The Gatorade Channel (formerly Channel One News)

PepsiCo’s Gatorade is a long-time advertiser on Channel One News.
We have previously reported* about the enormous amounts of time Channel One allows Gatorade to sell their product to preteens and teens. In addition to commercials, Gatorade sponsor’s the weekly “Play of the Week” which is nothing more than a long-form commercial.

Now Channel One News is going even further with its promotion of Gatorade. In today’s show, Channel One creates a feature story around Gatorade’s naming of its “best athletes of the year.” This is not a news story of importance to students. Even if it was, Gatorade isn’t going to be announcing who won until July 12.

This story merely speculates on who MIGHT win the Gatorade award. This is wrong on so many levels that the mind reels. It is appalling that Channel One News has nothing better to air then this nonsense. This is filler material, but it’s filler material that helps an advertiser and advertisers pay the salaries of all those that remain employed by Channel One.

This is a betrayal of Channel One’s promises to schools. Schools never agreed to air this type of idiotic content. Channel One’s new management appears to be very committed to merging advertising content with news and feature stories. This is reprehensible, but may be necessary given Channel One’s financial status. Channel One’s executives know they are confusing young people by mixing advertising and stories. Obligation’s appeals to Channel One to stop doing these advertorials has been met with silence.

Last Friday, May 12, Channel One’s producers ran a story that was as strange as today’s. “Whatever happened to so and so?” This is the line the Channel One anchor prefaces a report on what two former Gatorade Players of the Year have done since they won the award a year ago. Channel One News, who cares?

What person at Channel One News thinks this slop is worthy of the attention of 7 million students? For one child to put down his or her book to watch and listen to this utter nonsense is truly regrettable.

It is quite apparent that Channel One’s producers can pretty much air a story promoting Gatorade any day they desire. Next week they can run a story that takes up two minutes about how Gatorade awards are chosen, then the next day air a profile on some deserving players that were runner-ups, then a story about middle school athletes that aspire to be a Gatorade Play of the Year when they get to be seniors.

From the transcript of today’s show:

INTRO ATHLETE
ERROL: ON JULY 12TH, GATORADE WILL NAME ITS NATIONAL ATHLETES — THE BEST MALE AND FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES — AS SELECTED BY A PANEL OF SPORTS EXPERTS.  FIVE BOYS AND FIVE GIRLS ARE IN THE RUNNING — HERE ARE SOME OF THE TOP CONTENDERS.

ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

ERROL: GREG ODEN IS DEFINITELY A STRONG CONTENDER FOR THE BOYS TITLE. HE’S JUST OVER SEVEN FEET TALL AND AVERAGED MORE THAN 22 POINTS A GAME IN LEADING LAWRENCE NORTH TO ITS THIRD STRAIGHT INDIANA STATE TITLE.  ODEN WAS NAMED GATORADE’S BOYS NATIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT TIME. THE ONLY OTHER PLAYER TO DO THAT WAS A GUY NAMED LEBRON JAMES.

ODEN’S BEEN ALL-EVERYTHING FOR THREE YEARS… AND HE’S ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH ESPN’S VOICE OF COLLEGE HOOPS,
DICK VITALE. DICK VITALE — ESPN: I’LL TELL YOU ONE THING RIGHT NOW, REECE, THIS GUY RIGHT HERE IS CERTAINLY GONNA
BE ONE OF MY DIAPER DANDY INFLUENTIAL PLAYERS. CONGRATULATIONS, GREG.

ERROL: FOR THE GIRLS ATHLETE OF THE YEAR, IT COULD BE TINA CHARLES, WHO WON THE GIRLS BASKETBALL CROWN. SHE AVERAGED MORE THAN 26 AND A HALF POINTS A GAME AT CHRIST THE KING OF NEW YORK CITY AND WENT UNDEFEATED FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR. SHE’LL PLAY NEXT YEAR AT CONNECTICUT. TINA

CHARLES: IT’S A BLESSING. I MEAN, IT MEANS THAT ALL MY HARD WORK, DETERMINATION PAID OFF. I MEAN, EVERYTHING’S JUST COMING TOGETHER, IT’S JUST UP TO ME WHEN I GET TO COLLEGE AT UCONN TO PUT IT ON THE PLATE.

