C-SPAN launched television’s first-ever, regularly scheduled national viewer call-in program from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Three TV trade reporters were the first call-in guests, who appeared following a speech by then-Federal Communications Commission chair Charles Ferris. Over 25 years, the network has produced more than 46,000 call-in segments and featured 12,000 individual guests.

“The idea of a 25-hour call-in program may seem a little crazy,” said Brian Lamb, CEO of C-SPAN and host of the first call-in program. “But call-ins are the essence of C-SPAN. We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate a format that’s given a voice to the public and helped shape the political debate.”

Each hour of the live, 25-Hour Call-In Marathon will look sequentially at key events from each year in recent history starting with 1980 (see backgrounder). In addition to viewer calls, every hour will include interviews with guests who helped shape or cover the highlighted event, archival video, statistics from each year and of course, viewer calls. The network’s regular on-air hosts will rotate duties between 8 p.m. ET Friday and 9 p.m. ET Saturday.

The first guest will be Phil Donahue, a regular C-SPAN viewer, who is credited with pioneering the call-in format on television when he launched his 1967 show on WLWD-TV in Dayton, Ohio. Additional guests scheduled to appear include journalists Tony Blankley, Pat Buchanan, William Kristol, Susan Page, Sally Quinn and Frank Rich; and policymakers such as Rep. Tom Foley, former chief of staff to President Clinton John Podesta, and president of the National Education Association Reg Weaver.

To commemorate the 25-year milestone, C-SPAN conducted an essay contest asking viewers 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. Twenty-four additional winners will also participate in the program. Winners will be announced later this month.

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.