C-Span Network

C-SPAN is the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network. It was launched March 19, 1979, by the cable industry as a nonprofit network devoted to televising sessions of the U.S. House of Representatives. It has since expanded to air nonstop coverage of government proceedings and public affairs programming. CEO and chairman of C-SPAN, Brian Lamb, came up with the idea for C-SPAN while working at a cable industry trade magazine. C-SPAN has won many journalism awards, including the 1993 Peabody award for overall excellence by an institution.

Contrary to public belief, C-SPAN does not receive funding from the government; its operating revenues are paid by license fees collected from the cable systems that offer the network to their customers. Its board of directors is comprised of executives from ...