MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
January 15-31, 2006 Edition
C-Span2’s Book TV
Seeks to Broaden
Coverage in 2006
NEW YORK, NY/1/12/26C-SPAN2’s Book TV, a public channel devoted specifically to books, has an eye on more rapid program expansion in 2006. Executive producer Connie Doebele has been quoted in the trade press as saying she’s planning to do more original programming on the channel in the future, perhaps including literary discussions, and book club coverage. Since C-SPAN has equipment and crews throughout the country, Book TV can cover events almost anywhere.
Talk of expansion comes as the popular Book TV program, After Words, celebrated its first anniversary on December 31. The show is a hot place for nonfiction authors to promote their work. The program matches authors with interviewers who have special knowledge of the authors’ topics.
C-SPAN2’s BOOK TV has slowly grown to 48 hours of programming every weekend and reaches about 78 million households.
The cable channel also recently launched the Book TV Bus which travels throughout the country filming book festivals and other library and bookstore events.
The goal of Book TV is to provide viewers an in-depth look at topics covered in major newspapers. With the growing popularity of its current shows, broader programming and event coverage seem, happily, inevitable.
