let's go get let's get clarity there that it's a
[11:00] Speaker 1: it's a tool it's a cultural tool.
[11:02] Speaker 2: Yes, the magic cultural too.
[11:05] Speaker 1: Now you have a relationship with you in CF for
[11:07] Speaker 1: an HBCU voices, Yes. Talk about that partnership.
[11:10] Speaker 3: Well, I have to give credit to a young lady
[11:12] Speaker 3: by the name is Shannon Henderson. She's the director of Engagement.
[11:16] Speaker 3: She's been working for the last two years to build
[11:18] Speaker 3: a partnership with.
[11:21] Speaker 4: UNCF.
[11:22] Speaker 3: Last year we did we kicked it off with I
[11:27] Speaker 3: did a fireside chat with Michael Lomax, the chairman and
[11:31] Speaker 3: CEO of un CF during the summer summit hit there
[11:36] Speaker 3: in Atlanta with you and work out well. But we
[11:39] Speaker 3: were able to create almost about three or four shows
[11:42] Speaker 3: out of it. But the thing about the partnership that
[11:45] Speaker 3: I love about it, Rashana's that it now is they
[11:49] Speaker 3: have thirty seven institutions that UNCF has tied to right now.
[11:53] Speaker 3: That opens us up those doors to be able to
[11:56] Speaker 3: talk to alumni, being talking more to the students, and
[11:59] Speaker 3: so we're gonna use you know, their newsletters, some of
[12:02] Speaker 3: their communication about getting different things out about HBC GO
[12:06] Speaker 3: so we could start to chatter going on those thirty
[12:09] Speaker 3: Southern schools to begin to start driving the brand better.
[12:12] Speaker 3: And we've had a lot of great feedback from a
[12:15] Speaker 3: lot of presidents who want to do more. You know,
[12:18] Speaker 3: they love what we're doing and they want to figure out.
[12:20] Speaker 3: You know, everybody now wants to be on APC go everybody.
[12:24] Speaker 3: I can't go nowhere, head Texas Southern the other day
[12:27] Speaker 3: in Houston and the President President Tucker out there was
[12:30] Speaker 3: like telling me, you know, Curtis, what do we need
[12:33] Speaker 3: to do to get more on HBC go? You know,
[12:36] Speaker 3: and not just from a sports side, because everybody wants
[12:38] Speaker 3: to tell the story. I mean, that's the key thing
[12:41] Speaker 3: that we're trying to drive more is storytelling of HBC
[12:44] Speaker 3: because Sean you know just as well as I do.
[12:47] Speaker 4: But I just want to.
[12:47] Speaker 3: Let the listening audience know every HBCU has a story
[12:53] Speaker 3: that people don't know about. You know, if you look
[12:55] Speaker 3: at the movie Figures, when you look at the young
[12:57] Speaker 3: lady came out of West Virginia State, who really was
[13:00] Speaker 3: the caddists behind you know, the man who walked the moon,
[13:05] Speaker 3: John Glynn, the man would not go up if it
[13:07] Speaker 3: wasn't for her number and come down if it wasn't
[13:10] Speaker 3: for her numbers. A lot of people, including myself, never
[13:13] Speaker 3: knew that story and there's more stories like that out
[13:16] Speaker 3: there that we want to start telling him more about
[13:19] Speaker 3: because it's all about, you know, educating our young people.
[13:23] Speaker 3: It's always amazing to me now when I go into
[13:26] Speaker 3: these classrooms with the young people and they don't know.
[13:28] Speaker 4: Their history, don't know their history.
[13:31] Speaker 3: I was I was at Morgan State the other day
[13:34] Speaker 3: speaking a while back, and I said to the class,
[13:37] Speaker 3: I said, are you familiar with the magazine Black Enterprise.
[13:43] Speaker 4: No one put their hand up.
[13:45] Speaker 3: I said, you don't realize the man who built that
[13:48] Speaker 3: went to Morgan State. They didn't know that, you know,
[13:52] Speaker 3: Earl Grades did that. None students in that room that day,
[13:55] Speaker 3: And to me, that's that's that's a shade.
[13:58] Speaker 2: But he's don't go anywhere.
[13:59] Speaker 5: We'll be right back with more money Making Conversations master Class.
[14:02] Speaker 5: No need for you to do me a favor right
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[14:25] Speaker 5: back to Money Making Conversations master Class with me Rashaun
[14:28] Speaker 5: McDonald well, I.
