Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., applauded the announcement that YouTube TV and Hulu will carry C-SPAN, following pressure from Wyden and other members on streaming TV companies to support public access to unfiltered news about government actions.
“I’m glad YouTube and Hulu decided to do the right thing and support C-SPAN, one of the most reliable and non-partisan sources of information about what the government is up to. C-SPAN is a refreshing antidote to the poisonous partisanship that has come to dominate much of the news,” Wyden said. “I urge more media companies to support greater news literacy and access to the government, to inform the public and strengthen our democracy.”
Wyden and Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., were the first members of Congress to press YouTube and Hulu to carry C-SPAN, writing to their CEOs in January that the cable channel represents a valuable, unfiltered window into the workings of government. They continued to press the streaming services for months to take up a commitment made by cable channels to support public interest programming.
Their bipartisan letter to the streaming service companies noted that C-SPAN has been a part of packages sold by cable and satellite providers for more than 40 years yet major live TV streaming services failed to carry C-SPAN as they entered the market.
Founded in the 1970s, C-SPAN is organized as a nonprofit entity. Through the years, it has delivered gavel-to-gavel coverage of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. No government or taxpayer dollars support the network, which is primarily funded by the nation’s cable and satellite companies.
