C-SPAN and the Bus

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C-SPAN's Historically Black Colleges and Universities Tour Multicultural Public Relations, Cable Network II

Contact: Peter Kiley, C-SPAN, 400 N. Capitol St. NW, Ste. 650, Washington, DC, 20001

BLACK HISTORY MONTH SPECIAL EVENTS AND LIVE PROGRAMMING AT TOP HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

C-SPAN visited eight top historically black colleges and universities during Black History Month to highlight the substantial role HBCUs have had within America’s higher education system. At each stop on C-SPAN's HBCU Tour, the president or provost of the school was interviewed live on C-SPAN, where they participated in C-SPAN’s flagship morning program, Washington Journal. During the segments live from the mobile studio on C-SPAN’s award-winning, 45-foot customized Bus, guests discussed race relations, higher education, and other topics while taking calls from C-SPAN viewers.

Students, professors, and community members stepped aboard the Bus to learn about C-SPAN’s programs and resources, including its in-depth coverage of the U.S. Congress, White House, federal courts, and the American political process. Through interactive exhibits, visitors learned how to access and utilize C-SPAN’s comprehensive online educational resources and services, including C-SPAN.org.

The Bus, now in its 22nd_{year on the road, partners with local cable providers to visit schools and community} events across the country. During Black History Month, the Bus visited Howard University, Hampton University, Fisk University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Florida A&M University, Tuskegee University, and Xavier University of Louisiana. Similar to C-SPAN’s Big Ten and Big 12 Bus Tours in 2014, the C-SPAN HBCU Tour demonstrated to a college-aged audience C-SPAN's multiple platform access to public affairs programming and resources.

Video Highlights: TRT: 3:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwU0tJp1z38&feature=youtu.be

Target Audience: Our target audiences were C-SPAN viewers, the African American community, students, educators, and cable affiliates.

Justification Statement: This project best fits within the Multicultural Public Relations category as it is a campaign designed to improve the image of C-SPAN by targeting the African American community. I. Planning and Strategy

OBJECTIVES

 Objective 1: To mark Black History Month with focused outreach to the African American community and provide an opportunity for prominent African American voices to discuss race relations and education on our network. Potential for measurement: hours of live programming, number of events.

 Objective 2: To promote the availability of C-SPAN's resources to the public, students, and educators. Potential for measurement: number of Bus visitors.

 Objective 3: To reinforce the message that C-SPAN is a public service of the cable industry. Potential for measurement: total exposures of the C-SPAN message, media coverage for each school visit, number of branded premiums distributed at schools.

STRATEGY

 Develop a tour of historically black colleges and universities with the C-SPAN Bus which would allow visitors to interact with and learn about C-SPAN's free educational resources.

 Highlight the substantial role HBCUs have had within America’s higher education system.

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 Promote the live programs and Bus visits to the community and campuses we visit.

 Include the local cable operator in Bus stop planning and invite their participation in events. II. Implementation

TACTICS and STEPS

 Selected the top eight HBCUs of the over one hundred historically black colleges and universities in the United States for our 2015 tour based on the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings.

 Based on those selections, C-SPAN's Bus and programming departments planned the logistics to include for each location an early morning live television production, a late morning open Bus for students and the community, and travel to the next tour stop.

 Plan the entirety of the tour to take place within February – Black History Month.

 Arrange our travel route between the eight schools, working with staff at each HBCU to secure a time and location on campus for the Bus to welcome students and the community for tours.

 Book the university president or other high-ranking faculty member for a live interview on C-SPAN's flagship morning program, Washington Journal.

 Invite university classes and clubs and community members to the open Bus for a tour.

 Reach out to local media to cover the live interview program.

 Promote the Bus visit and live program in the school paper and social media.

 Include local cable operator logos on banners at the open Bus and participate in giveaways with them. EXECUTION

 Tour Stops and Washington Journal Guests:

 Feb. 4: Howard University, Guest: Dr. Wayne Fredrick, President  Feb. 5: Hampton University, Guest: William Harvey, President  Feb. 10: Fisk University, Guest: H. James Williams, President

 Feb. 11: Morehouse College, Guest: John Silvanus Wilson Jr., President  Feb. 12: Spelman College, Guest: Beverly Daniel Tatum, President  Feb. 17: Florida A&M University, Guest: Dr. Elmira Mangum, President  Feb. 18: Tuskegee University, Guest: Brian Johnson, President

 Feb. 19: Xavier University, Guest: Loren Blanchard, Provost

 Featured a live interview and viewer call-in Q & A during each Washington Journal program.

 Distributed premiums at each stop, including C-SPAN HBCU Tour branded premiums. II. Results

 Throughout February, C-SPAN aired five and a half hours of live programming during which HBCU

presidents and provosts discussed higher education, race relations, and other topics of importance to the African American community. Each guest answered questions from viewers on these topics. Note: C-SPAN does not subscribe to ratings services and therefore cannot provide ratings for any live Washington Journal segments from the HBCUs.

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A sample of our ads promoting the C-SPAN Bus visit to campus and live appearance of the university president on Washington Journal.

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Photos from the C-SPAN HBCU Tour

Howard University President Dr. Wayne Frederic answers viewer calls live during Washington Journal.

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Hampton University students visit the Bus.

Students picking up C-SPAN HBCU Tour premiums at Tuskegee University.

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