A forthcoming U.S. Senate resolution will pressure Google, the parent company of YouTube, to carry C-SPAN broadcasts on YouTubeTV, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are introducing a resolution later on Monday that calls on streaming services like YouTubeTV to include C-SPAN in their offerings. The resolution comes on the 39th anniversary of C-SPAN’s U.S. Senate broadcasts, as back on June 2, 1986, the network began broadcasting in the upper chamber of Congress.
“Transparency brings accountability, and C-SPAN’s coverage of the Senate has certainly brought transparency to the people’s business,” Grassley said in a press release obtained by Breitbart News ahead of its public release. “Our resolution celebrates C-SPAN 2’s nearly 40-year commitment to give Americans a front row seat in the Senate, all without accepting a dime of taxpayer dollars. This public service strengthens our system of self-government by boosting civic engagement, and ought to be available on all television and streaming platforms.”
Klobuchar added that C-SPAN’s public service is important for all to see, as the network regularly carries live programming of political events, hearings, and goings-on on the floors of the House and Senate across its multiple channels.
“C-SPAN has connected the Senate with the American people for nearly 40 years—providing the public an opportunity to see their government at work on the Senate floor and in committee meetings,” Klobuchar said. “Access to this live coverage on all platforms is essential to keeping the American people informed and engaged in their democracy.”
The two-page resolution from Grassley and Klobuchar celebrates C-SPAN’s decades of broadcasts, then concludes with a direct call for streaming services to carry the outlet. The outlet has regularly been provided as a public service by cable providers nationwide, but streaming services, most notably YouTubeTV and Hulu Live TV, have not yet featured the network’s programming.
“Whereas C-SPAN operates without public funding or government oversight; Whereas the continued availability and success of C-SPAN is due to the funding provided by cable and satellite television operators in the United States; and Whereas all television providers, including streaming services, should make delivery of C-SPAN a priority so Americans can watch Congress in action, in real time,” the resolution from Grassley and Klobuchar reads, in part.
As Breitbart News has previously reported, President Donald Trump’s White House has weighed in on the side of C-SPAN in this dispute with Google over YouTubeTV. Kaelan Dorr, a top official in Trump’s White House, noted that C-SPAN carries more Trump events live than almost any other outlet.
This fight will likely escalate in the coming weeks and months. Lawmakers from both political parties tend to like C-SPAN because it offers unedited, full-context coverage of key events and speeches. There is also a populist, anti-Big Tech angle to this programming decision. Google is at the forefront of this debate since it owns YouTube and YouTubeTV, setting up the tech giant to face increased scrutiny over withholding the C-SPAN product — particularly from many on the populist right who think Google exerts far too much control over content access in general.
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