Channel One News is a controversial “news” show run by Alloy Media and Marketing. Channel One’s main purpose is to advertise products to a captive audience of students.
Their deal: they loan schools (disproportionately schools in lower income communities) a TV network (old analog TV sets) in exchange for the school’s promise to show their 12-minute daily program at least 90% of school days.
A few advertisers love the idea of students (grades 6-12) being required to watch or listen to their ads virtually every day they attend school. However, most advertisers consider Channel One News an unacceptable advertising vehicle and have shunned the company. What company wants to be associated with a marketing company that wastes school time and taxpayer money?
Since 2009 Channel One News has found a new source of advertisers who apparently don’t care about robbing young people of their educational time. This group: unknown or virtually unknown musical acts that need any help they can get to promote their solo act or band.
Channel One created Hear It Now as a reoccurring feature on the in-classroom TV show and on their website channeone.com. When an artist is featured on Hear It Now, Channel One News devotes a significant amount of time on the program plugging the singer or band.
An example: On April 29, 2011 as the program begins, students hear the a song called “Empty Rooms” by an obscure singer named Skyler. The song plays for 36 seconds! as the intro is completed. When Channel One goes into its first of two commercial breaks the same song plays again. As they come out of the break the song picks up where it left off. The same thing happens with the last commercial break. And then as the show signs off students hear more of the song.
In total students hear 1 minute and 36 seconds of “Empty Rooms” by Skyler. That’s over 12% of the 12-minute program devoted to Skyler.
Schools and students have no say-so over what or who is advertised on Channel One News. Taxpayers never envisioned school time, which they paid for, being used to promote music acts in classrooms.
Students often post comments ridiculing Channel One’s Hear It Now and the unknown acts that are forced upon them.
The musical acts we have listed on this Facebook page are trying to take a shortcut with their careers. They are being promoted on Channel One News and their music is being played to an audience they did not earn. Their music is being dumped on students against their will. Students should not have to listen to rock and rap groups and singers in their classroom just because Channel One News wants it to happen.
Some of the artists Channel One News plugs may not have paid for the advertising, but their ads still rob students of time. All these acts featured on this FB page should ask Channel One News to stop all their advertising and remove the any ad copy from channelone.com.
Please contact these artists through Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or their website and ask them to stop using Channel One News to jumpstart their careers.
