News Release 04/02/14

CONTACT
Robert C. Kenny
(202) 412-0976
@TVFreedomOrg | @RKennyTVfreedom

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE




April 2, 2014

TVfreedom.org Applauds U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill for Standing Up for America’s Consumers

Washington, D.C. – On behalf of the America’s pay-TV viewers, TVfreedom.org thought you may find the following video segment of interest.

During yesterday’s hearing held by the U.S. Senate Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee on the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, (D-MO) stood up for consumers and raised legitimate concerns about the pricing and billing practices of pay-TV providers. Senator McCaskill also recounted her recent experience with her pay-TV operator in which she felt like she was “haggling” over erroneous charges on her bill that were subsequently removed during her inquiry into the overbilling.

As a result, Senator McCaskill is urging consumers to contact their pay-TV providers to make sure they are not being overbilled.

Please see archived webcast of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee Hearing on STELA here: http://1.usa.gov/1jpadQA.

HEARING TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO SEGMENT (Staring time stamp: 2 hour, 13 minute, 10 second Mark – Ending time stamp: 2 hour, 16 minute, 13 second Mark):

Senator McCaskill: “Let me just say, that listening to the testimony today, and knowing this Congress, I think that we should all go buy Lotto tickets if we think we are going to come up with a STELA that’s going to sail through the United States Senate, because it’s a longshot. But, I want to talk a little bit about consumers here, and I really want to, we’ve covered a lot of ground on retransmission and we’ve covered a lot of ground on basic tier and channels merging. I’d like to talk about the business model that has consumers scratching their head all over the country and that is the pricing and billing practices of satellite and cable.

“You know, I don’t think people realize, I want the word to go out right now, call your provider today and find out what they are charging you that they shouldn’t be charging you. Call every six months because that’s the business model that is out there. I discovered that I was paying extra for speed on an internet that now was the basic speed. They were still charging me. And when I asked how could they do that and they said ‘well you have to call in,’ and I said ‘I don’t remember getting that in my bill – that I should be calling in to check in case you’re charging me for something that is now what everybody gets.’ Same thing with HD.

“There are people that are out there paying an extra lug, it’s not a lot, four-five dollars on their bill, ten dollars on their bill, but they don’t even know perhaps that there provider has gone to all HD now and they’re still paying that ten dollars every month and they’ll pay it until they ask about it. Now how do you get away with that? How do we do that? I don’t get it.

“I mean I get it when you go to a car dealership you’re going to haggle over the price of a car, but I don’t think the consumer is supposed to be given the directive that you have got to haggle over your cable bill or your satellite TV bill on a monthly basis, and then this whole notion that we are going to give it to you now for this amount, but then in three months it’s going to go to this amount and then in six months it’s going to go to this amount and then in a year it’s going to go to this amount and oh by the way in three years it’s going to go to this amount, but, by the way, don’t rely on any of that because it could change, and by the way, if you call you probably won’t have to pay it. Now who thought of this business model and let me ask Mr. Lake, can the FCC do anything about this? It’s ridiculous.”

Mr. William Lake (FCC Media Bureau Chief): “We share your concern, and with respect to…”

Senator McCaskill: “It’s more than a concern, it infuriates me, can’t you tell?”

Mr. Lake: “With respect to billing practices, we have authority to impose truth-in-billing requirements on voice-services, we do not have the same authority with respect to cable and satellite services. This is…”

Senator McCaskill: “So there’s no way, anywhere, to get after people who are charging people for something that they’re getting at a lower price if they just ask for it?”

Mr. Lake: “Yes there is, as to basic cable service, I think the local franchising authorities have authority to regulate billing practices, but the FCC does not.

Senator McCaskill: “I’m going to give you guys a chance to respond.”

Mr. Michael Palkovic (Executive Vice President, Operations, DirectTV) : “On behalf of DirecTV, that is not our practice, to intentionally, knowingly, go out and do what you just described…”


About Us

TVfreedom.org, is a coalition of local broadcasters, community advocates, network television affiliate associations, multicast networks, manufacturers and other independent broadcaster-related organizations committed to helping protect consumer interests, ensure emergency and weather related programming access, promote the value of broadcast-TV programming, and preserve a fair and free video marketplace. In the coming weeks and months, the coalition will look to add to its charter membership and will work closely with consumer and community groups, as well as public safety and law enforcement organizations.