Does your school still have Channel One News?
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Commercial exploitation of Schoolchildren Hall of Shame: ... -
A look back to 2023: Another bad idea in... -
Where are they now?: Channel One’s Kent Haehl selling...
Commercial exploitation of Schoolchildren Hall of Shame: ...
Pop Quiz: Maggie Rulli has just… January 2, 2026 I just saw Maggie Rulli...
A look back to 2023: Another bad idea in...
From Jim Metrock: About six years ago, I met several Edmodo employees at an...
Where are they now?: Channel One’s Kent Haehl selling...
Kent Haehl was Mr. Channel One News. He presided over the company for six...
Skoollive to advertisers: “Average annual income of a 12-14 year old: $2,167” Don’t you want a piece of that?
From Jim Metrock: Dear School Board member: In the future you may find a salesperson standing in front of your board urging your district to sign a three-year contract with Skoollive. You need to be prepared for his or her slick sales pitch. Unfortunately sometimes you won’t recognize the Skoollive salesperson, because the...
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More and more “reporters” for less and less audience.
From Jim Metrock: It is getting very hard to find a school district that is showing Channel One News. Without the fear of Channel One taking away their TV network, schools no longer have a need to honor the terms of the old Channel One contract. [Show our daily, 12-minute TV show to student...
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The letter that ended Chris Whittle’s Channel One News
From Jim Metrock: Three years ago, Channel One News was forced to send this letter to the relatively few schools that still had their TV equipment. It marked the end of the original Channel One News – the one that was extremely profitable back in the 90’s. In 2012 the few remaining executives at Channel One...
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Thinking about Skoollive? Read their contract with Murrieta Valley USD
For Skoollive’s contract with the Murrieta Valley USD, Murrieta, CA: SkoolLive agreement Murrieta Valley USD
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Skoollive contract: Revenue from Display of Kiosk System Content
From Jim Metrock: Are you a school board member whose board is considering entering into a contract with the youth marketing firm Skoollive? You owe it to your community to take some time to better understand what is in the Skoollive contract. Here is one section (1.7) and one subsection (1.7.1) of the contract....
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No one cares to watch Channel One News at the Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart
From Jim Metrock: The Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart knows its students don’t want to watch Channel One News. That’s why the school shows the controversial TV show before school starts. This school like many others that still have Channel One have been breaching Channel One’s contract for years. https://obligation.org/2012-10-10-catholic-hs-refuses-to-honor-channel-one-news-contract
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Channel One News quietly begins season. Student audience kaput.
Poor Channel One Once this controversial, kiddie marketing company had 8 million students forced to watch their program. Although Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Channel One’s owner, continues to state Channel One’s audience is “nearly 5 million,” the true number is probably closer to 2 – 3 million. Channel One used to update their ever-decreasing estimated...
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Deconstructing Skoollive’s sales video
From Jim Metrock: Skoollive recently published this video in an effort to make school officials more comfortable with their controversial, in-school marketing company. If your school district is thinking about bringing billboard advertising into your school hallways, please take a moment and watch Skoollive’s “feel good” video, then consider reading my remarks about the video. The opening...
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A company that doesn’t know how to spell its own name.
From Jim Metrock: There are so many things wrong with SkoolLive that I hate to bring up this minor point. Normally, a lot of thought is put into the name of a business. Why SkoolLive chose to misspell “school” is their concern. However I do find it interesting that company employees are confused about their own...
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Fauquier Co. Public Schools become a leader in… hallway advertising.
From Jim Metrock: The Fauquier County board of education has agreed to bring at least 11 electronic billboards into their secondary schools. What?! Why would a school board do that? They are the only school district in Virginia, that we know of, to sell their students to the controversial, California-based SkoolLive youth marketing...
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From the archives: 07/5/2003 Keynote Speech To Council Of Urban Boards Of Education
From Jim Metrock: This speech from 12 years ago is unfortunately still timely. Students are still being commercially exploited by old tired kiddie marketers like Channel One and new upstarts like SkoolLive. Parents and educators need to stay vigilant for those who only see schools as a source of easy ad revenue. Keynote Speech...
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Hold the phone!! Is SkoolLive interested in obtaining student educational records?
From Jim Metrock: While looking through a SkoolLive contract with an Arizona school district, I found this disturbing paragraph: 6.17 Student Educational Records. School District’s students’ educational records are protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (“FERPA”). SkoolLive will comply with FERPA and will not access or make...
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What Skoollive doesn’t show school boards: Commercials, “Call to Action” ad campaigns, and “Your brand here”
From Jim Metrock: Skoollive is an in-school marketing firm. Such companies by definition suffer from a split personality. On one hand, the company has to sell advertisers on its ability to place advertising in front of “X” number of schoolchildren, while at the same time it has to sell itself to school boards as a company primarily...
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Cody (Wy) trustees open door to potentially disruptive video commercials playing in school hallways.
Controversial youth marketing firm gets approval to place electronic video billboards into school hallways. Digital kiosks make grade for Cody schools Posted: Friday, July 17, 2015 5:09 pm By JANICE DOWNEY Staff writer Two Cody schools will have a new “kid” in the hallways this year: door-sized digital kiosks. By a vote of 6-1,...
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From the archives: 01/12/2001 Drinking And Drug Advice Is Outrageous
Drinking And Drug Advice Is Outrageous January 12, 2001 America’s schoolchildren are being inundated with ads for About.com. About.com is a company that owns several pornographic sites and will be merging with Channel One’s parent company, PRIMEDIA, Inc. at the end of February or the beginning of...
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From the archives: 2/6/01 Channel One News advertises Twinkies in classrooms
Eat More Twinkies, Kids. February 6, 2001 On January 26, 2001, upwards to 8 million schoolchildren were compelled to watch a commercial urging them to eat more Hostess Twinkies. Channel One has been bringing Hostess into America’s classrooms since the spring of 2000. Jim Metrock said, “When you think about it, Channel One is a...
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Do you have what it takes? Do you have a valid driver’s license?
From Jim Metrock: Do you want to be a part of a youth marketing company whose purpose is to bring advertising into public schools? Well, here’s your chance to be a part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s controversial Channel One News show. When Channel One says, “We are a small and tight knit group,”...
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