C-SPAN to Profile Presidential 'Contenders'

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

C-SPAN will air a series of live weekly programs profiling failed presidential candidates who succeeded in changing political history.

Starting Sept. 9, the post-Labor Day kickoff to the campaign season, the cable net will air The Contenders: They Lost The Election But Changed Political History, 90-minute shows at 9 p.m. ET that will begin with a profile of Henry Clay and continue through a Dec. 9 airing of a profile of Ross Perot.

The candidates profiled, which include Thomas Dewey, Barry Goldwater and Hubert Humphrey, had to be a national party nominee at least once, have an impact on politics of their time, and ran before 1996 "allowing some passage of time for historical context."

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.