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.

Not Again. You Again.

September 22, 2010
Not Again. You Again.

It’s Wednesday, September 22, 2010 and Channel One News is cheating schools again. We would say they are sneaking in more advertising content over the two-minute contractual limit, but there is no “sneaking” to it.  This is just a blatant ad for a movie, but Channel One News refuses to acknowledge it as an...
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Add three zeros.

September 19, 2010
Add three zeros.

Form 10-Q for ALLOY INC 9-Sep-2010 Quarterly Report Media Media segment revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 was $14,993, an increase of $225, or 1.5%, from revenue of $14,768 in the second quarter of fiscal 2009. The increase was primarily due to increases in our Digital, Alloy Education and Display Board businesses...
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From the archives: The Video

September 18, 2010

This is a tape that Channel One News accidentally gave me in 1997. They thought I was a potential advertiser. They never wanted the public to see this outrageous video because it undermines their claims that the in-school TV show is about news and not about commercials. Channel One News has always been in...
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Channelone.com’s hyper-commercialism.

September 17, 2010
Channelone.com’s hyper-commercialism.

    This is just a small section of a page from Channelone.com’s site.  Above “Channel One News” There is a Staples banner ad. To the right of logo is another ad for Staples. Below is one of Christa Fletcher’s phony “news story” about a British band named Deluka which is nothing but a...
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Presented by…

September 16, 2010
Presented by…

Dec. 2009 Each year, right before the Christmas holidays, Channel One News saturates its shows with commercials for video games. Along with regular 30-second commercials for games, they allow games to “sponsor” a feature of the show.
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Last year: Star Trek Day on Channel One

September 15, 2010

    Video from May 4, 2009 program. Actor Chris Pine introduces the show, then later he does a “Shout Out” and later still he gives the Pop Quiz. (Did he just mention his movie?)  This actor appears on Channel One News to promote his new film Star Trek that will be in theaters...
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Cell phone vices.

September 14, 2010
Cell phone vices.

Last year, this commercial ran on Channel One News both in high schools and middle schools. What’s the man looking at that makes him laugh? Since the commercial is all about cell phone vices is he looking at an indecent picture?  He tells kids that any cell phone can cause people to develop certain...
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Can you find the news?

September 13, 2010
Can you find the news?

Channelone.com’s homepage today September 13, 2010.  Everything in blue is an ad for Staples. No joke. Channel One is obviously hurting for money and so they are turning their website into one big billboard.  This is what has been happening to their in-school TV show.  This is why Channel One’s anchors on the TV...
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Is this an ad?

September 12, 2010
Is this an ad?

Does this look like a commercial?  No. It looks like a nice actor stopped by and wanted to say “Hi” to his old school.  Isn’t that sweet? Channel One News uses the Shout Out feature to sneak some extra advertising into their already ad-loaded show.This actor mentions he stars in Star Trek.  He says...
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From the archives: Undivided Attention

September 11, 2010
From the archives: Undivided Attention

From Jim Metrock:  This was a full page ad in Advertising Age on May 11, 1998.  This is what Channel One News is all about: eyeballs.  Make millions of schoolchildren contractually obligated to watch your TV show during school time, and then sell those eyeballs to the highest bidder.  This is one repugnant ad....
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