During the late 1970s, Brian Lamb, then the Washington, D.C., bureau chief of an industry trade publication called “Cablevision,” proposed a channel on the growing cable spectrum to provide gavel-to-gavel coverage and airing of the U.S. Congress in action. Though a handful of Congressional hearings had been televised as early as the Army-McCarthy Senate Hearings of 1954, the day-to-day business of law-making and the many “non-business” functions of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate were largely shielded from public view.

Lamb came up with the concept, and with the help of early cable TV pioneer Bob Rosencrans and an initial investment of $25,000, in 1979, C-SPAN, the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, was on the air. Then, and now, a private nonprofit organization, C-SPAN receives no government funding. The network has a staff of around 250, offering 24-hour coverage and programming across three different programmed networks. C-SPAN’s focus is the U.S. House of Representatives. C-SPAN 2 covers the U.S. Senate, shifting weekend programming to American history on Saturdays and Book TV on Sundays. C-SPAN 3 covers congressional hearings, conferences and public events, campaigns, and press briefings by the White House as well as members of Congress.

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Bill Crane is a syndicated columnist based in Decatur. He has worked in politics for Democrats and Republicans, respects the process and will try and give you some things to think about. Your thoughts and responses to his opinions are also welcome, bill.csicrane@gmail.com.

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