C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network), created by the American Cable Television Industry, was founded in 1979 by Brian Lamb with the aim of televising sessions of the U.S. Congress, and offering broader access and coverage of public affairs events. C-SPAN's exact mission statements are as follows: "To provide C-SPAN's audience access to the live gavel-to-gavel proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and to other forums where public policy is discussed, debated and decided-all without editing, commentary or analysis and with a balanced presentation of points of view; To provide elected and appointed officials and others who would influence public policy a direct conduit to the audience without filtering or otherwise distorting their points of view; To provide the audience, through the call-in program, direct access to elected officials, other decision makers and journalists on a frequent and open basis; To employ production values that accurately convey the business of government rather than distract from it; and To conduct all other aspects of its operations consistent with these principles."

With an original concentration on congressional sessions, C-SPAN quickly expanded into a 24-hour network by 1982, and added call-in programs and other, non-congressional public affairs/events to its schedule. In 1986, the network expanded even more, developing the C-SPAN2 channel, which covered gavel-to-gavel Senate debates. By 2001, C-SPAN3 had launched in order to maintain full coverage of congressional sessions, as well as other original C-SPAN programming such as American History TV, The Communicators, Newsmakers, and Washington Journal. In addition to covering the U.S. Congress, C-SPAN has also covered the Executive branch of the U.S. government, including daily briefings from the White House, as well as events such as the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and Presidential debates. One of C-SPAN's most successful endeavors was the creation of the C-SPAN Bus in 1993, which serves as a mobile production studio and learning center that visits hundreds of communities per year. The Bus, which is still being utilized, aims to engage with students, teachers, viewers, and elected officials and teach them about C-SPAN's operations. The Bus has enabled many successful educational endeavors for the network, including the Alexis de Tocqueville tour, which began in May 1997. The same year, C-SPAN expanded further with the addition of C-SPAN Radio, available in the Washington DC Metro area and nationally on satellite radio. Despite repeated efforts to do so over the past two decades, C-SPAN does not cover the U.S. Supreme Court in live TV or radio broadcast formats. C-SPAN and its sister channels enjoy strong ratings. Around the late 1980s through the early 1990s, die-hard C-SPAN watchers became known as "C-SPAN Junkies" for their dedicated viewing of and interaction with the C-SPAN network. C-SPAN maintains a consistent and large viewer base. In 2017 alone, over 70 million viewers from a wide range of backgrounds and political persuasions have accessed C-SPAN across their various platforms.

C-SPAN's founder, Brian Lamb, was an integral part of the development of the network. Lamb was a White House telecommunications policy staffer and Washington bureau chief for Cablevision magazine prior to creating C-SPAN, and brought valuable experience and insight to the job. Lamb is renowned for his many interviews and interviewing style, which was evident from the early days of the C-SPAN daily call in. Lamb's interviewing style was highlighted on his show "Booknotes" (1989-2004) where he interviewed 801 authors of mostly non-fiction books, making the show the longest-running author interview program in broadcast history. The success of "Booknotes" led to the creation of "Book TV" in 1998, a 48-hour weekend programming block dedicated to covering nonfiction books. After thirty-three years of service to the network, Lamb retired as CEO of C-SPAN in 2012, but remains its executive chairman. Lamb was succeeded by Susan Swain and Rob Kennedy as co-CEOs. Lamb's longtime secretary Lea Anne Long also contributed to C-SPAN's functions, planning events and his complicated and numerous travel itineraries. Lamb currently hosts the show "Q and A" on C-SPAN, which "highlights today's most compelling thinkers in politics, media, education, and science," and has been running since 2004. Lamb's strong and singular legacy on C-SPAN continues to this day. Lamb was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2002 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 for his extensive work in broadcasting over the years.