Former C-SPAN EVP Mike Michaelson Dies, 86

Former C-SPAN executive Mike Michaelson, an early leader of the public affairs cable channel, died this week, according to network officials. He was 86.

Michaelson served as executive vice president with C-SPAN --its first EVP-- from 1981 to 1993, but remained a consultant after that. There could hardly have been a better fit with C-SPAN's charter of televising Capitol Hill proceedings.

A Richmond, Va. native, Michaelson came to C-SPAN from Congress, where he worked for 30 years, eventually as superintendent of the House Radio-TV Gallery from 1975 until joining C-SPAN.

C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb Wednesday said hiring Michaelson had been an "incredible coup," adding that he gave the fledgling net "an instant boost of credibility."

Michaelson's job was also his passion. He led tours of the Capitol for four decades and even wrote a self-guided tour book, Exploring the Capitol: A Self-Guided Tour Through The Halls of Congress.
A memorial service for Michaelson will be held Friday, Feb. 4, at Gawler's Funeral Home in Washington.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.