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 Jim Metrock: Product ads on Channel One have all but disappeared. Public service announcements (PSAs) have taken the place of regular commercials. This is not what Channel One wanted. The marketplace has rejected Channel One’s business model – the model that Christopher Whittle unleashed on the country in 1990. Channel One made money...
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Channel One tried very hard to get young people to watch a TV show this past weekend that raised doubts about Jesus’ resurrection. Since last Thursday, March 1, Channel One’s website has tease their young visitors with an article about film director’s James Cameron’s TV show "Jesus Family Tomb" which aired last night on...
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Destined to fail. Judy Harris, Channel One CEO Her company’s financial results are no longer reported by the parent company. Primedia, Channel One’s parent company, announced their 2006 year-end results this past Tuesday. For the first time in years, Channel One was not a source of embarrassment to Primedia officials. That was because...
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Jim Metrock conducts a fake interview with Knight Foundation president Alberto Ibarguen In November 2006, I complained to Mr. Alberto Ibarguen, the CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, about the Foundation’s $2.25 million "bailout" of the notorious Channel One company. Ibarguen never responded. I sent emails to most of his...
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From Jim Metrock: This is an email I sent Ms. Judy Harris, Channel One’s CEO. From: [email protected] Subject: Please remove Buzzed Drinking PSAs Date: February 15, 2007 2:43:26 PM CST To: [email protected] Ms. Harris Last spring, Obligation asked you to stop airing “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving” public service announcements prepared for the Ad...
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Why would C1N waste valuable school time showing Gatorade (major C1N advertiser) being poured over a coach? From Channel One’s official script: MEKA: WHEN WE COME BACK. THE TOUCHDOWNS, THE PLAYERS AND THE COACH WHO MADE HISTORY. WE’LL BRING YOU ALL OF THE EXCITEMENT FROM THE SUPER BOWL. INTRO SUPER BOWL HIGHLIGHTS MEKA: NOW...
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Channel One’s Advisory Board David ???? A principal somewhere in North Dakota. Emily ???? A media technology teacher somewhere in Texas. Jim ???? A teacher somewhere in Iowa. Sonya ???? A media specialist somewhere in Georgia. Roy ???? A video production teacher somewhere in California. Tami ???? A guidance counselor somewhere in Oklahoma. Randy...
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Gatorade remains an advertiser on Channel One News. The picture above comes from the Friday, January 19 show. C1’s management continues to see no problem advertising this junk drink to preteens. Obligation’s Jim Metrock said, "It seems fitting that one of the last regular advertisers on Channel One News is a product that adds...
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Channel One News ran two stories this week on the hanging of Saddam Hussein. Channel One’s Judy Harris had to make some decisions about what would be shown. She knew that children as young as ten are in Channel One’s dwindling captive audience. Not surprisingly Ms. Harris blunders. For some reason she wants children...
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Primedia Discontinues Operations on Education Unit Continues to ‘Explore All Options’ for Channel One By Claire Atkinson Published: December 20, 2006 NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Primedia is discontinuing the education segment that houses Channel One, according to a statement issued today. A spokeswoman for the company insisted this doesn’t mean the business is closing....
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