ERROL: OTHER CANDIDATES INCLUDE MITCH MUSTAIN OF SPRINGDALE, ARKANSAS… WHO THREW FOR MORE THAN 38-HUNDRED YARDS AND 47 TOUCHDOWNS LAST SEASON.  SOCCER PLAYER LAUREN CHENEY SCORED 35 GOALS THIS PAST SEASON FOR BEN DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL IN INDIANAPOLIS.  HER MALE COUNTERPART WAS ERIC ALEXANDER OF PORTAGE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN MICHIGAN, WHO HAD 28 GOALS AND ELEVEN ASSISTS.

AND THEN THERE’S MEGAN HODGE OF RIVERSIDE HIGH IN DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA… THE NATION’S BEST HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL PLAYER WITH 363 KILLS AND 86 ACES.

TAG ATHLETE
ERROL: AND FOR ALL YOU NON-VOLLEYBALL FANS OUT THERE, A KILL IS A SPIKED-WINNER.  NOW, TO SEE MORE ACTION FROM THE NATION’S TOP TEEN ATHLETES, HEAD ON OVER TO CHANNELONE.COM. THERE YOU’LL FIND FOOTAGE AND HIGHLIGHT REELS FROM PAST WINNERS. JUST CLICK ON ‘PLAYER OF THE YEAR’ TO GET STARTED.

From last Friday’s show (May 12, 2006):

INTRO PLAYER
CALI: WELCOME BACK. IT’S A QUESTION THAT’S FREQUENTLY ASKED ABOUT FORMER HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS STARS… WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SO AND SO? RICH: WELL, THERE’S A PRETTY GOOD ANSWER WHEN YOU ASK THAT ABOUT TWO GATORADE NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR FROM LAST SEASON — GREG PAULUS AND ABBY WANER. BOTH ENDED UP AT DUKE AND BOTH MADE THEIR MARKS AS FRESHMEN.

PLAYER RICH: GREG PAULUS COULD DO IT ALL AS THE QUARTERBACK OF CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL IN SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, PASSING FOR 36-HUNDRED YARDS AND 43 TOUCHDOWNS.  NOT A BIG SURPRISE THEN THAT HE WAS GATORADE’S 2004 NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR. HIS COLLEGE CHOICE? DUKE.

BUT PAULUS PLAYED HOOPS FOR THE BLUE DEVILS, NOT FOOTBALL.  HE STARTED AT GUARD FOR DUKE THIS SEASON AS THE BLUE DEVILS WENT 32-4 AND MADE IT TO THE NCAA SWEET 16.  PAULUS AVERAGED 6.7 POINTS PER GAME AND LED THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE IN ASSISTS. AND NO… HE’S NOT HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS ABOUT GIVING UP FOOTBALL.  BUT ABBY WANER STUCK TO THE SPORT THAT BROUGHT HER ALL THE GLORY.
ABBY — FROM THUNDER RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL IN HIGHLANDS RIDGE, COLORADO — AVERAGED MORE THAN 32 POINTS A GAME AS A SENIOR TO WIN THE GATORADE NATIONAL GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD.  AT DUKE, SHE COULD SCORE… SHE COULD PASS… SHE COULD PLAY THE TOUGH D.

ABBY CAME OFF THE BENCH TO HELP THE BLUE DEVILS MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.

TAG PLAYER RICH: LOOKS LIKE DUKE GOT A COUPLE OF GREAT ATHLETES. AND OF COURSE… THEY BOTH HAVE THREE SEASONS LEFT.

GOODBYES
CALI: THAT’S ALL THE TIME WE HAVE LEFT FOR TODAY — HAVE A GOOD ONE. TAKE CARE. RICH: BYE, GUYS. BYE-BYE.

Gatorade In The News (movie) The Science Of Sweat (pdf1) (2) This is advertising masking as a science lesson. Gatorade wrote this science lesson. Channel One distributed it via their web site. Teachers were to have their students conduct the experiments.

The goal was to have students understand how sweat depletes the body of vital electrolytes. Students are told that sweat robs them of important electrolytes that are “essential for maintaining our metabolism, heart and muscle function, movement of fluid between cells, tissues, and organs, and other important body functions.”

Few students will ever sweat enough to need Gatorade. Not all professional athletes drink Gatorade or other sports drinks. Many drink water. If students become more fearful of the natural process of sweating they will be more inclined to consume Gatorade. A student who has watched Channel One for a year understands that Gatorade is better than water. That is just one of the irresponsible messages a young person takes from Channel One News.