“Channel One News is going digital.”
We have heard that since 1999. Various announcements have been made about a digital Channel One News but nothing ever materialize.
In September of this year Channel One made yet another announcement.
“Teen Newscast Goes Digital to Deliver Enhanced Viewing Experience” trumpeted the press release. Alloy’s CEO Matt Diamond was quoted saying, “We’re committed to and excited about our significant, initial investment in digital technology. By using better technology to broadcast our unique content, we can positively impact teens’ interest and engagement in civics education and current affairs.”
The press release gushed about the digital upgrade providing a “sharper, crisper viewing experience.”
The reaction to Channel One’s press release was underwhelming. Schools continued to dump the program.
It was obvious that the better viewing experience was just PR hyperbole since Channel One had said nothing about upgrading their old, early 90’s, 19-inch TV sets to plasma or LCD sets. No matter how much digital magic you do before the signal gets to the TV screen the picture will never be better than the analog screen can deliver.
The thinking was Channel One was doing the digital upgrade for a different, unstated reason. Now we know. They told us this week.
From the Advertising Age article published on November 26:
“Mr. Diamond said the digital rollout will give Channel One more data to share with advertisers, including an answer to the longstanding criticism that the TVs are never turned on: It will finally report whether the sets were actually on or not. ‘We didn’t have that kind of data before,’ he said.”
It seems Mr. Diamond in talking to the advertising industry told the big reason why Channel One is finally entering the digital age. They are losing advertisers and the advertisers they have are not paying what they should because Channel One cannot confirm their audience numbers.
Channel One News is going digital so they can better spy on their young audience. They don’t trust school administrators and teachers to do what they said they will do. Channel One has every right to think that schools are not honoring the Channel One contract.
As I have said for many years, Alabama is a BIG Channel One state because we have many lower-income communities. I live in Birmingham. I have been researching Channel One since 1996. Since that time I have NEVER heard of a school district in our state that honors the Channel One contract. The contract has become a JOKE.
That is why the digital upgrade will be totally wasted money for Alloy and Channel One. Schools don’t care if Channel One knows they are not showing the program. “Come and get your equipment,” will be what principals and superintendents will tell Channel One.
Imagine a school getting the new digital receivers. Now Channel One quickly determines that their program is only being shown twice a week and only a portion of the program is being shown on those two days. And the digital “spyware” tells Channel One that the sound has been turned off when the program is shown.
Channel One writes the school district a letter saying they have proof Channel One News is not being seen on 90% of school days as called for in the contract. They demand that the school begin honoring the contract.
What happens then? Are schools going to say, “Oh, you caught us. Sure, we’ll shorten our first period math class so your commercials can be shown to our entire student body.”? Don’t think so.
In many “Channel One schools” the news show has not been seen routinely by students in many years. The 12-minute show may be aired during a 10-minute or 5-minute non-instructional period at the beginning of the day or it may be shown before the first school bell to a nearly empty classroom. School administrators are not going to change their established class schedule because of they receive a letter from Channel One. Schools across the country have complained for years that Channel One’s equipment is old and in need of repair. There have been many complaints about Convergent Systems the maintenance contractor that Channel One has used. Schools have had to wait long periods of time to get wind damaged satellite dishes repaired or TVs replaced. School officials have little love for Channel One News. I have heard that straight from the mouths of principals and superintendents at various education conventions.
So schools will ignore any demand from Channel One even if it is from Channel One’s or Alloy’s attorney.
Why have schools felt so comfortable ignoring Channel One’s contract? Why do I feel safe in predicting that their contract will continue to be ignored?
The answer is found in Channel One’s own contract. Or rather it’s what is NOT FOUND in their contact.
There are no “stipulated damages” in the contract.
Parties to a contract often agree upon how much compensation will have to be paid should one of them breach the contract. If the amount to be paid is a reasonable estimate of the true loss to the non-breaching party then it’s called “liquidated damages.” If the amount to be paid is is meant to be undercompensatory then it’s called “underliquidated damages.”
Courts don’t like “penalties” in contracts that are punitive in nature but stipulated damages that are reasonable are upheld.
There is nothing in the Channel One contract that says if you don’t show our program like you promised you would you will have to pay an additional amount. Channel One never put that in the contract because a long time ago they didn’t want to scare schools away from signing up.
If a school receives a threatening letter from Channel One and the school ignores the letter what can Channel One do to the school?
Nothing.
Sure, they can come and take the equipment away but that is no more than they would do if the contract ended. Ending the contract early has no extra cost to schools. School administrators are in the driver’s seat.
Will Channel One show the breaching schools that they mean business and come and take away the TV sets and equipment (as they have a right to do under their contract)?
Probably not and here’s why. Channel One is telling the public and probably advertisers that they have “over six million” students watching their show. The true figure is more than likely less – much less. Channel One has file cabinets filled with signed contracts dating back to 1990. These signed contracts are the foundation of Channel One’s existence. This is where they get the six million figure. But Channel One executives know that a percentage, maybe a breathtaking percentage, of students do not see the show – or the ads – on any one day. If you were one of these executives would you want to do too much investigating?
If Channel One finds that Jefferson Middle School is not watching the show and they come and remove the equipment then the contract MUST be taken out of the file cabinet and thrown in the trash. It is now 6 Million minus Jefferson Middle’s 800 students. And then you begin subtracting all the other breaching schools. This course of action may lead to a very unpleasant ending for Channel One.
So Channel One News is installing digital equipment to help determine how many students are actually watching their show. I can’t imagine a worse expenditure of their limited cash.
