change the channel

English

Etymology

In allusion to television.

Pronunciation

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Verb

change the channel (third-person singular simple present changes the channel, present participle changing the channel, simple past and past participle changed the channel)

1. (chiefly Canada, idiomatic) To redirect someone’s attention.
   • 2002 October 20, Thomas M. Defrank, “Dems Can't Cash In on Economy”, in New York Daily News‎^[1], retrieved October 17, 2013:

     Repeated attempts to "change the channel" to pocketbook issues that traditionally favor Democratic candidates have flopped.

   • 2002 October 26, Ken Thomas, “McBride Ad Reveals Praise from Bush”, in Sarasota Herald-Tribune‎^[2], Sarasota, Florida, retrieved October 17, 2013, page 6B:

     “This is all smoke and mirrors because the issue in this campaign is taxes, which candidate is going to raise them and which candidate is going to cut them,” Harris said. “Bill McBride doesn’t want that to be the focus so he’s trying to change the channel.”

   • 2008 September 10, “Harper’s Fresh Commitment on Afghan Pullout Neutralizes War as Election Issue”, in The Guardian‎^[3] (Canadian Press), Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, archived from the original on March 4, 2016:

     Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tried to change the channel on a campaign of distractions Wednesday as he deftly neutralized the Afghan mission as an election issue.

   • 2010 January 22, Jackie Calmes, “With Tougher Stance, Obama Takes on Banks”, in The New York Times‎^[4], archived from the original on 15 December 2022:

     [Big banks] have become the perfect foil for the White House as it tries to lead the Democratic Party out of its post-Massachusetts morass — and to change the channel from the seemingly unending debate over health insurance.

   • 2012 January 9, Les Whittington, “Environmentalists Hit Back Over Pipeline Hearings”, in Toronto Star‎^[5], retrieved October 17, 2013:

     Hudema responded, “This government doesn’t want to have a public discussion on the industry’s disastrous safety record, or the toxic effects that spills from a 1,170-kilometre tarsands pipeline would have on indigenous rights, the Rocky Mountains, the B.C. coast, or the more than 1,000 rivers and streams this pipeline would cross. Instead, they try to change the channel by inventing scapegoats and bogeymen. […]”

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see change,‎ the,‎ channel.

Usage notes

• Often used in a political context, especially in Canada, to describe a situation in which an attempt is made to divert public attention from scandalous or other unfavourable news.

See also

• turn the page