Earlier in his career, Sam Feist ran a news program called “Crossfire” that tried to capture viewership by having liberals and conservatives bicker with one another. Now he hopes to achieve similar results with a similar program that drops the arguments and squabbles.
The new offering is called “Ceasefire” and will debut Friday on C-SPAN, the public-affairs cable network that has for nearly half a century provided viewers a fly-on-the-wall presence at major Congressional hearings and other important policy discussions crucial to U.S. government. In an era when the only things that truly attract significant news audience seem to be are on-air conflict and partisan rants, Feist, who was named the organization’s CEO last year, thinks there is new business to be found in programming that avoids such stuff.
“Clearly our politics has us divided, and we’ve sorted ourselves into these media echo chambers — in many ways, to red news and blue news. I think that’s terrible for the country, says Feist during a recent interview. “C-SPAN is defying that, to some extent.”
“Ceasefire” will, each week, feature Republicans and Democrats trying to find common ground, not necessarily getting their backs up about the hill upon which they wish to die. The show is hosted by Dasha Burns of Politico – a younger moderator than many viewers might expect – and will in its first week bring on former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and former Chicago mayor and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel. In a separate conversation, Sean Spicer, former White House Press Secretary under President Trump, will hold forth with Faiz Shakir, a senior advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders.
The idea for “Ceasefire” has been rattling around Feist’s head, the executive says, since he was working on CNN’s “Crossfire,” a cable-news institution that had conservatives like Tucker Carlson, Bob Novak and Pat Buchanan square off against liberals such as Bill Press, Michael Kinsley and Tom Braden. “What it did not do was look for common ground or compromise and show America that Republicans and Democrats can be friends and get along,” says Feist. He credits Kinsley, who broached the concept with Feist as he stepped away from the show, with having the original notion of helping differing sides find a mutual path forward
Executives at C-SPAN believe there is demand for such content. A study of C-SPAN viewership by Magid, the long-serving media-sector consultant, found that 27% of its audience was liberal while 28% was conservative, with 41% identifying as moderate. With left and right watching in equal measure, says Feist, “that gives us a really unique opportunity to speak to Republicans and Democrats at the same time in a way that isn’t happening anywhere else.”
Others have tried — and continue to do so. CNN runs a 10 p.m. program called “News Night” that has panelists from different political backgrounds weigh in on the news of the day. “Americans with different perspectives aren’t talking to each other, but here they do,” viewers are told when the show comes on each evening. The discussion usually ends up being more “Crossfire” than “Crossfire” ever was. Fox Corp. makes a point of telling investors that its Fox News Channel reaches more liberals and independents than any of its competitors.
C-SPAN, however, has new impetus to try harder. The network recently struck new streaming carriage deals with Google’s YouTube TV and Disney’s live-TV service via Hulu. The pacts could prove to be a lifeline to C-SPAN, which for decades has subsisted on the fees it collects from various cable and satellite operators in exchange for carrying the service. With more people cutting their linear-TV subscriptions in favor of streaming, C-SPAN was once received in 100 million homes, according to a person familiar with the matter. In 2025, that number stands at less than 50 million, Meanwhile, its monthly fee per subscriber has increased only slightly over the decades, this person says, to 7.25 cents from 6.25. Over a year, carriers get to run three different C-SPAN channels for just around 87 cents per year. The company accepts no government funding and runs no advertising on TV — only a little bit on its web site and accompanying some of the clips it makes available on YouTube.
C-SPAN in recent months made a concerted effort to get carriage from Disney and Google, says Feist. “It was an early priority for me,” he says, and not just because of the revenue. “We had to be seen in all of these houses that used to have us, but don’t now,” and many of those customers had moved to YouTube TV or Hulu + Live, he says.
Asking media companies for money in exchange for carrying the nitty-gritty meetings of government at a time of tumult in the sector is no easy task. But C-SPAN made the point to the streamers that their subscription services would benefit from carrying live, newsy programming, which would help to keep audiences on their platforms. The fact that the news cycle is never-ending during President Trump’s second term doesn’t hurt. And executives also made the point to their potential new partners that their support would be noticed in the halls of the U.S. Senate and House –- just as the backing of companies like Comcast, Charter and traditional cable and satellite companies had been for years. Indeed, Disney’s and Google’s contributions will be noted in a new C-SPAN effort to celebrate the coming 250th birthday of the United States.
Meanwhile, C-SPAN has under Feist embraced new techniques. The network has introduced new graphics and even recently featured a “countdown clock” to the start of the current government shutdown – something the company, not known for flashy promotion, might not have done under previous managers.
Disney did not respond to a query seeking comment while Google declined to make executives available for comment.
But at least one lawmaker appreciates the new arrangements. “C-SPAN has connected Congress with the American people for decades — providing the public an opportunity to see their government at work on the Senate and House floor and in committee meetings. Access to this live coverage on all platforms, including streaming services, is essential to keeping the American people informed and engaged in our democracy,” says Senator Amy Klobuchar in a statement provided via email. She and Senator Chuck Grassley earlier this year led an effort to pass a resolution urging TV providers to carry C-SPAN’s networks. “I’m glad YouTube and Hulu agreed to provide this vital insight service to their customers, and I continue to urge all platforms to do the same,” she adds.
Leading an independent cable outlet in the streaming era may seem like a thankless job, but Feist has over decades become known for a “can-do” attitude, according to people who know him. During his time at CNN, he rose from working as a freelance producer to running the network’s Washington coverage and had a hand in signature programs including “The Situation Room” and “State of the Union.” His knowledge of the way Washington works and how to get to newsmakers was well-established, according to one former colleague, as was his enthusiasm for getting things done.
He has other plans. Feist would like to do more with “Washington Journal,” the signature C-SPAN program that takes calls from viewers from all political backgrounds. Feist remembers when Larry King might interact with callers at CNN, and notes that “on TV, we don’t do that anymore.” He also points to C-SPAN’s coverage of books and authors, with a new program, “America’s Book Club,” which will be hosted by David Rubenstein, the philanthropist and former Kennedy Center chair, who will talk to authors including John Grisham, Walter Isaacson and Stacy Schiff not necessarily about a new book, but about their larger bodies of work and bigger issues.
And while C-SPAN’s academic tilt has been lampooned for years on “Saturday Night Live” and other shows, Feist seems to believe there’s nothing wrong in leaning into the things that make the company different. “We don’t edit these events. We don’t offer commentary around these events,” he says of the network’s coverage. “Our mission is to put it out there and let the voters decide for themselves who is right and who is wrong, who has the better argument and who doesn’t.” A bigger percentage of streaming audiences might get a chance to determine if C-SPAN’s case for itself is worth more consideration.
variety.com
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