Brian Lamb

Brian Patrick Lamb (born October 9, 1941 in Lafayette, Indiana) is the founder and CEO of C-SPAN-the Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network.

After graduating from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he joined the U.S. Navy. Lamb went to Washington in 1967 to become Senate press secretary and a White House telecommunications policy staffer. In 1974 he began publishing a biweekly newsletter, The Media Report. By 1977, he launched the not-for-profit C-SPAN. On March 19, 1979 they covered the first televised session of the U.S. House of Representatives and Lamb held his first call-in show in 1980. C-Span now has three cable-TV channels and C-Span Radio is carried nationwide on the XM network. Lamb has hosted C-Span programs such as Washington Journal and Booknotes, and has interviewed every U.S. President since Lyndon Johnson He is an Independent who has never said his own name on television.

In January 2010, Lamb sent a letter to lawmakers asking them to air health care negotiations after President Obama repeatedly stated it would be aired on C-span during the 2008 Presidential Election.

Brian Lamb is the author of three books and currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Quotes

• "C-Span is not television. It’s the antithesis of everything else on the air."

• "This is the only place where the public has a leading role. We’re the voice of the nation."