Founder Brian Lamb and C-SPAN Recognized with Special NCTA Vanguard Award for Their Service to Cable and the Nation

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- C-SPAN's Founder and Executive Chairman, Brian Lamb, and C-SPAN will be presented a Special NCTA Vanguard Award, in honor of their service to the cable industry and the nation and the impact that C-SPAN has had on national discourse, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) said today. 

Lamb, who recently transitioned into the role of Executive Chairman at C-SPAN, founded C-SPAN in 1978, starting as CEO and adding the title of Board Chairman in 1985.  Under the leadership of Lamb and his visionary team, C-SPAN has grown to 275 employees, three television networks, nationwide radio, and an unsurpassed online digital video library that is a national treasure representing three decades of federal, Congressional, and public affairs events.  C-SPAN television networks can be viewed in more than 100 million households nationwide.

Joining Lamb to accept the Vanguard in Boston will be Susan Swain and Rob Kennedy, who recently succeeded Lamb as co-CEOs and who have between them more than 55 years of service to the network. 

It was as a trade editor covering a young cable industry that Lamb developed the concept of a channel that would televise Congressional proceedings from gavel to gavel.  In 1977, an entrepreneurial Lamb pitched his idea to Congressional leaders and executives of major cable companies.  The Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN) was born in 1978, funded by the cable industry as a service to the American public.  Since then, C-SPAN networks have flourished on a foundation of public service.  A C-SPAN slogan is, "Created by Cable.  Offered as a Public Service."    

In recent years Lamb and C-SPAN have won substantial praise and recognition for their groundbreaking efforts, which have been emulated in several democracies around the globe and among state legislatures in nearly two dozen states.  Lamb is quick to deflect praise and instead recognizes his veteran leadership team, his staff at C-SPAN, and the cable industry that supports them.  He has been the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, the Media Institute's Freedom of Speech Award, the National Humanities Medal, and the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award. 

Lamb, who became the public face of C-SPAN as a host of the network's daily public affairs call-in program, Washington Journal, and the long-running iconic author chat, Book Notes, currently continues his journalistic and on-air work at C-SPAN, hosting the weekly interview program, Q&A. 

The 2012 Vanguard Awards will be presented on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, at a luncheon and awards ceremony during The Cable Show 2012, NCTA's 61st Annual Convention & International Exposition, May 21 – 23, at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center.

Inaugurated in 1965, the Vanguard Awards are presented annually to individuals who excel in both business and personal commitment to their colleagues, and whose accomplishments merit the recognition of the entire cable industry. 

A complete list of 2012 Vanguard Award honorees can be found at http://www.thecableshow.com/Vanguards.

NCTA is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks. The cable industry is the nation's largest broadband provider of high-speed Internet access, serving more than 45 million customers, after investing more than $185 billion to build two-way interactive networks with fiber optic technology. Cable companies also provide state-of-the-art digital telephone service to more than 25 million American consumers.

SOURCE NCTA