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: I check in on Channel One News only occasionally now. The company is a shell of its former self. Fewer and fewer students see Channel One’s advertising, news, and fluffy filler content. American schools are so much better with the fall of Channel One News. Below is a February 25th Facebook post...
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From Jim Metrock: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Channel One wants schoolchildren, down to eight, to tackle the important issue of dirty dancing. HMH’s Channel One News maintains one website for all its student audiences, ranging from high school seniors to third grade students. Channel One recently ask students, “Do you think schools should cancel dances because...
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From Jim Metrock: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s miserable unit Channel One Network is helpless when schools trash their TV show. Consider Gulfport High School’s refusal to show Channel One News according to the “contract” they have with the company. On a regular day the school allows five minutes for school announcements and any remaining time...
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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...
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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...
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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
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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