Kidsworld - Nick Knacks Episode #086

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In 1989, Cable in the Classroom was formed as a way to take on the gross commercialism of Channel One News. Nickelodeon wanted in on the new education initiative, but didn't have their own children's news show to contribute. Well, why make one when you can get the syndication rights to one! This is the story of Kidsworld, a thrifty children's news show from the mid-70s that basically made itself!

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[janedoe]

"And a lot of other stuff."

I laughed out loud at the delivery of this line.

[Fribee]

I'd always wondered what "cable in the classroom" was, only know that it meant the whatever show had the logo meant it was educational and to change the channel. For some reason, my schools never did this, either opting to just show Bill Nye VHS's or play movies without caring about the legal rights.

[TrevorBarnhill]

I remember watching this show when I was four and five years old. My family and I lived in Central Florida at the time and it came early Saturday morning on WTOG 44 out of Tampa. When we moved to Tennessee in early 1983, I never saw it again until years later on YouTube. Thanks for posting this and bringing back memories of my childhood of the early 1980s.

[beipiaosaurus]

It amazes me that companies go after schools for playing copyrighted media on VHS for students because in Washington state in the late 80s and 90s it was as normal as recess and assemblies. I first saw The Little Mermaid at an assembly in elementary school. In junior high science classes we would watch Bill Nye The Science Guy all the time, and there were days the teacher would just put unrelated things on like Veggie Tales, Monty Python and the Holy Grail or The Princess Bride. In high school lit class we watched the 1996 Romeo + Juliet, and even in college in Spanish class we watched Y tu mama tambien.

[TheDanishGuyReviews]

Gosh, I hope Internet Archive will be okay. I've gotten so many cool things from there, like the entire Goosebumps catalog, and every Doctor Who book from the Wilderness Years.

[apbuitron]

As a homeschool kid, I always wondered what cable in the classroom was growing up. Thanks to this video I finally know!

[doryna_sira]

I remember the controversy over Channel One; it was actually covered in Zillions, which was the children's version of Consumer Reports magazine. Schools often added extra time to the homeroom, usually making students come in earlier, and required kids to watch it as part of the deal in getting the free satellite equipment. No one was happy except the administrators and advertisers; kids didn't want to show up to school earlier, teachers questioned the actual educational content of the series, and parents didn't like having their kids basically held hostage by ads. I believe in the end a lot of schools dropped the extra homeroom time and made an optional period at the end of the day kids could come in and watch Channel One if they wanted to... say if they were waiting to be picked up by parents or before after school activities started.

[goodboy]

Here in Pittsburgh, the NBC affiliate (WPXI) had a local children's show called Kidsburgh back in the '80s and early '90s. In addition to local segments, they showed segments from CNN and national shows like Kidsworld and Young Universe.

[PinkieLopBun]

Not really anything stopping teachers from fast forwarding through the commercials.

[Saintnick]

Funny how Eureeka's Castle would be shown as part of Cable in the Classroom when its head writer explicitly said "We didn't teach kids anything."

[Saintnick]

I have no memory of Cable in the Classroom or Channel One News. Most of my teachers just showed things they recorded off TV (complete with commercials, which they always fast forwarded past).

[Lynn]

I roast my brussel sprouts with olive oil, but your idea sounds good too. (Especially if it's Kerrygold Irish Butter, that stuff is amazing.)

[PigSpeakers]

I remember watching Channel One news in junior high during 1st period every morning, between 2001 - 2004. Completely forgot about it until now. I remember enjoying it for the sole fact that it was a part of the day where I wasn't having to do school work.

[bluebaron]

I am amazed at the research you do for these videos and share this knowledge!

[Valo]

I have no memory of this show at all, and I was watching nick constantly at this time. So weird

[Jamessmith-xkfh]

I live in Louisiana and I'm 38 and remember seeing Cable 1 from time to time at school

[CinnamonGrrlErin]

I wish I could say I remember watching Cable in the Classroom, but the closest we got was PBS' "Voyage of the Mimi" (still my favorite thing starring Ben Affleck lol). I remember watching a lot of film strips too, even in middle school in the 90s, but I think I actually liked those more.

[DebsFan]

I have really fond memories of channel one. Despite the commercials, the reporting was pretty solid. And my school would have never been able to afford that equipment without channel one.

[Rhomega]

I had Channel One, but only when i was attending Rampart High School in the last half of my senior year. I do vaguely recall Cable in the Classroom.

[OrangeRight]

I did manage to see one little piece of Cable In The Classroom live on Nick somehow; apparently an episode of Nickelodeon Launch Box where they had kids play a NASA-themed episode of Double Dare (or at least played a game show on the same set; don't remember any kind of physical challenge). It's really telling that a show that supposedly aired reruns from 1994 to 2000 can only have one episode on the internet. If space-themed Double Dare couldn't make it, there was no chance for a potential Nick recut of a 70's news show.

I don't recall ever actually seeing Cable In The Classroom in the actual classroom, though the logo is familiar enough that I may have attended classes that used it and I just don't remember exactly what they were. I remember all the Bill Nye, though.