[14:29] Speaker 1: Would say it's a shame. But also not building out
[14:34] Speaker 1: your brand like you're building out your brand. Brand awareness
[14:37] Speaker 1: means means something, you know what I'm saying. Because they've
[14:41] Speaker 1: made their legacy on print okay, and you're making your
[14:45] Speaker 1: legacy on.
[14:46] Speaker 2: Digital where all the young people at digital digital right digital,
[14:50] Speaker 2: and so.
[14:51] Speaker 1: Because you did you you know, that's just honest truth
[14:55] Speaker 1: on that. You know, it's in a few years some peple.
[14:58] Speaker 1: You ask a kid about ebony as by Jet, they
[15:00] Speaker 1: will know what that is. And if ess didn't have
[15:04] Speaker 1: such a powerful black audience in females, they will disappear.
[15:09] Speaker 1: And that's why I think it's important that we talk
[15:11] Speaker 1: about HBCU GO as not just a cultural phenomenon that's
[15:16] Speaker 1: only talking about the culture of HBCUs, but HPCUS people
[15:21] Speaker 1: who graduate, people who participate, who advocate for it are
[15:25] Speaker 1: like me, that is lessons learned and knowledge expanded upon.
[15:29] Speaker 1: And I think that that's why I wanted to make
[15:30] Speaker 1: sure that people understood the value of what you're doing
[15:34] Speaker 1: is like history. You know, we have an administration that
[15:36] Speaker 1: currently wanted to take away our history, wanted the denounce
[15:40] Speaker 1: our contributions. Well, HBCU GO will allow you to not
[15:44] Speaker 1: see the truth. And the truth is important.
[15:46] Speaker 2: That we all understand. It has value that we're going
[15:48] Speaker 2: to get with.
[15:49] Speaker 1: But I don't want to stay on that so long, Curtis,
[15:51] Speaker 1: because we've been talking fifteen minutes now, because you're good talking.
[15:55] Speaker 4: You know.
[15:56] Speaker 2: Tasha, she called me.
[15:58] Speaker 1: Nelson called me, say hey, brother, that you know your
[16:01] Speaker 1: boy is getting inducted in the Hall of Fame.
[16:04] Speaker 2: I go, come on there.
[16:06] Speaker 1: See I've been fortunate, I said, Steve Harvey, get him
[16:08] Speaker 1: him a star on the Walk of Fame. You know,
[16:11] Speaker 1: my boy Stephen A Smith. You know he's inducted in
[16:14] Speaker 1: the Broadcast Hall of Fame. I feel I got Hall
[16:17] Speaker 1: of famers all around me, so I felt it was
[16:19] Speaker 1: only appropriate. April twenty third, my boy Curtis is going
[16:25] Speaker 1: to get inducted into the Hall of Fame. Man, talk
[16:29] Speaker 1: about that, man, because you know, we all keep our
[16:32] Speaker 1: head down, Curtis, and we just grind and grind. But
[16:36] Speaker 1: we have to appreciate when somebody recognizes what we're doing.
[16:40] Speaker 2: As being unique.
[16:40] Speaker 1: Because when you look in these rooms, man, it's not
[16:43] Speaker 1: many names. It's not many names.
[16:45] Speaker 4: Now, that is real, that's very real, you know, you know,
[16:49] Speaker 4: and that's what, you know.
[16:51] Speaker 3: I think what was interesting for me Sehanna's dad.
[16:55] Speaker 4: I've always had a chip on my shoulders through life.
[16:58] Speaker 3: Man. I got that chip because my high school coach
[17:02] Speaker 3: would not let me play high school basketball. He would
[17:05] Speaker 3: cut me every time I got up there. I was
[17:08] Speaker 3: always the last guy to get cut. And I just
[17:11] Speaker 3: put in my mind and I told him, going to
[17:14] Speaker 3: my senior I'm not trying out no him, but you're
[17:16] Speaker 3: not going to stop me from playing college basketball.
[17:18] Speaker 4: And I went on to play four years of college
[17:19] Speaker 4: basketball because of that ship. And I brought that same
[17:23] Speaker 4: chip into the cable industry. You know.
[17:26] Speaker 3: When I got an opportunity to step in, my whole
[17:28] Speaker 3: mindset was I'm going to build that Curtis Simon's brand
[17:32] Speaker 3: and grow with it within the business.
