Channel One News

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Channel One News
Launched 1989 (pilot program debut)
1990 (national debut)
Owned by Whittle Communications (1989-1994)
PRIMEDIA (1994-2007)
Alloy Media+Marketing (2007-present)[1]
Country  United States
Website http://www.channelone.com (Program Site)
http://www.channelonenetwork.com (Network Site)

Channel One News is a 12 minute news program for teens broadcast via satellite to middle schools and high schools across the United States.

Channel One is owned by Alloy Media + Marketing and based in New York City.

Contents

[edit] Program History

Channel One was founded in 1989 and began with a pilot program in four high schools before its national rollout in 1990, with original anchors and reporters Michele Ruiz, Hicks Neal, Mark Carter and Kathy Kronenberger. It was founded by Christopher Whittle, a business executive based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Primedia purchased Channel One for approximately $250 million from Whittle in 1994.

In December, 2006, Channel One's parent company, Primedia, classified its Education Segment, which includes Channel One Network, as a "discontinued operation" and announced that it was "exploring strategic alternatives for" the businesses in that segment. [1] In 2007 Primedia sold Channel One to Alloy Media and Marketing; on April 23, 2007 Alloy assumed the liabilities of Channel One and took over their assets.

In July, 2007, NBC News announced that it would be partnering with Alloy under an arrangement in which NBC would work with Channel One News to produce original content for Channel One’s in-school broadcasts, providing Channel One with access to global newsgathering resources. [2].

[edit] Special Segments

Channel One has segments which air on a regular basis which encourage viewer participation. These segments are sometimes sponsored by advertisers.

[edit] 24/17

This is a segment that Channel One does once a month to feature a day in the life of a 17 year old in another country. They show the 17 year old and then they show what they do from the time they get up in the morning until the time they go back home for dinner. Some previous 24/17s included the Navajo Nation, London, and Tel Aviv. To watch the videos go to the following link

http://www.channelone.com/life/specials/2417/

[edit] Pop Quiz

This is Channel One's most frequent special segment.

An anchor asks a multiple choice question to students regarding a current or historical event. The anchor then gives students ten seconds to come up with an answer. The anchor who reads the question, or the anchor's partner for the day, will then give the correct answer and explain it. From time to time, the Pop Quiz may lead off the program. The Pop Quiz is occasionally commercially sponsored by various organizations and companies.

[edit] AT&T Question of the Day

This special segment came in two parts over two shows.

The first segment consisted of a message poll, usually regarding a story Channel One has aired. Viewers had three options to voice their opinions. Viewers could send their response to Channel One's website, call in their answer to a toll-free Channel One number, or text their answer to Channel One on an AT&T phone.

The second segment was usually aired the next day, although developing news stories may have caused it to be delayed. The program gave the results of the poll and then aired two students' opinions regarding the question asked. Students who had their comments aired received an AT&T brand mobile phone with three months of pre-paid service.

Prior to 2007, the segment was entitled Cingular Question of the Day, reflecting the sponsor prior to its merger with AT&T in 2006. This segment was discontinued due to the fact that it supported teens having cell phones and possible accusations of talking/texting while driving.

[edit] 1Voice

This section includes stories related to Americans' First Amendment rights.

[edit] One Step to a Better Me

This segment includes tips and exercises to help viewers stay healthy.

[edit] Player of the Year

This special segment presents Gatorade National Players of the Year, which are notable athletes.

[edit] Play of the Week

This special segment is usually the last segment of each Monday program. It features a clip of a different high school sporting event sent in by viewers. It is sponsored by Gatorade.

[edit] Glory Road

This special segment is sponsored by the United States Army. It features teenagers who have made a significant impact on others in the world. On Channel One's website, teenagers can be nominated for Glory Road.

[edit] Week in Rap

This is a segment in which the past week's news shown on Channel One is recounted in summarized rap format.

[edit] Going Green

This segment shows ways that teens can be environmentally friendly and how other schools or teens are doing it around the world.[3]

[edit] OneVote

Channel One held fixed presidential elections called OneVote shortly before the general elections in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

[edit] 1992

The initial vote in 1992 had 3,400,000 participants. Bill Clinton won the 1992 OneVote, garnering 43% of the vote. George H.W. Bush got 27%, with independent Ross Perot getting 24% of the vote. In actuality, Clinton won with 43% of the vote, followed by Bush and Perot; OneVote accurately mirrored the outcome.

[edit] 2000

When OneVote returned in 2000, 878,000 students participated and elected George W. Bush to the Presidency with nearly 60% of the vote. Al Gore, the Democratic challenger, finished a distant second.

Actual election result: Al Gore won the popular vote, but George W. Bush won the electoral college, which means that George W. Bush won the election. Thus, OneVote mirrored the true outcome, although by a much more convincing margin than the real election.

[edit] 2004

The 2004 OneVote gave George W. Bush 55% of the vote. John Kerry finished second with 40% of the vote, while all third-party candidates as a group (voters could only vote for them as a group) got 5%. The vote consisted of 1,400,000 students.

Actual election result: Bush won the 2004 Presidential Election, same as the OneVote result (and was only off by four percentage points to Bush's 51% of the real popular vote).

[edit] 2008

The 2008 OneVote gave Barack Obama 51.5 percent of the vote. John McCain finished second with 48.5 percent. The official result of the election was Barack Obama with 53% of the public vote and John McCain with 46% of the vote.

[edit] Controversy and criticism

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

Channel One has been controversial largely due to the commercial content of the show. Critics claim that it is a problem in classrooms because it forces children to watch ads, wastes class time, and wastes tax dollars. Supporters argue that the ads are necessary to help keep the program running and lease TVs, DVRs (Head-End Units) and satellite dishes to schools, as well as commercial-free educational video through Channel One Connection. In 2006, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that research indicated that children who watched Channel One remembered the commercials more than they remembered the news.[4]

Another criticism, noted by Media Education Foundation's[5] documentary Captive Audience[6], is that very little time is dedicated to actual news and the majority of the programming is soft, sensationalistic "fluff" with corporate marketing and PR tie-ins to promote products and services, arguing that it further corrupts the school setting with consumerism.

Channel One's contract with schools requires that the 15-minute program must be shown on 90% of all regular school days. At some schools, teachers are allowed to preview the show and decide if they want to show it or not; however they must still show it at least 90% of the time.[citation needed] The teachers are also instructed to make sure students watch the complete program and leave the volume at an audible level throughout the whole program, including the advertising content. However, according to critics, many schools do not follow the contract verbatim and let the teachers decide whether or not it should be shown. Some criticisms by students is that some school schedules on viewing Channel One have cut into their lunch periods.[citation needed] Students, if not monitored, may also treat Channel One time as a study hall.

The Teen Drama Degrassi: The Next Generation did an episode similar to this issue.[citation needed]

[edit] Anchors

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2009)

Channel One News currently has three anchors/correspondents on its roster. These anchors serve as hosts in the studio as well as correspondents in the field.

[edit] Current

Justin Finch, Jessica Kumari, and Steven Fabian are the current hosts of Channel One News.

[edit] Former

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Miller, Lia (2007-07-09). ""NBC News to Provide Content for Channel One"". New York Times, The. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/business/media/09channel.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-14. 
  2. ^ Miller, Lia (July 9, 2007). "NBC News to Provide Content for Channel One". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/09/business/media/09channel.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  3. ^ Going Green
  4. ^ NBC News to Provide Content for Channel One at New York Times
  5. ^ Media Education Foundation
  6. ^ Captive Audience

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_One_News"
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