C-SPAN launched television's first-ever, regularly scheduled, national viewer call-in program on October 7, 1980, when the 19-month-old network televised a live viewer call-in program from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Over 25 years, the network has booked over 12,000 individual guests and produced more than 46,000 call-in segments.

"The call-in program is about as important as anything C-SPAN has done," says C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb. "More than a half-million voices have been heard on our network over the past 25 years. Long before the age of e-mails, iPods and the blogosphere, C-SPAN callers had the chance to talk back to elected officials and journalists."

The network's first viewer call-in program aired in 1980 following a speech by then Federal Communications Chair Charles Ferris. Three TV trade reporters-Pat Gushman, Tack Nail, Don West and George Mason Professor Mike Kelley-were the first call-in guests. The first-ever C-SPAN caller hailed from Yankton, S.D.

Viewer call-ins have been a staple of C-SPAN programming through regularly scheduled call-in segments that evolved into the Washington Journal, the network's live, daily call-in program. C-SPAN also features open-line programs that allow people to react to breaking news events. Recent examples include the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court or the days of continuous viewer calls following 9/11.

C-SPAN is conducting a Viewer Call-Ins Essay Contest in observance of the anniversary, asking people to describe why they watch or participate in call-ins on the network. The grand prize winner will travel to Washington, D.C., and serve as a co-host during the live marathon program. More information about the contest is available at www.c-span.org.

C-SPAN's use of call-ins builds on a format used first on radio and then TV by such pioneers as Phil Donahue, whose 1967 show on WLWD-TV in Dayton, Ohio, is cited by many as the prototype for today's interactive TV. A key component of the network's call-in programming has included simulcasts of national, regional and local radio talk show programs. To date, C-SPAN has televised nearly l00 local and national radio talk show programs. Page 1 of 2

About C-SPAN
C-SPAN, the political network of record, was created in 1979 by America's cable companies as a public service. C-SPAN is currently available in 89.1 million households, C-SPAN2 in 77 million households, and C-SPAN3 in more than 11 million households nationwide. For more information about C-SPAN, visit its Web site at www.c-span.org.