C-SPAN is continuing its push to be included on major streaming platforms — including YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Fubo — as more consumers move away from traditional cable television.
The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, which launched in 1979 to provide unfiltered coverage of Congress and public affairs, operates as a nonprofit group, funded without taxpayer support. Instead, it relies on carriage fees from cable and satellite providers, roughly 7.25 cents per subscriber per month, for access to all three of its channels.
With many former cable viewers switching to streaming platforms, C-SPAN has seen a decline in its reach. Neither YouTube TV, which is owned by Google, nor Hulu + Live TV, which is owned by Disney, carries the network. However, competitors, such as DirecTV Stream and Verizon Fios, do.
C-SPAN has been requesting to be on YouTube TV for more than seven years.
YouTube TV, which surpassed 8 million subscribers as of early 2024, is now the largest internet-based pay-TV service in the United States. The platform recently raised its monthly subscription cost from $72.99 to $82.99, citing rising content expenses.
A YouTube TV spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that the company has “not observed sufficient interest in adding C-SPAN” and noted that much of the network’s content is already available for free on YouTube.com.
While C-SPAN posts select clips on its YouTube channel, the network states that its full, real-time programming cannot be streamed freely online due to contractual agreements with cable and satellite providers.
In its statement, YouTube TV said it evaluates possible channel additions based on multiple factors, including user demand, content availability through other platforms, cost impact, and strategic fit.
“We are proud that a large amount of C-SPAN’s content is available to viewers on the YouTube main platform, where it is accessible to everyone for free and generates advertising revenue for C-SPAN,” the YouTube TV spokesperson added.
YouTube TV is a subscription-based live TV streaming service that offers real-time access to broadcast and cable channels, similar to traditional cable. In contrast, YouTube is a free platform where users upload and watch individual videos on demand, including clips and highlights.
C-SPAN maintains that its full, linear broadcast cannot be equated to short-form, on-demand clips found on YouTube, especially as it seeks inclusion on the distinctly different live TV streaming platform, YouTube TV. The nonprofit network does not run advertisements and is funded exclusively by carriage fees, approximately 7.25 cents per subscriber per month, paid by cable and satellite providers. Making its live feed freely available online, it warns, would breach those agreements and jeopardize its financial model.
“If we were to give away our linear feed online, we’d lose our existing distributor support. That’s how we pay for C-SPAN,” C-SPAN spokesman Howard Mortman said to the Washington Examiner. “We’re not CNN or Fox. We don’t have commercials. We rely on distribution fees alone.”
C-SPAN has received public support from both political figures and government officials.
In January, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) — lawmakers from opposite ends of the political spectrum — sent a joint letter to the CEOs of YouTube, Hulu, and Fubo TV urging them to carry C-SPAN. They described the channel as a “nonpartisan resource” that enhances civic education and public understanding of government.
Wyden put it bluntly, “This is crumbs for the streaming company at this point — 7 cents. YouTube raked in $10 billion in ad revenue in the last three months of 2024 alone. Seven cents a subscriber are crumbs here.”
Lawmakers frequently rely on C-SPAN to speak directly to their constituents, using floor speeches and congressional proceedings as a way to communicate their positions and priorities without media filters.
C-SPAN has long provided uninterrupted, nonpartisan coverage of congressional sessions, public hearings, and political events, serving a unique civic function not fulfilled by traditional news outlets.
The channel also provides real-time, exclusive coverage of Supreme Court arguments, political rallies, town halls, and government press briefings. Without inclusion on major streaming services, C-SPAN says its reach, and its revenue, is shrinking.
“All of those millions of people used to have C-SPAN before they switched [to streaming services],” Mortman added. “Now, they’re no longer paying the seven cents a month, and that lost revenue poses a potentially existential threat.”
“Thanks for being here. And for everyone watching at home, thank you very much, and for C-SPAN covering this always live, which I appreciate.”
— @StateDept spokesperson @statedeptspox @HeyTammyBruce pic.twitter.com/B9dcYDW1JG
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) April 30, 2025
As viewership increasingly shifts to internet-delivered television, C-SPAN continues to press major platforms like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Fubo to carry its channels. The network emphasizes that preserving public access to comprehensive, nonpartisan government coverage is essential for civic engagement.
President Donald Trump recently joked at a Cabinet meeting that he’s become such an avid viewer that he can recognize who appears on C-SPAN 1 during prime-time hours.
In late April, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce also acknowledged the network’s consistent live coverage of her briefings, saying, “Thanks for being here. And for everyone watching at home, thank you very much, and for C-SPAN covering this always live, which I appreciate.”
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C-SPAN offers unmatched access to government proceedings, including press briefings across all major federal agencies and exclusive coverage of Supreme Court hearings. When debates unfold on the House and Senate floors, it’s C-SPAN’s cameras capturing the moment, providing coverage rarely found anywhere else.
The channel will continue to advocate broader carriage on streaming services to maintain financial viability and ensure that transparent, uninterrupted government proceedings remain accessible to the public.