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: Claxton Middle School in Claxton, GA is a “Channel One school.” It’s probably a typical “Channel One school” in that it cheats. Isn’t it awful when a school cheats? Here’s how they cheat: Claxton is suppose to show the 12-minute Channel One News in its entirety. Yet they only allow eight...
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This man is Strauss Zelnick. His partnership ZelnickMedia owns Alloy Media and Markeing which in turns owns Channel One. When Mr. Zelnick gets tired of Channel One’s poor performance he merely has to pick up the phone and say, “Kill it.” Why not sell it? In 2007 previous owner Primedia put Channel One...
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Why would Channel One advertise a website like this to kids? Alloy Media and Marketing own Channel One News. Alloy also owns Teen.com and other age-inappropriate websites aimed at young people. Alloy wants its companies to cross-promote each other. Alloy and Channel One think this type of article is appropriate for teens and preteens....
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Channel One represents “the first time, to my knowledge, that an advertiser has employed the power of the state to force anyone to watch commercials.” Wikipedia: Neil Postman
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At the end of September Channel One launched the Footloose advertising campaign. Students will see commercials for the remake of Footloose on the in-school TV show Channel One News. There will be Pop Quiz feature story promoting Footloose too. Students will be told repeatedly to go to Channelone.com where Footloose advertising saturates the site....
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Michigan’s Lardner Middle School is first nominated school. From Jim Metrock: Obligation, Inc. has instituted an award that will “honor” public schools that show Channel One News and its commercials during the school day. The award is called the Wastin’ Time & Tax Dollars Award. Obligation will nominate public middle schools and...
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