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 won’t let the public see what students have to watch in their classrooms. On their web rebroadcast Channel One News edits out the two minutes of advertising which is the very thing that makes them so controversial and that parents want to see. Obligation believes the public needs to have access...
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These two PSAs show how indifferent Channel One News executives are to their audience. Channel One likes to publicize how many public service announcements they air on their show. They must feel it makes their company look more socially responsible. The truth is Channel...
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May 31, 2011 – It didn’t appear to make sense for Alloy Media and Marketing to take over the assets of the all-but-bankrupt Channel One Network in 2007. To Alloy, Channel One News was worth the gamble because Channel One could be used to promote Alloy’s various other endeavors. Alloy has gained a...
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This is an entire Channel One News show. Notice how little news there is on the show. There is a long story about a school changing their grading system. There is a student-produced story. There is coverage of the Academy Awards. There is a basketball play as the Play of the Week. In short...
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This is the intro for the February 28, 2011 Channel One News show. To everybody with walking around sense this is a commercial for the animated movie Rango. Channel One says this is not a commercial. They say they are simply using a current movie and a starring actress to grab the attention of...
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Above: August 1991 – Channel One News moves into the new Whittle Communications headquarters in Knoxville, TN. (Building cost $50-$70 million.) Below: June, 2011 – Channel One News headquarters at Alloy Media and Marketing, 151 West 26th Street, New York City. (11th floor)
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June 8, 2011 – From Jim Metrock: Ten years ago Obligation discovered Channel One News was offering public school teachers money for helping in signing up neighboring schools. The company wanted teachers to work for Channel One while still working for the school district. The money would paid straight to teachers and superintendents and...
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http://on.fb.me/k8Y0ZP Channel One News is a controversial “news” show run by Alloy Media and Marketing. Channel One’s main purpose is to advertise products to a captive audience of students. Their deal: they loan schools (disproportionately schools in lower income communities) a TV network (old analog TV sets) in exchange for the school’s promise...
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