October 7, 1980 - C-SPAN inaugurates television's first-ever, regularly scheduled national viewer call-in program from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. 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-appear as the first call-in guests at 2 p.m. ET.

April 1, 1981 C-SPAN begins regular program schedule--eight hours a day, seven days a week.

1981C-SPAN launches a regular series of call-in shows, Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. First congressional guest was Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

February 1, 1982 - C-SPAN programming expands to 16 hours a day.

February 25, 1983 - President Reagan is the first sitting U.S. president to call C-SPAN during a call-in program with high school students.

May 3, 1982 - A second daily call-in program was added at 9 p.m.

September 13, 1982 - Programming expands to 24 hours a day.

November 29, 1982 - A third call-in program was added at 9 a.m.

November 1, 1983 - First Lady Barbara Bush is a call-in guest discussing illiteracy in the U.S.

July 1984 - C-SPAN airs live call-in segments from the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.

August 1984 - Network airs live call-in segments from the Republican National Convention in Dallas.

January 28, 1986 - C-SPAN opens its phone lines following the American space shuttle Challenger explosion, allowing viewers to share opinions and reactions.

July 21, 1988 - Network introduces international call-in numbers. Some 91 viewers from Europe comment on the American political process during the Democratic National Convention.

January 5, 1995 - The three-hour Washington Journal (7 to 10 am ET) replaces the earlier call-in incarnations as the network's flagship viewer call-in program.

September 13, 1998 - Book TV on C-SPAN2 airs first call-in program from the Library of Congress

February 6, 2000 - In Depth launches, a monthly call-in program on Book TV featuring a non-fiction writer and their body of work. The first guest is John Lukacs.

January 20, 2001 - Washington Journal expands from a two-hour program to a three-hour program on weekends.

October 7, 2005 - C-SPAN marks 25 years of viewer call-in segments with marathon, 25-hour anniversary program.

Back to Top^