Channel One News announced this week that they will close their
Hollywood studio, often called "The Hacienda." The company
will relocate the remaining production staff at an unidentified
location in Washington, DC.
Channel One’s public relations firm tried to spin this shocking
news as a positive story, but it is clear Channel One News just
told the world that it is in serious trouble.
The announcement vaguely mentioned a new production company they
would be working with in DC. Is ABC News or some other network
going to produce the show for Channel One? The company never hired
a president of programming to take the place of Morgan Wandell.
It’s been told to Obligation that several staffers have left the
company and that a salary freeze along with other problems at the
company has demoralized those who remain. Channel One News once
had eight news anchors and are now down to five. There is a real
possibility that there will be even fewer anchors in September.
Obligation’s Jim Metrock said, "Obviously, this is a great
day for people who value classroom education over classroom marketing.
Channel One has run its course. The ‘inevitable
fall’ is occurring. There is nothing Channel One News can do
to stop it. They can cut costs, as they are, but that postpones
their certain demise. This is a company that has been run by the
‘gang that couldn’t shoot straight.’ Mismanagement has been a big
reason Channel One is shrinking so dramatically. The management
never understood the tremendous responsibility that came with bringing
content into classrooms. It was a sacred trust between Channel
One and the schools that cautiously allowed them in. Channel One
routinely broke that trust. The management should have seen students
as an audience to SERVE. Instead, every last one of the Channel
One presidents saw these children as a target market. Their ‘researchers’
were not researching how to improve the educational impact of the
show, but on finding out how long students stayed in convenience
stores after school was out to help their advertisers who sold
candy bars, gum and soft drinks. Everything was turned on its head
at Channel One. That was fine for them as long as the money kept
rolling in, but those days are gone.
"Channel One’s customers are the advertisers. That makes
sense if Channel One was a regular over-the-air TV network. But
when you have a captive audience of schoolchildren you have to
sacrifice profit margin by placing the interest of the students
over the soft drink and cellular phone companies. Channel One was
greedy. ‘Speed kills’ but greed kills too. Greed can chalk up another
one: Channel One Communications Corporation.
"Instead of spending money making their program have more
value or replacing the antiquated TV sets that now are hanging
like lifeless vultures in classrooms, they spent millions on high
powered and often corrupt lobbyists, such as Jack
Abramoff. Lobbyists have gotten rich off of Channel One’s paranoia,
but lobbying only works as long as state legislators or US senators
keep getting some benefit, chiefly money. Now Channel One doesn’t
have the money they once had. High salaries for the fat cat Channel
One CEOs left crumbs for the ‘little people’ that actually ran
the company. All in all, it is amazing the company has lasted as
long as it has.
"One has to feel concern for the young employees that never
thought too much about how Channel One makes their money. Hopefully
this stunning development will force them to find work with companies
that don’t exploit schoolchildren. Leaving Channel One may be the
best move of their young careers."
