Above is a picture of Channel One “technology.” The gray box with the “1” on it is a Channel One head-end unit. The small 13″ TV on top is a Channel One preview TV. This was recently sent to a northern school that had signed up for Channel One not knowing about the controversy surrounding this TV show. When the school administrators found out the truth about Channel One News, they ended their contract immediately.
This equipment is old. It would be unfair to call Channel One’s equipment “junk” but look closely at the imprint on the bottom of the head-end unit. It reads “Whittle Educational Network.” In 1994, Whittle Educational Network sold Channel One to K-III Communications (later to change their name to PRIMEDIA). Schools that sign up for Channel One this school year are getting equipment that is at least nine years old and possibly 14 years old. No telling how many schools this particular equipment has been in.
A head-end unit allows the signal from the satellite dish to be routed to each classroom. The only other equipment in the Channel One package is the dish, a separate VCR (there is one in the head-end unit), a 19″ TV set for each classroom with at least 23 students (some special schools get 27″ TV sets from Channel One), and the wiring for the network. All this for FREE!
Even if this equipment was new, even if a school had all new 27″ TV sets, the value just isn’t there. Schools with Channel One News just don’t do the math. Or if they did the math, they didn’t do it correctly. The value of the equipment should be added to the value of the TV show and the value of the documentaries that Channel One distributes and the sum of those figures should be compared to the value of lossing one hour a week of school time per student, year after year after year. Remember the value of Channel One’s equipment has to be the RENTAL value of the equipment since Channel One refuses to give title to the equipment to schools.
The vast overwhelming majority of the top public schools in the U.S. have nothing to do with Channel One News.
