Channel One, Good or bad? Options

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I was sitting in class one day, and realized how much more commercials I see at school then I do at my own house. Here are a few fun filled facts I found on google about CH1

Is it possible that eight million students in 12,000 classrooms are being required to watch commercial-filled television every day? Yes -- through the aggressive marketing of Channel One, an in-school news and advertising program has the dubious distinction of being both the largest form of commercialism in schools and one of the most exploitative. In return for lending schools a satellite dish, VCRs, and TV sets, Channel One requires that students spend class time watching the program.

Every school that shows Channel One signs a contract, essentially promising to deliver a "captive audience" -- as Channel One promotional materials call students. Most schools must air Channel One on 90 percent of school days and in 80 percent of the classrooms.

Students and teachers can not change the channel, turn off the program, or turn down the sound -- an ideal environment from an advertiser's perspective. In exchange for this irresistible opportunity to market to a captive audience, Channel One can charge advertising rates of up to $195,000 per 30-second ad.

It's about money, not education
Channel One claims to be "the leading provider of television news and educational programs to America's secondary schools." But a University of Massachusetts-Amherst study found that schools that can afford to say no to Channel One do say no. The study found that the program is disproportionately shown in schools located in low-income communities and communities of color. Channel One is found where the least money is available for education, where the least amount is spent on textbooks and other academic materials.

Yet communities with schools that contract with Channel One still pay dearly for this "opportunity." Channel One takes up precious classroom time with advertisements: each minute the programs air, taxpayers are paying -- and students are losing. A recent study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Center for the Analysis of Commercialism in Education revealed that school time lost to Channel One costs taxpayers $1.8 billion dollars per year, $300 million to commercials alone.

What's on Channel One?
In 1997, the New York media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting coordinated the first comprehensive analysis of Channel One. Vassar College Sociology Professor William Hoynes and Johns Hopkins University Media Studies Professor Mark Crispin Miller analyzed 36 Channel One shows distributed between 1995-1996.


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It is dubious whether such news provides educational or civic benefits to either students or educators.
-- Professor William Hoynes, Vassar College
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The researchers found that only 20 percent of Channel One airtime is spent on coverage of "recent political, economic, social and cultural stories." The remaining 80 percent is devoted to advertising, sports, weather and natural disasters, features and profiles, and self-promotion of Channel One. Professor Hoynes concluded, "It is dubious whether such news provides educational or civic benefits to either students or educators."

Shelley Pasnik, Director of Children's Policy at the Center for Media Education, analyzed Channel One's web site as part of the study. "Channel One's online forays don't stray from its main purpose to expose student so an endless stream of promotion," Pasnik said. She cautioned sudents and teachers against providing personal information online that could be used for marketing purposes.

Researchers encountered difficulties in obtaining Channel One tapes for the content study. While Channel One uses public schools as an outlet for its programming, it refuses to allow public access to its tapes and programs. The tapes for the study were acquired by parent and TV-Free America activist Brad Rockwell of Texas, who contacted the Texas Attorney General's office and threatened litigation after his child's school refused to yield the tapes for review. "I'm glad that after all these years, the actual content of Channel One is finally being brought to light. The content study shows that Channel One is all about providing a captive market of children to advertisers," Rockwell said.

While Channel One claims that schools can preview the program, the fact is that programs are broadcast into a locked box the morning before they are shown, making it virtually impossible for educators or administrators to review the programming before airing it in the classroom. While Channel One claims a 99 percent renewal rate of those schools subscribing to the program, the fact is that Channel One is generally automatically renewed and that the number of schools airing Channel One has remained about the same since 1990.

Resistance to Channel One
Communities across the country are fighting to get Channel One out of their schools -- no simple feat as the contract lasts three years and generally renews automatically if no one protests. Students and parents have asked for alternative homerooms, spoken out at school board meetings, written newsletters, and even staged walk-outs during the program to protest its compulsory nature.

Communities protesting Channel One are in good company. Since the outset of the program, almost every national educational group has taken a strong stand against Channel One and other commercial broadcasts in the classroom. These include:

American Association of School Administrators
American Federation of Teachers
National Association of State Boards of Education
National Council for the Social Studies
National Council of Teachers of English
National Education Association (NEA)
National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
National School Boards Association
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Association of Elementary School Principals
Facts about Channel One
Channel One is an advertising vehicle owned by Primedia (formerly K-III Communications), a property of Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts (KKR), which is well known for corporate takeovers. Channel One broadcasts into 40 percent of U.S. middle and high schools.

