Cable's civic-minded C-SPAN looks for help as streaming takes a toll
C-SPAN, the nonprofit outfit that has brought live gavel-to-gavel congressional coverage to cable TV viewers for decades, is feeling the squeeze faced by the rest of the TV business.
As consumers drop their traditional cable and satellite TV subscriptions for streaming platforms, C-SPAN's main funding source is shrinking. The trend poses a threat to one of the rare media institutions that has bipartisan political support, including a fan in the Oval Office.
'It's not a sustainable situation,' said C-SPAN Chief Executive Sam Feist said in an interview.
C-SPAN stands for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, and therein lies the problem. The service is supported by cable and satellite operators who have seen their customer base steadily decline as consumers move to streaming platforms that now account for half of all TV viewing, according to recent data from Nielsen. C-SPAN, which reached around 100 million pay TV homes in 2015, is now down to 51 million households.
The contraction has led to a significant loss in revenue for C-SPAN, which has never sold advertising. C-SPAN took in $46.3 million in 2024, down 37% from $73 million in 2015, and is now running a deficit.
C-SPAN is not a glamorous TV operation. There are no high-priced anchors or slick studio sets. But it does need funding for the 30-plus camera crews that cover every moment the House and Senate are in session, think tank panels, town halls and other political events in Washington and around the country. C-SPAN uses its own cameras in the Capitol, enabling the service to catch the action when government-operated audio and visual equipment is cut off.
Feist said C-SPAN can fill its budget gap if companies that run smaller bundles of TV channels — such as Google's YouTube TV and Walt Disney Co.'s Hulu Live TV — would agree to carry its feeds. Around 20 million households subscribe to such online subscription platforms, known as virtual multichannel video program distributors, which stream broadcast and cable channels.
It's a big ask. Subscription streaming TV services are under pressure to keep their prices low so they can remain a cheaper alternative to a cable or satellite package. Every new channel increases the cost of a subscription.
C-SPAN is currently in discussions with Hulu and YouTube to get carriage.
'We are continuing to work with C-SPAN to find an approach that could support further access to their civic content,' a YouTube representative said. 'We are proud that a large amount of C-SPAN's content is available to viewers on the YouTube main platform, where it is accessible to everyone for free and generates advertising revenue for C-SPAN.'
C-SPAN was launched in 1979 when cable TV providers were looking to get in the good graces of local government officials who determined which companies would wire their communities.
Offering a civic-minded channel devoted to displaying democracy in action helped smooth the path for the pay TV industry's expansion. C-SPAN went on to become a familiar brand that brought goodwill to cable and satellite companies, which have financed the service ever since.
But the C-SPAN legacy is not so meaningful to the upstart streaming services that have a growing number of customers who have never had a traditional pay TV subscription.
The stars of C-SPAN have started to weigh in. On June 2, the Senate passed a bipartisan resolution recognizing the anniversary of C-SPAN2, the channel devoted to the chamber's sessions. The resolution said that live coverage of the proceedings needs to be accessible on all platforms.
C-SPAN also has support from the country's most prominent TV viewer — President Trump. In recent months, Trump has posted on social media how he watches the channel in the overnight hours when highlights of the previous day, including his own press events, are presented.
While cable news channels such as CNN and MSNBC often dither over how much time they should devote to covering Trump's rallies and public events, C-SPAN presents them in their entirety as a matter of course. The Trump White House communications office has praised the approach, which has remained consistent through all modern presidencies.
While some streaming outlets carry congressional proceedings, Feist notes that C-SPAN is still the only service that offers every event live over its three channels, even when they occur simultaneously. That was the case for the confirmations of FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Feist, who is the former Washington bureau chief of CNN, said the neutral approach of C-SPAN has added value in a media environment where outlets now cater to the partisan leanings of their audiences. He cited an Ipsos poll that shows the political breakdown of its audience as 30% Democrat, 30% Republican and 36% independent.
'It matches the demographic of the country,' Feist said. 'I think it puts us in a unique space in this ecosystem.'
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