WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing next week on “The Cable Act at 20.” This hearing is a follow-up to the Commerce Committee hearing on April 24, 2012, which examined the future of online video. The Committee will consider the impact of the Cable Television and Consumer Protection Act of 1992 on the television marketplace and consumers twenty years after its passage.

“Two decades ago, we passed the Cable Act to empower consumers and provide them with expanded choices at lower rates,” said Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV.  “Our hearing in April demonstrated just how much has changed in the past twenty years. But our goals for protecting consumers have not. We can’t look to the future of video without evaluating the Cable Act’s impact on the modern television marketplace and whether the legislation has achieved Congress’ goals. In particular, I want to take a close look at how we make sure that consumers do not continue to get caught in the crossfire in programming disputes, facing dark screens and losing access to news, sports, and other entertainment programming.”