Channel One's daily broadcasts are twelve minutes long. However, only 20 percent of airtime is devoted to coverage of "recent political, economic, social, and cultural stories." The remaining 80 percent is spent on advertising, sports, weather and natural disasters, features,and Channel One promotions.

Channel One features two minutes per day of skillful advertising ­ primarily for junk food and video games ­ that must be shown to students under the terms of the Channel One contract. Because classroom advertising is compulsory under this contract, every constitutional and legislative mandate that makes school attendance mandatory also mandates commercials.

KKR is best known for its leveraged buyout of RJR-Nabisco. R.J. Reynolds (the RJR portion of the company) is the parent of Camel Cigarettes, whose skillful advertising made its "Joe Camel" mascot universally known and widely popular among school-age children.

Primedia also owns Weekly Reader, which is widely distributed in schools. A study by Professor Stanton Glantz of the University of California, San Francisco, found fault with Weekly Reader's coverage of smoking and health for favoring the side of tobacco companies.

Responsible educators oppose Channel One's imposition of commercials during class time. Groups on record against Channel One include the National Education Association, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the National PTA, the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the National Council of Teachers of English. Consumers Union is also a leader in the fight to protect the classroom.

In the course of a school year, students spend the equivalent of six school days watching Channel One. The instructional time lost to the ads alone equals one entire school day per year.

Although Channel One's owners claim to "give" schools TV sets, the equipment is actually leased. Payment is the captive student audience, which costs taxpayers money. A research study conducted by Alex Molnar of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Center for the Analysis of Commercialism in Education, and Max Sawicky of the Economic Policy Institute found that Channel One costs taxpayers $1.8 billion annually in lost instructional time, including $300 million in class time lost to commercials.

A study commissioned by Channel One's owners reports that students, particularly those "at risk," do not remember much about its news content. A study by Michigan State University shows that students who watch Channel One do, however, remember the ads, and that "regular watching of Channel One reinforces materialistic attitudes."

Prior to acquiring Channel One, neither Primedia nor KKR were in the daily news-gathering business. Yet Channel One promotes itself as the primary news delivery system for school-age Americans.

Teachers cannot control the viewing of Channel One. Schools that contract with Channel One must regularly show the entire program.

Channel One's owners describe the program to potential advertisers as a "Direct Pipeline" to teenage consumers and as the "Most Efficient Way to Reach Teens." Advertisers pay $200,000 for each 30-second commercial on Channel One. Channel One effectively diverts revenues from local broadcasters.

A study done by Professor William Hoynes of Vassar College found that despite the diversity of Channel One's anchors, the on-camera sources are, with few exceptions, "white and male."

Hoynes also found that only three of the 91 news stories in the study sample focused on the economy, which is particularly striking given that Channel One is disproportionately aired in low-income school districts. Hoynes found that "the implicit message is that students' relationship to the economy is solely as consumers."

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=888

What is Channel One?

This is rightfully the first question to be answered. Channel One is a 12 to 13 minute television show with two or more minutes of commercials that is shown at school. It is also the name of the company that produces the Channel One show.

Channel One, operated by Christopher Whittle’s “Whittle Communications” at the time, was tested at a few pilot schools in 1989. The program was launched to schools in the lower 48 states on March 5, 1990. Channel One is not available to schools in Hawaii or Alaska, because it would be too expensive for Channel One to operate in those two states. Channel One is also not available to public schools in New York state because of a ban by the New York state Board of Regents.

In 1994, Channel One was sold to K-III Communications (Now PRIMEDIA), a branch of Kohlberg, Kravis, and Roberts (KKR). PRIMEDIA is a media company based out of New York City. PRIMEDIA is not a news gathering institution.

In 1999, Channel One was the topic of a U.S. Senate Hearing, called for by Alabama Senator Richard Shelby.

Channel One started the 2005-06 school year with just five anchors. At their peak in the mid to late 1990s, they carried seven or eight anchors. This is seen as a sign about Channel One’s financial woes. Also, many ads on the program are now government sponsored (Library of Congress, military, etc.). They are constantly losing sponsors while they are trying to plug an ever growing hole in their bottom line.

What do Schools Get for Signing Up for Channel One?

In terms of what a school actually gets to keep, regardless of whether they keep the program or not, they get nothing but a bunch of wires.

Schools are loaned a 19" or 27" TV for every 23 students in the school, 2 VCR's (one of which is locked up to record the show), and a fixed satellite dish that picks up only Channel One signals, and the system is all wired together (the schools get to keep the wiring). Schools can use the equipment for any other use as long as the Channel One program is shown for the day. Schools also receive access to something called The Channel One Connection, which provides schools an opportunity to record supplementary educational programming. Most of the Connection programming is commercial-free.

