October 27m 1999 – National Journal Reports Channel One Paid Preston Gates Lobbying Firm $820,000 in First Half of 1999 October 27, 1999 – National Journal Reports Channel One Paid Preston Gates Lobbying Firm $820,000 in First Half of 1999 $820,000 doesn’t go as far as it use to. Over the years, Channel One has paid...
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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.
Channel One Paid Preston Gates Lobbying Firm $820,000 in First Half of 1999
Channel One Advertises Unbelievably Violent Movie to Captive Audience of Children
BORDER=”0″ WIDTH=”200″ HEIGHT=”175″ NATURALSIZEFLAG=”3″> Last week, Channel One continued their marketing of violence to America’s youth. (Past crimes include: Ads for “The Quest”, “New York Undercover”, “The Shining”, “The Mummy”; reviews of “Kiss the Girls”, “Scream2”; and music on the in-school TV show from groups known for their violent lyrics: Bone Thugs and Marilyn Manson) Children in schools that...
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Who is Left at Channel One?
We said 1999 would be a disastrous year for Channel One and it has been much worse than even we forecasted. According to an Educational Marketer article, Channel One’s president, Kevin McAliley, “abruptly resigned” several weeks ago. In early summer, PRIMEDIA’s Chairman, William Reilly, offered his resignation which was no resignation at all. He was given the boot by...
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Hey, Channel One! Don’t Mess With Texas.
From Jim Metrock: "Don’t Mess With Texas" is the bold unofficial motto of the great state of Texas. Obligation shared a booth with the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education at the Texas Association of School Boards convention this past weekend. We distributed a wealth of information about Channel One to school board members and...
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Tattoo You!
Channel One’s web site is instructing children on how to tattoo themselves. These tattoos are not permanent, but they are not readily removable either. You will have to go to their web site to read for yourself. Channel One is encouraging children to apply these dark stain henna tattoos by suggesting that their mothers will be angry. Hey,...
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Chat Rooms Ready to Come Back to Channel One’s Web Site
Hold on to your hat … and your child. Channel One is getting back into the chat room business. Jim Metrock, president of Obligation, said, “There is no need for this company to entice schoolchildren into their chat rooms. Chat rooms are the first things parents block if they are concerned about Internet safety. Channel One’s record on...
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The Cost of Channel One in One Alabama Middle School
Pizitz Middle School is in Vestavia Hills, AL, a suburb of Birmingham. Vestavia Hills is a very well-to-do school system – by Alabama standards. The one middle school and the high school both have had Channel One since mid-1991. The school board agreed to the superintendent’s recommendation to enter into a contract with Channel One without any apparent financial...
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PRIMEDIA Top Man “Retires”
From Jim Metrock: He was the man Henry Kravis picked to run K-III Communications in 1994. (K-III changed their name to PRIMEDIA in 1997.) William Reilly never could get people excited about this “Macmillan” (publishing house) clone. Now he has to fall on his sword. He announced his “early retirement” yesterday. I suspect more heads will roll over...
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Big Changes Coming to Channel One
For months, Channel One tried to stop the U.S. Senate from looking into its unseemly presence in America’s schools, but it happened and Channel One was embarrassed. Now there is great speculation that an executive shake-up or a new PR campaign may happen soon. I will soon make my prediction on what will happen. (As if I know...
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