“It provides our national audience with a window into the city that otherwise they might not be able to see,” Lamb said. “But it also is an opportunity for the Dayton community to see what neat things are right there in their city. We learn something interesting wherever we go.”
Alex Heckman, director of education and operations for Dayton History, welcomed the national spotlight on what Dayton History champions every day.
“We believe anytime there’s national exposure for the Wright Brothers story, or really any of our local history stories, it’s a benefit to Dayton History, the city of Dayton and the broader Dayton community,” Heckman said.
The programs are part of C-SPAN’s Cities Tour, which has visited 21 cities this year, from Providence, R.I., to Palm Springs, Calif. Dayton is the only Ohio city to be profiled this year.
C-SPAN spokeswoman Laura Finch said every weekend, the C-SPAN2 and C-SPAN3 networks break from their usual coverage of Congress to focus on books and literature (C-SPAN2) and American History (C-SPAN3).
Lamb said the 5- to 20-minute Dayton vignettes will be sprinkled throughout the weekend broadcast schedule, but also will be broadcast together in a block — at noon Dec. 21 for the Book TV segments, and at 5 p.m. Dec. 22 for the American History TV segments.
Time Warner Cable spokesman Michael Pedelty said these two C-SPAN newtorks — channels 360 and 361 in most of the Dayton area — are part of the company’s Preferred TV package, so residents need a digital box to see them.
Lamb said the programs also will be warehoused online under C-SPAN’s “Cities Tour” page, where viewers can select any city the group has visited, to watch programs about that area.
The networks will be broadcasting stories from their earlier visit to Ann Arbor, Mich., this weekend.
Lamb’s group also will visit Ponitz Career Technology Center in Dayton, touting their video documentary contest called Student Cam. They’re encouraging students across the nation to create videos explaining what they think Congress should address in 2014.
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