Hawk Plus Celebrates Its Fourth Year of Streaming All Things Montclair with Big Changes Coming

By Mark Effron, NewsLab Coordinator, College of Communication and Media, Academic Affairs

It started with a question during the depths of Covid: Why can’t students and alumni access all of the media from the School (now College) of Communication and Media in one place? Why can’t Montclair run its own Netflix-like streaming service?

Less than a year later, in the Spring of 2022, Hawk Plus was launched: the first-in-the-nation student-run streaming service. The premise was simple: one-stop-shopping for all student media and events produced by students: The Red Hawk Sports Network, Montclair News Lab, WMSC Radio, the award-winning #Focus productions, student films and special events like graduation, homecoming, alumni interviews and more. If the premise was simple, simulating a Montclair “Netflix” was anything but. Working with media company Triple B Media, students quickly learned the ropes of running a streaming service: programming, promotion and marketing, scheduling and social media.

For alumni, Hawk Plus is a way of experiencing the vibrant Montclair community long after they finish their studies. Want to catch up on WMSC’s signature morning program, The Morning Buzz? A video version simulcasts live on Hawk Plus weekdays from 7am to 9am. Find out the latest campus news on the weekly Montclair News Lab. The big game? Every week, Hawk Plus presents the Red Hawk Sports Network Game of the Week. Meet fellow alums doing interesting work on our newest series MONTCLAIRconnect:The Podcast. For parents, it’s an easy way to view the creative output of their budding media professionals.

And, the media industry is taking notice: On October 13, at the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Awards for outstanding journalism, two Montclair student productions which debuted on Hawk Plus—and stream on demand—won national awards: #FOCUS Democracy: Our Election won in the student Video Hard News Category, and Arizona Stories: Border, Water, and Politics won for Video Newscast. Arizona Stories was previously awarded two “Student Emmys” by the Television Academy Foundation.

The students who work on Hawk Plus are getting invaluable hands-on experience. Senior Kim Lacanilao, a senior Film and Television major, coordinates all of the programming and scheduling for the site:

“Working with Hawk Plus as the director of content programming has been a fun challenge. I started off just wanting to edit content for the platform but I ended up expanding my horizons in ways I didn’t expect. I’m learning leadership skills, communication skills, how to give and receive criticism and how to think outside the box,” said Lacanilao. “These are skills that will help me be successful in my future career, whether that be as an editor/director/producer or anywhere else in the media industry.”

Over the summer, Lacanilao was part of a small student team that worked with Triple B Media to overhaul the back-end of Hawk Plus to create a more user-friendly experience. That new and improved site debuted this fall.

Her predecessor, Izzy Conklin ‘25, a Film and TV major, parleyed her Hawk Plus experience into a position producing for ONNJ, New Jersey’s only fulltime streaming channel, co-founded by Lisa Marie Falbo ‘06, a Montclair alumna.

The innovation continues for Hawk Plus. Next up are mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Google Play, Roku and Amazon Fire. As streaming becomes the dominant method to consume media, Montclair students, professors and alumni are helping to lead the way forward.

Check out what’s streaming on Hawk Plus!

MONTCLAIRconnect: The Podcast: Episodes highlight alumni from Montclair State University, the latest programs and initiatives at the School and how to stay connected. In the first episode, Eliza Andrus ’24 and Taylor Risley ’21 discuss their experiences with Team Rocky.

Cooking With Koppell: In the latest episode, President Koppell is joined by Rash Vinakota, a journalism and digital media major and active contributor at WMSC. As an international student born in the U.S., raised in India, and now back for college, she shares a unique perspective shaped by both cultures while introducing President Koppell to a popular Indian snack: Bhel Puri.

News Lab: Montclair State University’s student-produced newscast delivers the biggest stories on campus and around Montclair. In the latest episode, a conversation with a student reporter who was able to interview both candidates for the NJ Governor’s Race.