NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Lamb just turned 65, and Monday came the news that two people have been appointed to the job of C-SPAN president, the job Lamb has held since the network switched on in 1979.
Could the man virtually synonymous with his network be retiring?
Hardly. Lamb retains the titles of chairman and CEO, while the promotions of Susan Swain and Rob Kennedy were done to reward their service and set up the network for the future, Lamb told The Associated Press.
"I'm not planning to go anywhere," he said, "but I feel very strongly that my responsibility as a CEO is to have a succession plan and not surprise either my board of directors or the public."
As executive vice presidents, Swain and Kennedy have effectively been running the network day-to-day for the past decade, he said. Swain, 51, has worked at C-SPAN since 1982 and Kennedy, 50, has been there since 1987.
Lamb said he also wants to ensure that C-SPAN continues its mission of closely following government operations.
Besides his off-air duties, Lamb is host of the Washington Journal call-in show on Friday mornings and the interview series Q&A on Sunday nights.
"I don't think I'll ever retire completely," Lamb said, "but at the same time I'm not one of those people who wants to be carried out of the complex with my boots on."
Started with Lamb and three others, the C-SPAN company now has 265 employees and consists of three television stations, a radio station and about a dozen websites.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2006-12-04-cspan_x.htm