The new administration at Channel One is apparently disregarding the contract terms concerning the amount of advertising and the total length of the Channel One program. The contract says that the show will be 12 minutes long and the ads will be no more than two minutes of that twelve.
Channel One News is now routinely 13 minutes and 25 seconds long. Channel One has added an extra 20-second commercial at the end of the broadcast. Ads for “Dawson’s Creek” and Norelco have run in this “bonus” commercial time. Channel One is also promoting its web site during the “Headlines” segment that begins the program.
Jim Metrock, president of Obligation, said, “Schools agreed to a 12 minute broadcast. By extending the length of Channel One, this company has violated their contract. It is very much like the promotion of their web site that they slipped in on educators without their approval. They got caught. Channel One is always getting caught. With the new expanded Channel One, everything needs to be recalculated as far as the cost of Channel One to taxpayers and to students.”
