The purpose of commercial television programming is to keep viewers' attention until the ads appear, and Channel One is very commercial. It isn't only the tobacco companies that understand the business value of advertising to teenagers. Channel One's audience exceeds the combined number of teens watching anything on television during primetime. No wonder Channel One can charge primetime rates for its one-minute spots peddling junk foods, soft drinks, expensive sneakers, and vulgar movies, magazines, and TV sitcoms. Channel One gives advertisers a daily guaranteed teen audience comparable to the Super Bowl.
Most people believe that teens watch too much television.
Many parents restrict and monitor the television their children are allowed to watch because they consider TV a danger to their morals and values and a waste of time. Channel One is a devious device to enable advertisers to circumvent parents. Channel One even penetrates the lightest viewers among teens. Of course, that's because schoolchildren are forced to watch the Channel One ads. Prayer and Bible reading have been banned from the schools because they interfere with the right of atheist children not to have to sit in a classroom where prayers are recited.