[17:34] Speaker 4: And I was fortunate. I was fortunate to get some
[17:37] Speaker 4: good entities to work for. You know.
[17:39] Speaker 3: I worked for kind of Cablevision, one of the biggest
[17:41] Speaker 3: cable operators of the day, you know, and that becomes
[17:44] Speaker 3: as the youngest guy as a general manager of Continentical
[17:48] Speaker 3: in Ohio.
[17:49] Speaker 4: Then I jumped to.
[17:50] Speaker 3: ESPN and through the health ESPN, they helped me grow
[17:53] Speaker 3: into the business and began to help me to build
[17:56] Speaker 3: that brand, and then I went to work for one
[17:59] Speaker 3: of the best black companies in the world, be ET
[18:02] Speaker 3: And I remember when.
[18:03] Speaker 4: Bob called me about it.
[18:05] Speaker 3: I really the first words out of his office, I
[18:07] Speaker 3: can't afford your course. See if you can find me
[18:09] Speaker 3: somebody that could come work with it. I thought about it.
[18:12] Speaker 3: I was thirty two years old and hit the wall
[18:14] Speaker 3: at ESPN. I said to myself, Damn.
[18:17] Speaker 4: Why not me right? Why don't I call Bob and
[18:19] Speaker 4: let me sit down with Bob?
[18:21] Speaker 3: And everybody in the industry thought I had lost my mind,
[18:23] Speaker 3: said why would you leave ESPN to go work for
[18:26] Speaker 3: Bob Johnson whose network is just fluttering?
[18:28] Speaker 4: They don't know what's getting to happen.
[18:29] Speaker 3: But then I said, listen, at thirty two years old,
[18:32] Speaker 3: if I got an EVP on stamp on my resume, worst.
[18:36] Speaker 4: I can do is that I've been to is EVP.
[18:39] Speaker 3: And so you know the pudding was in the pace man,
[18:44] Speaker 3: and so you know it allowed me. Bob taught me
[18:47] Speaker 3: a lot of great lessons, taught me how to be
[18:50] Speaker 3: a great business person, taught me how to build relationships
[18:54] Speaker 3: over the years, taught me how to understand who you're
[18:57] Speaker 3: talking to what you're talking to about, how do you
[19:00] Speaker 3: grow it?
[19:01] Speaker 4: And I really took that and really.
[19:05] Speaker 3: Grew from it, and it's really an honor now after
[19:08] Speaker 3: thirty something plus years. It's really funny, you know, in
[19:12] Speaker 3: this industry that I've been in for so long, how
[19:14] Speaker 3: many people have called me now a shot and said,
[19:16] Speaker 3: damn man, you should have been there twenty years ago
[19:19] Speaker 3: for what you just said. Well, you know, I always
[19:22] Speaker 3: remember my buddy Bobby Daniels when he went in the
[19:25] Speaker 3: NBA's Hall of Fame and he said, look, God had
[19:28] Speaker 3: a place and a time for me. I'm not looking
[19:31] Speaker 3: back on that. So when my time came, I'm here
[19:34] Speaker 3: today to tell you I enjoy it. And that's really
[19:37] Speaker 3: what I'm gonna tell the people on Thursday. You know,
[19:39] Speaker 3: I'm here to say I'm happy. I'm not mad at
[19:42] Speaker 3: nobody took thirty years to get here, you know, because
[19:45] Speaker 3: everyone in the room knows what I did. Now, however
[19:49] Speaker 3: you want to time it out, that's on you. But
[19:52] Speaker 3: as far as what I did within the industry and
[19:54] Speaker 3: what I'm doing now where the hul Go, I paved
[19:57] Speaker 3: the way for a lot of people over time and
[20:01] Speaker 3: did a lot of good things that at the end
[20:03] Speaker 3: of the day people had to take a great picture
[20:08] Speaker 3: of it and say, damn, this guy's done a lot
[20:10] Speaker 3: of stuff over the years. I wasn't aware of all
[20:12] Speaker 3: the stuff he's done. And so to me, it's a
[20:16] Speaker 3: great honor. I'm looking forward to it with Sean and
[20:19] Speaker 3: and you know, I'm now that was the icy on
[20:24] Speaker 3: the cake for me. I'm in the Cable Pioneer Club.
[20:27] Speaker 3: I went into Broadcasting Cable Hall of Fame, which is
[20:30] Speaker 3: the biggest of hall.
