Why would Channel One News talk this way to children?
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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 News teases kids with references to Californication and Dexter.
“The only thing i like about channel one is i get to miss like 15 minutes of my english class.”
From Jim Metrock: How fitting. Yesterday I wrote about the Grinches at Channel One News who rob children of their academic time in school. Today I find the latest post on Channel One’s Facebook page by a student who thinks the best thing about Channel One News is wasting 15 minutes of English class....
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Channel One News advertises $300+ video game and system
You’re mean ones, Mr. and Ms. Grinch! From Jim Metrock: When children click on Channel One’s front page “Holiday Guide” they are taken to a page that instantly fills with a video ad for Disneyland Adventures video game. The ad fills the center of the screen even though the child has not clicked...
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Advertising Tintin in classrooms is Dumbdumb
Precious seconds of school time are lost as Channel One News begins its December 12, 2011 “current events” show with a countdown promoting the new movie Tintin. Columbia Pictures paid good money to Channel One to tease students with their new Steven Spielberg movie coming out December 21. We are sure that students are...
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Revisiting National College and Channel One News
From Jim Metrock: I wrote recently about Channel One advertising the career college National College. Any company that supports Channel One’s exploitation of schoolchildren should come under criticism. BUT, I have to back off my comments about National College. I received a letter and other information ( 2011 National College letters Dec 7 2011 ) from...
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Time to busta Channel One News
From Jim Metrock: Google wants kids to know about its new Google Music service. So they figured advertising on Channel One is a good thing. As you can see Channel One News has approved a Google Music ad which offers a free download of “Why Stop Now” by the rapper Busta Rhymes. This...
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What’s a soccer kick have to do with current events?
There are so few real news stories on Channel One News, they have to add various “filler” features to pad the space between the commercials. Play of the Week is an old standby. Students send in video in hopes Channel One will feature their school on air. The videos are generally unspectacular. That doesn’t...
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