Channel One's equipment is not free to the schools though. Channel One gets a captive student audience to watch the show. Channel One will take back all of the equipment with the exception of the wiring If the school stops showing the program.

There are few exceptions to this rule. The Channel One pilot schools were able to keep their equipment regardless of what happened to Channel One in the school. Also excluded are schools that show the program and have bought their own equipment.

Do not ever let anyone tell you that any part of Channel One is free. The definition of free is something that is given to you with no strings attached. There are obvious strings to the Channel One deal.

What is Advertised on Channel One?

A variety of products are promoted on Channel One. Bubble gum, acne medications, the military, violent and sexually charged movies, video games, as well the latest in music are examples of what is promoted on Channel One.

Some examples of their advertising include:

- In November 2002, Channel One advertised the widely panned movie Eight Crazy Nights was promoted on Channel One seven times. Click here (external link to Obligation, Inc’s. website) to learn about the movie and how Channel One went about promoting it.

- A PSA aired by Channel One featured a baby being shot. Neither the gun, nor the bullet was shown, but it left kids of the thought of what happened to the baby.

- A commercial for the PG-13 movie Dude, Where’s My Car. A movie with two potheads who cannot remember where they parked their car, and follows their “adventures” as they try to figure out exactly what they did the previous night.

- A commercial for one of Channel One’s “see-it-and-win” contests encouraged children to see the PG-13 movie Never Been Kissed over a weekend, and to call a certain number on Monday night to win prizes.

- A commercial for the movie Rollerball rated PG-13 for violence, extreme sports action, sensuality, language and some drug references.

- A commercial for Hostess cupcakes had a vampire preparing to suck the blood from his next victim, before spotting something that looked like a Hostess cupcake in the distance. The vampire flies toward the object, only to find out that it is actually a “Hotel” sign written in cursive. The vampire is then electrocuted.

- In 2005, Channel One promoted the Season 2 DVD set of The OC, a show on FOX known for its characters irresponsibly using alcohol and sexual content.

- Radio Shack’s ZipZap Micro RC Cars were heavily promoted on the program in November and December 2005.

- On November 7, 2005, Channel One promoted the movie RENT without mentioning the PG-13 rating.

What Promotions does Channel One Run During the News Portion of the Program?

Channel One now has several sponsored segments, which puts the program over two minutes of ads (those two minutes usually consist of the ads that are shown within the two usual commercial segments):

Promotion: Play of the Week brought to you by Gatorade
What is it?

This is where Channel One takes an entire segment of their “news program” and shows a play from any sport played by students in Channel One schools. Channel One selects one play, and the winning school gets a prize package from Gatorade.

Promotion: Cingular Question of the Day
What is it?

This segment comes in two parts over two shows. The first segment consists of an online/phone poll, usually regarding a story Channel One has aired. The program then encourages students to place their comments on their website or on an 800-number Channel One has. The second segment of this is usually aired the very next day. The program will give the results of the poll and then they air a couple of student comments regarding the question asked. The winners receive a free Cingular goPhone with three months of service.


Promotion: Guest Anchors

What are they? -

Channel One frequently has celebrity guest anchors come on their program to share anchoring duties with regular Channel One anchor/reporters. These guest anchors are also allowed to pitch a product they are involved with. These products are usually CDs, movies, or TV shows. The NCACO does not know how long this practice has been going on, but it has been going on at least since 2000, and probably prior to that as well.

In February 2002, Sportscaster Bob Costas was on the program to pitch NBC’s Olympic coverage. Mr. Costas went as far as saying that the students watching did not have to study if they watch the Olympic coverage that weekend (this was a Friday show). NCACO realizes this was a joke, but this joke was inappropriate considering the venue.

In the 2005-2006 school year, Channel One continues the guest anchor practice. The link below (to be updated shortly) leads to a pretty comprehensive list of who has been on the program as part of this promotion since the 2000-2001 school year. The list is broken down by year. Note: Channel One does not count this promotion as commercial time when computing the amount of commercial time in a show.

List of Channel One Guest Anchors Since September 2000 (To be Updated Shortly)

The time that the guest anchors use up on Channel One is indeed time devoted to commercial content, thus breaching the contractually agreed upon 2 minutes of commercial time.

Promotion: Channel One In Concert

This promotion technically started a few years ago with recording artist Michelle Branch under the name “Branching Out”. In 2004-2005, Josh Kelley and Vanessa Carlton joined this ever growing list of artists. In 2005-2006, the band switchfoot joined this list.

