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: It is getting very hard to find a school district that is showing Channel One News. Without the fear of Channel One taking away their TV network, schools no longer have a need to honor the terms of the old Channel One contract. [Show our daily, 12-minute TV show to student...
Read More »
From Jim Metrock: Three years ago, Channel One News was forced to send this letter to the relatively few schools that still had their TV equipment. It marked the end of the original Channel One News – the one that was extremely profitable back in the 90’s. In 2012 the few remaining executives at Channel One...
Read More »
From Jim Metrock: The Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart knows its students don’t want to watch Channel One News. That’s why the school shows the controversial TV show before school starts. This school like many others that still have Channel One have been breaching Channel One’s contract for years. https://obligation.org/2012-10-10-catholic-hs-refuses-to-honor-channel-one-news-contract
Read More »
Poor Channel One Once this controversial, kiddie marketing company had 8 million students forced to watch their program. Although Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Channel One’s owner, continues to state Channel One’s audience is “nearly 5 million,” the true number is probably closer to 2 – 3 million. Channel One used to update their ever-decreasing estimated...
Read More »
From Jim Metrock: This speech from 12 years ago is unfortunately still timely. Students are still being commercially exploited by old tired kiddie marketers like Channel One and new upstarts like SkoolLive. Parents and educators need to stay vigilant for those who only see schools as a source of easy ad revenue. Keynote Speech...
Read More »
Drinking And Drug Advice Is Outrageous January 12, 2001 America’s schoolchildren are being inundated with ads for About.com. About.com is a company that owns several pornographic sites and will be merging with Channel One’s parent company, PRIMEDIA, Inc. at the end of February or the beginning of...
Read More »
Eat More Twinkies, Kids. February 6, 2001 On January 26, 2001, upwards to 8 million schoolchildren were compelled to watch a commercial urging them to eat more Hostess Twinkies. Channel One has been bringing Hostess into America’s classrooms since the spring of 2000. Jim Metrock said, “When you think about it, Channel One is a...
Read More »
From Jim Metrock: Do you want to be a part of a youth marketing company whose purpose is to bring advertising into public schools? Well, here’s your chance to be a part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s controversial Channel One News show. When Channel One says, “We are a small and tight knit group,”...
Read More »
From Jim Metrock: Keith Kocinski knows that show biz requires you to keep on smiling no matter what. Mr. Kocinski is one of the remaining “reporters” at the struggling Channel One News youth marketing firm owned currently by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Mr. Kosinski recently filmed an “Ask an Anchor” video which showed him answering questions from...
Read More »
June 14, 2015: In 1998 Channel One hired Dr. Paul Folkemer, a middle school principal from New Jersey. Folkemer’s job was to undermine efforts of parents and educators who were seeking the removal of Channel One’s advertising from classrooms. Ask Dr. Folkemer November 28, 1999 Channel One – Peddlers of Despair Channel One,...
Read More »
