C-SPAN today is announcing that it has received a greenlight from the U. S. Senate for production related to a new original feature that will debut next spring, "The United States Senate."

C-SPAN plans for the 90-minute feature to examine the role of the Senate in today's society and Senate operations, all in the context of the Senate's history and traditions. It will be accompanied by a robust educational website with additional video resources.

C-SPAN requested special access to the Senate floor for this production, requiring the Senate to pass a resolution allowing the public affairs network access to the Senate chamber and other sites around the Capitol. Senate resolution 642 passed in the Senate's final hours at the close of the session on Dec. 9. https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2016/12/09/senate-section/article/S7040-1

The project also required an executed Memo of Understanding, which was signed on Monday by C-SPAN Co-CEO Susan Swain, and bipartisan Senate leaders including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the incoming Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

"The United States Senate" will be executive produced by Mark Farkas, who produced C-SPAN's "The Capitol" series in 2006. Farkas also has produced original C-SPAN features and series on the First Ladies, the Supreme Court and its Landmark Cases, and the White House.

About C-SPAN: Created by the cable TV industry and now in nearly 100 million TV households, C-SPAN programs three public affairs television networks in both SD and HD; C-SPAN Radio, heard in Washington DC at 90.1 FM and available as an App (Android, iPhone, Blackberry); and a video rich website offering live coverage of government events and access to the vast archive of C-SPAN programming. Visit http://www.c-span.org/.