Channel One has come off one of its worst years and now faces a very challenging 2002-2003 school year.
National advertisers don’t see Channel One as a “sure bet” anymore in their efforts to get commercial messages to young people. Serious questions remain about the enforcement of Channel One’s contract. As Obligation has stated for years, we know of no Alabama school system that is honoring the Channel One contract.
That schools breach the Channel One contract is not news, but the massive violations of the contract by Channel One last school year will now become an issue.
Jim Metrock said, “When Channel One began running the ‘Cingular Question of the Day’ and the ‘Gatorade Play of the Week’ and started dressing up Derrick Shore in Columbia Sportswear as he reported the news and began allowing guest hosts like Dakota Moon to not only plug their newest CD but plead with students to call their radio station on the band’s behalf, then it is my humble opinion that all contracts between the Channel One Communication Corporation and school boards are a sham and not worth the paper they are printed on.”
“Channel One promised, under the power of a legal contract, to not have more than two minutes of commercial content,” said Metrock, “but now there is a minimum of two minutes of commercial content. Channel One is guilty of deceptive advertising when they sign school districts up with promises of ‘only two minutes of ads’.”
Obligation is geared up for the new school year. Obligation has just completed a major study of the Channel One TV show. The results will be released in September. It should make national news.
Channel One will be losing their most famous anchor, Gotham Chopra, this fall. If you ask “Who in the heck is Gotham Chopra?’, he is the son of the New Age guru Deepok Chopra that you see on the cover of books in the bookstore. Two other anchors have already left the show. It is expected that as the financial situation worsens at Channel One they will go with a smaller crew and carry fewer than the normal eight anchors.
