From Jim Metrock: Channel One’s parent company Alloy Media and Marketing held a conference call on Wednesday, December 5 to discuss their 3rd Quarter financial results. Normally it is very difficult to understand what is actually being said in one of these calls. Companies are always using words not to enlighten those listening,...
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Does your school still have Channel One News?
Learn how to unplug
Houghton Mifflin/Channel One News
Channel One News is a youth marketing company whose main purpose is to get advertising to a captive audience of impressionable schoolchildren. The company loans a school TV equipment in exchange for the school’s contractual pledge to show students a daily, 12-minute, hyper-commercial, TV program called Channel One News. Students lose one hour a week of schools time, which equates to one lost week of instructional time (32 hours) per year. No educational organization endorses the use of Channel One News.
Channel One has fallen on very hard times. Once they claimed over 8 million students were under contract. Since 1997 they have continued to lose schools and now they claim “nearly five million” students and the true figure is probably lower.
In May 2014, publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt acquired Channel One from ZelnickMedia the makers of the ultra-violent Grand Thief Auto video game series. Houghton Mifflin did not disclose the purchase price.
At the end of 2014 most of Channel One’s full-paying advertisers have abandoned the program.
Two Point Oh
“8.1 million”-“nearly 8 million”- “over 7.7 million”- “more than 7 million” – “over 6 million” – “nearly 6 million”
Date Audience Schools Educators Documentation 1998 “more than 12,000” 1999 “more than 8 million” “more than 12,000” “440,000” 1999 “8.1 million teenagers” 2000 “over 8 million” “12,000” “400,000” 2002 “nearly 8 million teens” “over 350,000” 2003 “nearly 8 million” “nearly 12,000” July 2005 “over 7.7 million” “over 350,000” Dec. 20, 2005 “more than 7...
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The Real Reason For Channel One’s Digital “Upgrade”
“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...
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Charts
Matt Diamond is the founder and CEO of Alloy Media and Marketing. Kent Haehl used to be Channel One’s VP of Sales. He left the company several years ago and has been hired back as Channel One’s CEO. Alloy’s stock peaked at $91in 2001. Today December 3 it is trading at $6.75. There...
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AdAge: New Owner, Old Issues
Channel One: New Owner, Old Issues Alloy Makes Changes to In-school News Net, but Critics Aren’t Satisfied By Mya Frazier Published: November 26, 2007 Channel One’s got a new CEO, a new head of sales (from World Wresting Entertainment, no less), and a content deal with NBC that deals with the messy and...
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Moment Of Silence Unfair To Atheist Student
Dawn Sherman takes center stage on Channel One News to explain to other students why she is disgusted with her school’s moment of silence. Ms. Sherman’s father filed a suit saying his daughter’s school district should not have a moment of silence because it violates the separation of church and state. The 15-year-old Ms....
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And In This Corner, From The WWE… Andy “The Rate Cutter” Knopf
Andrew B. Knopf (middle): Chief ad salesman for the WWF and now Channel One News. Channel One News executives must sit around a conference table each morning and dream up ways to make their company MORE controversial. Controversy has plagued the company since it was founded in 1989. Controversy has caused thousands of schools...
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Channel One Censors All Ads From Public View
At the beginning of 2002, after years of pressure from Obligation, Inc., Channel One News FINALLY began rebroadcasting their in-school TV show on Channelone.com. All of a sudden for the first time parents could watch the whole TV show AND the commercials their children were forced to watch in their classroom. Channel One is...
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Kent Haehl Redux
From Jim Metrock: Channel One News is no longer hiding the fact its main mission is to help advertisers connect with young people. The new CEO of Channel One News is Kent Haehl. He used to be Channel One’s Vice President of Sales. He was the man responsible for some awful commercials in...
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Press Releases
It’s fun to read a press release from Channel One News. They are usually wonderful examples of how a company can make something of very little substance sound important. The releases usually contain a large number of over-the-top adjectives. Several years ago Channel One hired a public relations firm to help improve its lousy...
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