Unique in the world of American television, C-SPAN is the only unfiltered national public affairs network available to the public. In a news world too often devoted to sound bites and instant analysis, it stands virtually alone as an example of long-form, noncommercial television. What began in a small office in Crystal City, Virginia, with four employees and no ability to pick up the signal it sent into 3.5 million homes has now become a fixture on cable television and in American politics.

C-SPAN owes its origin to the confluence of three forces, each with different missions and needs. As the cable industry developed in the 1970s it sought programming, visibility, and respect. The quality and content of cable programming had caused concern among certain civic groups and the legislators they supported. The House of Representatives, disappointed by network television’s emphasis on presidential politics, searched for a way to become more visible. Televising sessions from the floor offered a possible solution, so long as those doing the televising did not turn hours of debate into sound bites.

Motivated by what he saw as the broadcast networks’ stranglehold on the news, Brian Lamb (then the Washington bureau chief for Cablevision magazine) managed to soothe congressional concerns about how they would be covered while giving the cable industry the respect it needed on the hill. Lamb was no stranger to the world of Washington politics or to its coverage in the media. As a naval officer he had served as a White House social aide and as a Pentagon press spokesman. During the Nixon administration, he became assistant to the director of the Office of Telecommunications Policy. As a result, he knew leaders in the cable industry well.

Industry support freed C-SPAN from the responsibility of delivering eyeballs to advertisers. In time, it extended its reach, without having to sell itself to sponsors. In 2001 C-SPAN reached more cable and satellite homes than MTV. An estimated 28.5 million people tune in to C-SPAN weekly. While just over half of all American voters went to the polls in the 2000 presidential campaign, 90 percent of C-SPAN viewers did.

Known for its gavel-to-gavel coverage, C-SPAN actually devotes more time to public policy forums, special events, and signature programming. Only 13 percent of the network’s time is spent covering House sessions. The Washington Journal, C-SPAN’s regularly scheduled version of a call-in program, illustrates the network’s mission and its presentational style. Its objective is to give viewers the opportunity to both learn from and question politicians, policymakers, and those who cover them in the news. Hosts are schooled to stay out of the way of the conversation. Constant efforts are made to balance points of view both in guest selection and in access to those on the air. Still there are always callers from both the right and the left who are sure they detect bias in programming. Long-term, long-form coverage of presidential campaigns too has become a C-SPAN hallmark. Its signature program, The Road to the White House, first took to the campaign trail during the 1988 election. Coverage broadened during each of the following contests. Booknotes, another signature program, first aired in 1989. The hour-long in-depth interviews with authors of serious nonfiction books is unique in American television. The interest generated by it within and without C-SPAN led to the development of a network within a network, Book TV, carried weekends on C-SPAN 2. As the network has continued to grow so too has interest in developing series exploring the American past. From its first effort, coverage of the reenactment of the Lincoln- Douglas debates, to its ten-month series American Writers: A Journey Through History, C-SPAN has used the format to broaden its appeal to the viewing audience. One thing is certain: C-SPAN does more than carry signals from the House and Senate floors.

In spring 2004, C-SPAN turned 25. Over the years it had gathered more than a handful of awards from the cable industry for programming and service. Its series American Presidents: Life Portraits won a prestigious Peabody Award. In 2002 its chairman became the 13th recipient of the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award, given annually to an individual who has achieved distinction for a lifetime of contributions to American journalism, joining Walter Cronkite and Theodore White on the list of winners. A year later, Brian Lamb was one of eight individuals to receive a National Humanities Medal from President Bush. Still, a not-for-profit network supported by a nickel-a-month fee from subscribers is always subject to the unintended effects of legislation and FCC regulation designed for the major players in a commercial industry. Media consolidation and technological developments can shift the playing field and, in doing so, threaten C-SPAN as viewers now see it. Almost from the beginning citizen’s groups have formed to protect the network. Its work has changed the landscape of American politics and given citizens wider access to the ways in which government works. Its impact on the world of journalism is undoubted. C-SPAN is a unique network in the world of commercial television.