C-SPAN

C-SPAN, the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, is located in Washington, D.C., one block from the Capitol. The cable television industry created C-SPAN in 1979 to provide live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1986, C-SPAN2 was launched to provide corresponding coverage of the U.S. Senate. C-SPAN3, launched in 1997, provides additional public affairs programming to digital TV customers. Since then, C-SPAN's programming has broadened to include in-depth coverage of the federal government's executive and judicial branches, national and international public affairs events and extensive coverage of campaigns and elections. In 1993, C-SPAN created c-span.org as a comprehensive online resource for public affairs information, and in 1998 Book TV, devoted to exploring the world of nonfiction, was launched on C-SPAN2.