C-SPAN APIc-span.org ↗
Access C-SPAN TV schedules, event details, program transcripts, and live stream URLs across all three channels via a single REST API.
What is the C-SPAN API?
The C-SPAN API provides 6 endpoints covering TV schedules, event and program metadata, closed-caption transcripts, and live stream discovery across C-SPAN 1, 2, and 3. The get_schedule endpoint returns a full day's programming for a given channel and date, including UTC start times, durations, video stream URLs, categories, and series names. Transcript data from get_transcript includes time-coded segments with speaker attribution down to the second.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/9b895281-7eac-4c75-93bf-643fd4a78be4/get_schedule?date=2026-07-16&channel=1' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace c-span-org-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
"""Walkthrough: C-SPAN Schedule & Event Details API — bounded, re-runnable."""
from parse_apis.C_SPAN_Schedule___Event_Details_API import CSpan, Channel, NotFound
client = CSpan()
# Browse today's C-SPAN schedule (channel 1), capped at 5 items.
for entry in client.schedule_entries.list(channel=Channel.CSPAN, limit=5):
print(entry.title, entry.time, entry.status)
# Drill into the first event from the schedule.
entry = client.schedule_entries.list(channel=Channel.CSPAN, limit=3).first()
if entry and entry.event_id:
# Fetch full event details by ID.
try:
event = client.events.get(id=entry.event_id)
print(event.title, event.category, event.description[:100])
except NotFound as exc:
print(f"Event not found: {exc}")
# Fetch a program and refresh it via the unified details endpoint.
program = client.programs.get(id="680198")
print(program.title, program.series_title, program.video_duration)
refreshed = program.refresh()
print(refreshed.title, refreshed.video_duration)
# Read the program's transcript sub-resource.
transcript = program.transcript.get()
print(transcript.has_transcript, transcript.total_segments, transcript.disclaimer)
# Check what's currently live on all default channels.
for stream in client.live_streams.list(limit=3):
print(stream.title, stream.channel, stream.start_time_utc)
print("exercised: schedule_entries.list / events.get / programs.get / program.refresh / program.transcript.get / live_streams.list")
Get the TV schedule for a given C-SPAN channel and date. Returns a list of scheduled events and programs with their UTC start times, titles, descriptions, durations, live/scheduled/completed status, m3u8 video stream URLs for live and completed items, category, format, series title, location, thumbnail URLs, and links to detail pages. Each item's date and start_time_utc reflect the actual scheduled air date (extracted from the page's day section headers), not just the requested date. Enriches each item with metadata from the C-SPAN API when available. Items that start earlier than their scheduled slot are flagged with is_early=true; in that case start_time_utc is the actual (earlier) start from the API and original_start_date is the originally scheduled time from the schedule page.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| date | string | Date in ISO format YYYY-MM-DD (e.g. 2026-06-01). When omitted, defaults to the current UTC date. |
| channel | string | Channel number. Accepts exactly one of: 1 (C-SPAN), 2 (C-SPAN2), 3 (C-SPAN3), 5 (C-SPAN Radio), 6 (Today's Events). |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"date": "string, the requested schedule date in YYYY-MM-DD format",
"items": "array of schedule entries with time, start_time_utc, date (YYYY-MM-DD actual air date for this item), title, url, type, event_id, program_id, duration, duration_minutes, status, description, video_file, category, format, series_title, location, thumbnail (string URL to the item's thumbnail image or null if unavailable), is_early (boolean, true if the actual start time from the API is earlier than the scheduled time on the page), original_start_date (string UTC ISO timestamp from the schedule page when is_early is true, null otherwise)",
"total": "integer, number of items in the schedule",
"channel": "string, the channel number requested"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"date": "2026-06-03",
"items": [
{
"url": "https://www.c-span.org/event/senate-committee/treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-testifies-on-president-trumps-2027-budget/443700",
"date": "2026-06-03",
"time": "10:36am",
"type": "event",
"title": "The Hearing Room:Secretary Bessent Testifies on Oversight of Treasury Department",
"format": "Senate Committee",
"status": "completed",
"category": "Senate Committee",
"duration": "1 hour, 24 minutes",
"event_id": "443700",
"is_early": true,
"location": {
"id": 1299,
"name": "Washington",
"type": "city",
"fullName": "Washington, District of Columbia, United States"
},
"program_id": null,
"video_file": "https://m3u8-l.c-spanvideo.org/event/event.443700.tsc.m3u8",
"description": "Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on oversight of the Treasury Department.",
"series_title": null,
"start_time_utc": "2026-06-03T14:00:00Z",
"duration_minutes": 84,
"original_start_date": "2026-06-03T14:36:00Z"
}
],
"total": 57,
"channel": "1"
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the C-SPAN API
Schedule and Live Stream Access
The get_schedule endpoint accepts a channel parameter and an ISO-format date (e.g. 2024-07-04), defaulting to today's UTC date when omitted. Each item in the returned items array includes a title, description, UTC start time, duration, status, category, format, series, location, and a video stream URL. The total field gives the count of scheduled entries. To find what is currently airing, get_live checks channels 1, 2, and 3 simultaneously (or a single channel when specified) and returns m3u8 HLS stream URLs, start times, durations in minutes, and enriched metadata for any identified events.
Event and Program Detail
get_event takes a numeric event_id (available from get_schedule items where type is 'event') and returns the full event record: series object with name and ID, location with full name and type, a programs array of constituent programs each with their own airings, and a sponsors array. get_program does the same for a program_id, adding fields like tags, views, a format object, and the direct m3u8 stream URL. The get_details endpoint accepts either ID type and returns a unified response with a type field ('event' or 'program') so callers can handle both without branching on the input parameter.
Transcripts
get_transcript accepts either a program_id or an event_id; when given an event ID, it returns the transcript for the first program in that event. The transcript array contains segments with offset, seconds_offset, seconds_end_offset, speaker, text, begin_time, and end_time. The has_transcript boolean indicates availability, and total_segments gives segment count. A disclaimer field carries any accuracy notice attached to the transcript. The video_file field provides the associated m3u8 stream URL when available, and available_types maps type codes to display names for transcript format selection.
The C-SPAN API is a managed, monitored endpoint for c-span.org — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when c-span.org changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official c-span.org API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Build a C-SPAN schedule viewer that displays today's programming grid across all three channels with airing times and descriptions.
- Archive congressional hearing transcripts by fetching time-coded, speaker-attributed segments via get_transcript using event IDs.
- Monitor live political broadcasts by polling get_live for active m3u8 HLS stream URLs and metadata.
- Construct a searchable event database using series, category, format, location, and sponsor fields from get_event.
- Cross-reference C-SPAN program view counts with airing history to track audience engagement patterns.
- Notify users when a specific series or category appears on the schedule by filtering get_schedule results on the series and category fields.
- Sync transcript segments with video playback using seconds_offset and seconds_end_offset fields from get_transcript.
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|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.