NOTE: The reason why Branching Out is in the same category as Channel One in Concert is because the rules of the game are essentially the same: Tell Channel One how your school has made a difference in the community. The winner gets a free concert by a recording artist. In no way is the NCACO website putting down the projects which were submitted to Channel One or the students that participated. But if there was not a payoff for Channel One in doing this promotion, they would not even bother to air stories like this.

Promotion Variation: Channel One in Concert: Beach Party

This variation of the Channel One in Concert model was introduced early in 2005. The band Relient K held a concert on the beach in California for ten students and one friend each (as well as parents/guardians) for those who meet the requirements of the original model of this contest (tell how you have made the world a better place). The only thing different about this contest and the original is that Channel One sends the students to the concert instead of bringing the concert to the schools (and thus avoid some of the controversy surrounding this contest’s original model).

Promotion Variation: “switchfoot Rules”

This variation of the Channel One in Concert model was introduced late in 2005. The band switchfoot was the first participant in this format of the contest. Instead of student projects being recognized as is the case in other variations of this series, students simply entered their schools on the Channel One website, or through text messaging. The winner was chosen at random.

Channel One in Concert Participants since the inception of Branching Out

ARTIST
WINNING SCHOOL
CONTEST FORMAT

Michelle Branch
Santa Rita HS, Tucson, AZ
“Branching Out”

Jewel
Lehi HS, Lehi, UT
“Branching Out”

Craig David
Adrian HS, Adrian, MI
“Branching Out”

Josh Kelley
Diman Regional VoTech HS, Fall River, MA
“Branching Out”

Vanessa Carlton
Red Mountain HS, Mesa, AZ
“Branching Out”

Relient K
None, winners flown to concert*
“Beach Party”

Switchfoot
Rome HS, Rome, GA
“switchfoot Rules”


*Winners came from many different schools

Does Channel One Have a Cost to Taxpayers?

Yes. The taxpayer pays in the form of time that is used for students to view the program. A study done by Alex Molnar and Max Sawicky titled The Hidden Costs of Channel One says that the time it takes for students to view Channel One costs American taxpayers 1.8 billion dollars a year.

How do I Calculate the Cost of Channel One for My School?

There is a formula you can use to determine the cost of Channel One per student in your school:

1 - Determine the amount of money it takes too send one student to your school for one school minute. (This information should be available at your school’s administrative offices) For this example, we shall use $0.06 a minute.

2 - Multiply the number in (1), and multiply by 12 minutes (the length of the Channel One program). In this example, it comes out to $0.72 per C1 program. ($0.06/minute*12 minutes=$0.72 per program)

3 - Take the figure you obtained in (2), and multiply it by how many programs your school is contractually obliged to show. This information is available in the Channel One contract; it should also be available at your school’s administrative offices as a matter of public record. (You may be asked to pay a reasonable copying fee). For this example, we will use 162 showings, or the number of showings for 90% of the standard 180 school days. ($0.72/showing*162 showings=$116.64).

The total amount of taxpayer dollars spent on Channel One in a year per student in this case is $116.64, or enough to buy a 19” TV, or two good VCRs or a combination VCR/DVD player.

Do Schools that Show Channel One Endorse What is Advertised on Channel One?

Schools implicitly endorse anything that is promoted on the Channel One program. Everything in the classroom had to be approved from a higher authority (the school boards, superintendents, etc.). The books, the curriculum, teaching aids and many other aspects of the school all had to be approved, so did Channel One. A district that signed a contract with Channel One approved of the whole program including its commercials. This means that schools with Channel One implicitly endorse everything shown on the program, even if the schools object to it.

How Many Schools Have/Show Channel One?

According to Channel One’s own figures, Channel One is beamed to roughly 11,000 schools, and over 7 million students. Most schools are not “Channel One Schools”, as a majority of schools who are eligible to receive the Channel One program choose not to have it. How many of these schools still actually show the program is uncertain.

Who Runs Channel One?

Primedia, formerly K-III Communications, is Channel One’s parent company. Primedia is NOT a news organization. As a matter of fact, Channel One has NEVER been owned by a legitimate news organization. Channel One has always been run by those whose motive is making money through advertising. Channel One does, however, have an on-again, off-again relationship with ABC News.

Who Disapproves of Advertising in the Classrooms?

Many major educational organizations, activist groups, educators, and politicians oppose commercials in the classroom, including:

- The Center for Science in the Public Interest

- American Federation of Teachers

- Focus on the Family

- Association of School Administrators

- Commercial Alert

- Obligation Inc.

- Southern Baptist Convention - (1999 resolution)

- National PTA

- National Education Association

- National School Boards Association

- Ralph Nader

- Matt Damon

http://www.ncaco.org