Report: Senate Panel To Question Cable-Sat TV Execs

Senator Claire McCaskill

A Senate panel is expected to question cable-and-satellite-TV executives this month about customer-service and billing practices that often contribute to the firms’ unpopularity.

The Wall Street Journal reports the hearing—and an accompanying investigative report—could pose a new challenge for some of the industry’s big players, which have focused lately on trying improve their standing with unhappy consumers.

The hearing by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is expected to be held June 23, according to several people familiar with the matter. A formal announcement could come as soon as Thursday.

Senator Rob Portman

The witnesses for this month’s hearing likely won't include company chief executives, although details were still being worked out. Executives from Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Charter Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and Dish Network Corp. are expected to testify.

The panel is likely to question the executives about a range of consumer complaints, including difficulties in canceling service, long wait times and opaque billing practices.

The panel is led by Sen. Rob Portman (R., Ohio), but the committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, also has taken a prominent role on the issue. Ms. McCaskill is a longtime critic of the pay-TV industry and has conducted previous probes into its practices.

Ms. McCaskill argues that oversight of the cable industry’s consumer practices has often been lax, thanks to federal rules that leave it largely up to local franchising authorities.