[20:31] Speaker 4: Of and I'm one of them.
[20:32] Speaker 3: It's only like ten blacks in that hall Hall of Fame,
[20:35] Speaker 3: with Oprah, Bob Johnson, Byron, a few others.
[20:38] Speaker 4: You know.
[20:39] Speaker 3: So to get now my pedigree where I came out of,
[20:44] Speaker 3: you know, put me in at the Cable Hall of Fame.
[20:46] Speaker 4: It's just the icing on the cake for me. Man.
[20:48] Speaker 4: And I'm just I'll be cheasing come Thursday night.
[20:52] Speaker 1: You should let me just clear up everybody. Curtis Simon's
[20:55] Speaker 1: induction into the Cable Hall of Fame represents industry recognition
[21:00] Speaker 1: of both his leadership and the growth of HBCU focused
[21:03] Speaker 1: media and that we're talking about.
[21:06] Speaker 2: HBCU Go dot TV.
[21:08] Speaker 1: But he was also letting you know that he left
[21:11] Speaker 1: ESPN thirty two years of age. That's when you make
[21:14] Speaker 1: those decisions, and went over to be ET and really
[21:18] Speaker 1: introduced me into black college football because I didn't see
[21:23] Speaker 1: it on television but b ET at the time. And
[21:25] Speaker 1: now it's across many platforms or now seeing the value
[21:29] Speaker 1: of programming or live sports programming.
[21:32] Speaker 2: Now with that being said, you know you're getting an induction.
[21:35] Speaker 1: You're gonna you say, you're gonna go up there and
[21:36] Speaker 1: speak a little short speech, which I know is not
[21:38] Speaker 1: gonna be true.
[21:39] Speaker 2: He can really really he talked.
[21:41] Speaker 1: Fifteen minutes before I even was able to bring up
[21:43] Speaker 1: the induction, So you know it can tell you know,
[21:45] Speaker 1: it can tuk. But I just want to say congratulations, man,
[21:48] Speaker 1: because when I say it about longevity, that's key because
[21:53] Speaker 1: you know, it's really interesting, Curtis, when we look at
[21:55] Speaker 1: our lives. You know, when you're thirty two, you don't
[21:58] Speaker 1: see forty, you don't see fifty.
[22:00] Speaker 2: You know, you know what I'm saying.
[22:01] Speaker 1: You just just geared for that moment and you're feeling
[22:04] Speaker 1: good for an opportunity.
[22:05] Speaker 2: But when you look back, Curtis, and this is.
[22:07] Speaker 1: A moment and this is what you're going to realize,
[22:10] Speaker 1: and you've already realized because you mentioned many other prestigious
[22:14] Speaker 1: honors that you've been bestowed because of your career, longevity
[22:19] Speaker 1: and career. That's what you have brother, career. Talk to
[22:23] Speaker 1: us about that for a minute, Curtis, Well, I.
[22:25] Speaker 3: Mean I think that that's the you know, being in
[22:29] Speaker 3: the right place. I've got a wonderful wife who number one,
[22:33] Speaker 3: has helped me extend my life because she has showed
[22:36] Speaker 3: me how to eat better, how to treat myself better,
[22:40] Speaker 3: you know, and go from a teaching me how to
[22:44] Speaker 3: be a good father along with learning how to be
[22:48] Speaker 3: a good man at the end of the day, which
[22:50] Speaker 3: is hard in this business because you put so many
[22:52] Speaker 3: hours in it, you sometimes forget about family because you
[22:55] Speaker 3: just grind it, you know. And I think that's what
[22:58] Speaker 3: the main thing that I really look back and on
[23:00] Speaker 3: as that, you know, I had somebody by my side
[23:03] Speaker 3: who believed in me and allow me to do the
[23:06] Speaker 3: things I need to do to grow in the business,
[23:08] Speaker 3: but at the same time took her personal sacrifice to
[23:11] Speaker 3: allow me to do that, you know. And so I
[23:13] Speaker 3: can take the accolades of these awards, but really the
[23:17] Speaker 3: lightning rod behind it is my wife. I mean, I'm
[23:19] Speaker 3: gonna stay up there Thursday night. Is that I'm not
[23:23] Speaker 3: the one that deserves this war. My wife does, because
[23:25] Speaker 3: she's the one that's really put me in a right
[23:28] Speaker 3: mind to be able to do what I've.
