Washington Week is the longest-running public affairs program on PBS. The show first aired locally on WETA on February 23, 1967. A few months later it began broadcasting over Eastern Educational Network, a group of 14 stations located between Washington, D.C. and Maine. In January 1969, it became the first local program to air on the new Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Washington Week features a group of journalists participating in roundtable discussion of major news events.
October 1, 1999 marked the arrival of Washington Week’s newest moderator, Gwen Ifill. As chief Congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, Ifill has been a frequent Washington Week panelist since 1992, and has occasionally served as guest moderator on the show.
Washington Week is currently carried by 90 percent of the 306 PBS stations around the country and reaches 97 percent of U.S. television households. In 1975 the Armed Forces Radio and TV Network was granted permission to carry the program on a regular basis to troops throughout the world.
Washington Week’s future has been in question only once during its existence. In 1972, the Nixon administration, citing Washington Week specifically, generated intense pressure against public affairs programs on PBS. The deluge of mail from avid viewers saved it. |
