C-SPAN Names CNN DC Bureau Chief Sam Feist CEO

Alex Weprin
·2 min read
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C-SPAN has found its next CEO, and it is a familiar face to the world of TV news.

Sam Feist, the longtime Washington D.C. bureau chief of CNN, has been selected to be the cable-funded non-profit’s next chief executive. Feist has led CNN’s D.C. bureau since 2011, and started at the cable channel in 1990.

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Pat Esser, the former CEO of Cox, who is C-SPAN’s chairman, called Feist “an outstanding leader who is trusted and respected by both sides of the aisle and who has a deep respect for C-SPAN’s nonpartisan mission.”

Fesit, meanwhile, heaped praise on the the small but mighty public affairs organization.

“Our democracy needs C-SPAN now more than ever,” said Feist in a statement. “I look forward to working with C-SPAN’s extraordinary and dedicated team to expand the network’s reach and meet new audiences where they are.”

“C-SPAN is an American treasure and I could not be more excited to lead this essential
institution,” he added.

Feist will remain with CNN through the end of June to help with that transition, and start at C-SPAN later this summer. Swain will stick around until he starts.

C-SPAN announced in March that its co-CEOs Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain would be stepping down. Feist will only be the third (or fourth, depending on how you look at it) CEO in its history, after Swain and Kennedy, and C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb.

The organization says that Lamb, Kennedy, Swain, and Esser led a search committee, who, working with outside consultant Ann Carlsen, vetted around 100 people before settling on Feist.

C-SPAN, which is funded by the cable companies, has been adapting to a changing media environment, with cord-cutting impacting its bottom line. The non-profit provides live coverage of Congress, as well as other programing like Book TV.

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