[23:30] Speaker 4: Done over the last few years.
[23:31] Speaker 3: And you know, people look at me and say, I
[23:33] Speaker 3: say seventy, and they say.
[23:35] Speaker 4: No, way, you're seventy years old. I'm like, look, I'm
[23:37] Speaker 4: seventy years old.
[23:38] Speaker 2: I'm sixteen. I'm sixteen. When the cloud the cloud brother.
[23:43] Speaker 4: Yeah, we're right, We're right there, you know. And I'm
[23:46] Speaker 4: praying we can get to eighty because all me and
[23:48] Speaker 4: you both get eated age.
[23:50] Speaker 1: So many people let age be their their their drama peal,
[23:54] Speaker 1: you know, she appeals, I wake up, man. And I
[23:58] Speaker 1: look at people that go you you you the same
[24:00] Speaker 1: age me, because I don't. You don't walk like me,
[24:03] Speaker 1: you don't talk like me, you know, and uh, and
[24:06] Speaker 1: that's important that it's all mental.
[24:08] Speaker 2: How you approach yourself, how you get up, well, you
[24:10] Speaker 2: see your future. You know.
[24:11] Speaker 1: Every time I see Andrew young he rolled around that wheelchair,
[24:15] Speaker 1: Andrew Rondo, he namedy plus years old. He don't look
[24:18] Speaker 1: like he finished. He is participating because when you wake up,
[24:22] Speaker 1: he knows he can still make a difference, you know,
[24:24] Speaker 1: And I think that you're making a difference. And I
[24:27] Speaker 1: want to make sure people understand.
[24:29] Speaker 2: HBCU Go. It's the premier football program.
[24:32] Speaker 1: Now they cover baseball, basketball, but that's all done. Were
[24:36] Speaker 1: about to go into that fall and that's what if
[24:38] Speaker 1: you're trying to follow football, go to HPCU. HBCU Go,
[24:43] Speaker 1: HBCU go dot tv. It features classics, homecomings, historic rivalries.
[24:48] Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about. Fam you come on now,
[24:51] Speaker 1: Grambling and Southern, you know what I'm saying. Pray I
[24:54] Speaker 1: View and Texas Southern, you know after and Howard I
[24:58] Speaker 1: know him all now, I know him all. Now you
[25:00] Speaker 1: know I'm one hundred percent Black. Rivalry es central to
[25:03] Speaker 1: HBCU culture and captures the full experience from the game
[25:07] Speaker 1: itself to its bands alumni.
[25:10] Speaker 2: Ocean of sagu up in Texas, the Ocean of Soul.
[25:13] Speaker 1: Everybody be talking about the boone Sonic and all that
[25:15] Speaker 1: or boom shaka laka.
[25:16] Speaker 2: I'm tired of that.
[25:17] Speaker 1: I'm tired that I grew up with the Ocean of Soul,
[25:19] Speaker 1: that text or Southern so don't nobody else counts. So
[25:22] Speaker 1: it says, stop talking to me about all these other
[25:24] Speaker 1: bands and alumni and community traditions, and plush your relationship
[25:28] Speaker 1: that you created with UNCF called HBCU voices just a
[25:32] Speaker 1: dominant role you're playing brother.
[25:34] Speaker 2: You deserve the honor.
[25:36] Speaker 1: But more importantly, you're creating a platform that when we
[25:39] Speaker 1: all leave, it will become a generational thing to have.
[25:43] Speaker 2: You have a history, but you're also planning for the future.
[25:46] Speaker 1: Talk about the future, HBCU go and HBCU go dot TV.
[25:50] Speaker 4: I think it's brighter, Jeohn, I think it's bright man.
[25:53] Speaker 3: I'm dusting my shoes because I don't know how much
[25:55] Speaker 3: I have left in the tank. But I think that
[25:58] Speaker 3: you know, we've done a great job to your point
[26:01] Speaker 3: that you just outline of starting to show the exposure
[26:05] Speaker 3: of historical black colleges, right. I don't want a young
[26:09] Speaker 3: African American telling me female or male and on the
[26:13] Speaker 3: cultural kids saying I don't know about HBCUs because my
[26:17] Speaker 3: job is to develop their knowledge. And I feel that
[26:21] Speaker 3: we're on the right steps moving forward to begin and
[26:24] Speaker 3: start showing that up. And so the growth of us
[26:27] Speaker 3: moving forward is building more and more stories that help
[26:31] Speaker 3: people understand what HPCU is all about, you know, and
[26:34] Speaker 3: then how they can play a role in being part
[26:37] Speaker 3: of that once they get there.
