A review of Oregon public schools that currently have a contract with Channel One is revealing.
Channel One was very successful in getting schools to sign up for their service in the early 90’s when little was known about the company. Schools obviously had to rely on the promises made by Channel One’s sales representatives in the early days. As the controversy over Channel One grew over the years, the sign up rate fell drastically. Channel One’s peak sign-up year was 1991 – its second year of existance.
There are only 98 Oregon schools that are under contract to Channel One as of September 2002. This represents 20% of Oregon’s public secondary schools. We have bralanis.movthose schools by their installation year. Here are the numbers:
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90
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91
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92
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93
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94
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95
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96
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97
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98
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99
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00
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01
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02
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Total | |
| Schools Signing Up |
21
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39
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17
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1
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3
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3
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4
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2
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0
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2
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3
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2
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1
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98
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Same figures in a graph:
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90
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91
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92
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93
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94
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95
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96
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97
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98
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99
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00
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01
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02
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| Schools Signing Up
for Channel One News |
x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
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x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
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x
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
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x
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x
x x
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x
x x
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x
x x x
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x
x
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x
x
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x
x x
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x
x
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x
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90
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91
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92
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93
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94
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95
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96
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97
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98
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99
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00
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01
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02
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Source: Channel One Network
Obligation’s Jim Metrock said, “Some schools got caught up in the rush of getting something ‘free’ and quickly signed up for Channel One after it was rolled out in March 1990. The dramatic drop in contracts, after 1992, may be an indication that school districts weren’t buying the sales hype anymore. Principals saw Channel One in neighboring schools and didn’t like what they saw. Why would the schools that signed up in the early 90’s remain with Channel One? They probably aren’t showing Channel One like they are require to and Channel One doesn’t care. Channel One can’t afford for this core of long-term schools to walk away from their service, no matter how they dishonor the contract. We have seen Channel One’ president personally give his tacit approval to an early signing school, Pizitz Middle School in Alabama, to disgard the 90% viewing terms of the standard Channel One contract.
Also, the automatic renewal clause in the contract forces many schools to keep Channel One because the school didn’t timely notify the company of their desire to end the contract. Some schools may have just forgotten about the contract. “
