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.
From Channel One’s transcript for April 12, 2017: Students: This is Mr. Leininger’s seventh-grade U.S. history class from Narcoossee Middle School in St. Cloud, Florida, and Channel One News starts right now! Emily: Awesome job, guys, and check out that clear, bright-blue sky. They don’t call Florida the Sunshine State for nothing. Thanks...
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From Jim Metrock: In 2014, CJ Kettler helped convince Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to acquire her distressed and bleeding Channel One News. Houghton Mifflin has made its share of bad decisions, but acquiring Channel One News was a “doozy.” For three years Ms. Kettler stayed at Houghton Mifflin and oversaw Channel One. May 2017, she...
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From Jim Metrock: Channel One News continues to help promote Teen Vogue to its youthful audience. Go to Channel One’s Facebook page to see a video promo of Teen Vogue. When young people get a subscription to Teen Vogue (and that’s what Channel One and, of course, Teen Vogue wants), the magazine sends the...
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From Jim Metrock: Why in the world did Channel One News promote the age-inappropriate Teen Vogue to middle school and high school students on their TV show? Why in the world is Channel One News insisting on plugging Teen Vogue on its Facebook page knowing elementary school students will visit there? Channel One...
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Note: This is from May 2008. Both Obligation and Channel One News had booths at the same education conference exhibit hall. Eyeball to eyeball and… Channel One blinked. Channel One News personnel abandoned their booth at the 2008 NSBA exhibit hall. From Jim Metrock: I was very proud to have a booth at...
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From Jim Metrock: This is the saddest summer in memory for the “journalists” at Channel One News. There are no news reports, no video news reports, no headlines. Channel One News has completely abandoned the youth they claim to serve. Years ago, Channel One would at least copy and paste a few AP headlines...
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Channel One News commercial May 10 2017 Disney Channel From Jim Metrock: Channel One News refuses to release the list of advertisers on its classroom TV show. I continually ask Channel One’s chief ad salesman, David Drucker, to give parents and the public a break by letting them know what ads are being...
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