[26:39] Speaker 4: And I think that one of the things I've been.
[26:41] Speaker 3: Trying to impress on a lot of presidents out there
[26:43] Speaker 3: is that we have to look at these HPC schools
[26:48] Speaker 3: as a business and not just as an education center.
[26:52] Speaker 3: Because the only way you survive in life is business.
[26:55] Speaker 3: So you have to make sure you mix those together
[26:58] Speaker 3: in order to keep these HPC's life, which we need them,
[27:01] Speaker 3: all of them, you know, So it's important that we
[27:04] Speaker 3: use that mentality as we try to move forward.
[27:07] Speaker 1: Awesome again, twofold HBCU Go, which is the app HBCU
[27:13] Speaker 1: Go dot tv, which you can go and.
[27:16] Speaker 2: Type it in and pop right up.
[27:18] Speaker 1: But more importantly, we brought this young man on to
[27:21] Speaker 1: talk about his induction into the Cable Hall of Fame
[27:25] Speaker 1: April twenty third. It recognizes in both its leadership and
[27:29] Speaker 1: the great growth of HBBCU focused media which we are
[27:33] Speaker 1: today benefiting from. And also because you know, when you
[27:38] Speaker 1: create something, you put the word out, everybody want a
[27:39] Speaker 1: piece of it. So oh yeah, you know, ten years ago,
[27:43] Speaker 1: to be honest, you couldn't find HBCU go on Nobody
[27:46] Speaker 1: TV said, now you find HBCU period on Nobody's TV said,
[27:50] Speaker 1: like I said, Alan Barron Allen got mad.
[27:53] Speaker 2: Because they wouldn't even give it to it. And again,
[27:56] Speaker 2: when you get mad, create action and down and created
[27:58] Speaker 2: the actions.
[27:59] Speaker 1: Good brother, man, And I want to thank you for
[28:00] Speaker 1: taking the time and allow me to talk to a
[28:02] Speaker 1: friend and celebrate with a friend April twenty.
[28:05] Speaker 4: Third, thank you for shot.
[28:07] Speaker 3: And then I want to thank Tasha for putting us
[28:09] Speaker 3: back together you know today.
[28:11] Speaker 4: But man, you know you've always been one of my.
[28:13] Speaker 3: Partners who I always look up to you, man, because
[28:15] Speaker 3: you're always doing something in the right direction.
[28:17] Speaker 4: Man, So keep up the good birth.
[28:20] Speaker 2: Man the same.
[28:23] Speaker 4: That's what keep doing man. You know that money.
[28:26] Speaker 1: I'll be praying for your brother as always been. Be
[28:29] Speaker 1: a blessing, a prayer blessing because you've been doing a
[28:32] Speaker 1: great thing. And keep doing it. And don't make this
[28:34] Speaker 1: interview a long time. So when the fall come like
[28:37] Speaker 1: this summer, let's get back on the horn.
[28:40] Speaker 2: Let everybody know that the HBCUs are coming back.
[28:43] Speaker 1: On the sports side, that's when you're really gonna drive
[28:45] Speaker 1: your downloads and people wanting to get there. So Tasha,
[28:50] Speaker 1: let's do it. Let's say, August, let's get back together
[28:53] Speaker 1: on the line and I'll be great.
[28:54] Speaker 3: That can't be great because we can talk about it.
[28:56] Speaker 3: We talk about football schedule. We got a really good
[28:58] Speaker 3: football schedule talking through that.
[29:00] Speaker 2: Okay cool. Thank you, brother for taking the time.
[29:02] Speaker 1: Appreciate the courages HPCU, go dot, TV Hall of Famer,
[29:07] Speaker 1: Cable Hall of Famer.
[29:09] Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to this episode.
[29:11] Speaker 5: No, I need for you to do me a favor
[29:13] Speaker 5: right now to follow or subscribe to Money Making Conversations.
[29:17] Speaker 5: It's free and you can find it on the iHeartRadio app, Spotify,
[29:21] Speaker 5: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Please do
[29:25] Speaker 5: me that favor, follow or subscribe Money Making Conversations.
[29:30] Speaker 2: Keep winning.

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