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.

Old News

August 15, 2004
Old News

Headline at 6:15 PM (CDT) August 15, 2004 On Channel One’s Web Site   Channel One News likes to bill itself as the “only source of news” for many of the children forced to watch their in-school TV show. Heaven help those unfortunate children. Channel One News does not broadcast over the summer. To Channel One News, there...
Read More »

Channel One News asks: Are you ugly?

August 15, 2004
Channel One News asks: Are you ugly?

It’s about to get ugly on Channel One News. Girls are told that if they don’t look like these two models above (from Clean & Clear’s web site), then they are ugly and therefore need to purchase, er, Clean & Clear products from Johnson & Johnson. (Johnson & Johnson has been advertising on Channel...
Read More »

Razor to the wrist

August 12, 2004
Razor to the wrist

  This is a picture of Channel One’s message board this afternoon (August 12). Somebody posted a message that uses symbols to draw what appears to be a razor cutting a wrist. This would be in keeping with Channel One’s previous cutting postings earlier in the year. Obligation believes that Channel One executives are NOT trying to get children interested...
Read More »

Hey Kids, Want To Go Vroom!?

August 10, 2004
Hey Kids, Want To Go Vroom!?

Channel One is running a contest to promote the Teen Choice Awards on the Fox Network. Channel One is offering children various products as prizes. The companies supplying the prizes are paying to have their products promoted on the channelone.com site. One advertiser Channel One has signed up is Zroom Foods. This company has...
Read More »

Who Wants To Advertise On The Most Controversial TV Show In America?

August 8, 2004

On March 15, 2004, PRIMEDIA, Inc. released this information about Channel One News.   " Advertising revenues, which are generated primarily by Channel One, decreased $13,920 in 2002 compared to 2001. The decline was due to the expiration of long-term contracts as well as decreases in non-cash revenue items such as barter and assets-for-equity...
Read More »

More Channel One Violence

June 11, 2004
More Channel One Violence

The WB Network pays Channel One News to run commercials for one of its most violent programs. It is called Angel. (Sounds nice, but it is a bloodbath of occult violence mixed with humor.) We have written about it before. We had hoped that Channel One’s president Jim Ritts and Jeff Ballabon, Channel One’s self-described “Moral Filter” would come to...
Read More »

Nicholas Berg

June 9, 2004

In May, Channel One’s president of programming, Morgan Wandell, made a decision to show American schoolchildren part of the tape that terrorists made of Nicholas Berg Berg was an American that was captured by terrorist and then killed. The terrorist filmed his beheading. Channel One’s Morgan had access to the terrorist film and decided that American students were tough enough...
Read More »

Prison Stories For Kids

May 16, 2004
Prison Stories For Kids

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 If your preteen is forced to watch Channel One News at school, then he or she is subjected to many depressing and disturbing stories and images. Channel One is infamous for showing schoolchildren age-inappropriate content. They have shown a drug addict preparing to “shoot up.” For some reason known only to Channel One producers, they...
Read More »

It’s NASCAR Time For Kids

May 2, 2004

Friday, April 30, Jimmie Johnson became a news anchor on Channel One News. Mr. Johnson is a driver on the NASCAR race circuit. He appeared for two purposes: to get kids to turn into Fox’s broadcast of the Auto Club 500 race on May 2 and to help young people become fans of NASCAR. NASCAR is using taxpayers...
Read More »

Heavy Lifting Needed

April 29, 2004

From Jim Metrock: When Channel One’s parent company, PRIMEDIA, Inc., announces their quarterly earnings, they have a conference call that allows analysts to ask questions of the top brass. Usually, there are few comments or questions about Channel One. That is changing as Channel One’s fortunes continue to deteriorate. Here are sections of today’s release that deal with Channel...
Read More »