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: February 2013 was when Channel One very secretly removed Kent Haehl as CEO. Ms. C.J. Kettler took over this position without any public announcement. In April, Obligation broke the story of Haehl’s departure and Kettler’s hiring. One month later Channel One’s PR department put out a press release stating the obvious....
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From Jim Metrock: This is one of my favorite articles. I clipped it out of Advertising Age magazine way back in 1996. Heidi Diamond was just hired by Channel One News to help take the kiddie marketing company to new heights. In 1996, Channel One was making so much money it was obscene....
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At one time: Eight reporters. From Jim Metrock: Channel One News is losing their on-air personalities almost as quickly as they are losing their audience. Julian Dujarric lasted less than a year at the Channel One youth marketing company. I’m hoping he realized that commercially exploiting a captive audience of schoolchildren was not...
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From Jim Metrock: This past weekend Channel One went live with a new look to their website. There is little new content on the new site; most of the changes are merely cosmetic. Nothing stood out to me that would make parents and educators feel more favorable towards Channel One. Indeed, Channel...
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From Jim Metrock: Strauss Zelnick loves to sell violence. The video game Grand Theft Auto has been very good to Mr. Zelnick. His company ZelnickMedia owns the company that makes GTA and Red Ded Redemption depicted in the poster behind Mr. Zelnick. Mr. Zelnick is also the man calling the shots, so to speak,...
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From Jim Metrock: In February Channel One removed Kent Haehl from his CEO position because he couldn’t turn the company around. Each year under his “leadership” Channel One went further into the abyss. (Mr. Haehl is now “CRO” of the company. I believe this means Chief Risk Officer . I don’t believe...
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My Twitter chat flopped. From Jim Metrock: You knew it was going to be a disaster when they announced it: “We’re hosting a live Twitter chat with Maggie, Scott and Shelby on Wednesday, June 5th, at 3pm EST (12pm PST) They’ll be talking about some of their favorite stories and experiences from this...
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From Jim Metrock: There are four remaining anchors at Channel One News. In May, Jessica Kumari left the company, leaving Julian Dujarric, Maggie Rulli, Shelby Holliday, and Scott Evans. Summer is the time for Channel One employees, if they can, to find work elsewhere and leave behind the controversial, youth marketing company. I...
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Channel One News published this script in May. We don’t know the day it was shown to students. Students: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! Scott: What is up! I am Scott Evans. Shelby: And I am Shelby Holliday. Scott: And we’re here at Goose Creek High School in...
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From Jim Metrock: Channel One News went dark on Friday, May 31. They are done for the 2012-13 school year. Historically Channel One’s broadcast season ran through the first week of June, but… when the money is running low, you gotta do what you gotta do. Channel One is in awful shape. Christopher...
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