The Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on sports blackouts Thursday will include Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as a sole witness at its first panel. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is presiding over the hearing and has introduced sports blackout legislation with McCain. McCain is not a member of Judiciary. The hearing will also have a second panel of witnesses, according to the committee website: Sports Fan Coalition Chairman David Goodfriend; National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg; FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake; and Covington & Burling partner Gerry Waldron. The hearing will be at 10:15 a.m. in 226 Dirksen.

The House Communications Subcommittee will have 18 Republican members in the 114th Congress, the Commerce Committee said Wednesday in a news release. The subcommittee has 16 Republicans in the 113th Congress, most of whom will remain on the subcommittee next year. GOP departures include Reps. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who was elected to the Senate; Lee Terry, R-Neb., who lost his re-election bid; and Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who's retiring. New subcommittee members are Reps. Gus Bilirakis of Florida, Chris Collins of New York, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Bill Johnson of Ohio and Pete Olson of Texas.

The House Commerce Committee postponed its Dec. 10 FCC oversight hearing, a committee aide told us. The Communications Subcommittee had sought all five FCC commissioners and planned to focus on net neutrality. Lawmakers postponed the hearing for scheduling reasons, the aide said, referring to the delay in the agency's consideration of its net neutrality order. That delay will allow lawmakers to track that proceeding and question FCC commissioners in the next Congress, the aide said, saying that hearing would be closer to when the agency decides on net neutrality rules.

House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, blasted what he considers unnecessary federal regulation. “At the end of last year, the administration had nearly 4,000 new regulations pending, with almost 200 of these considered economically significant, meaning they would each carry a cost of at least $100 million a year,” Latta said in an op-ed for The Hill Monday. “Regulatory uncertainty -- both now and in the future -- continues to stagnate wages and prevents many of our businesses, small and large, from hiring.” He criticized regulation generally in the op-ed but has focused often on the FCC and telecom concerns. “With the regulatory cost per household totaling nearly $15,000 per year, or 23 percent of the national average family income, federal regulations are squeezing American families’ already limited wallets and curbing our nation’s prosperity,” Latta said.

Fixed broadband providers need to “proactively adopt a voluntary code of conduct just as mobile providers have done,” said House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in a statement Tuesday, citing the findings from a GAO report on broadband data caps. Eshoo held a briefing on GAO’s initial findings earlier this year (see 1407300047). Such a voluntary code “will improve consumer experience and ensure a more vibrant online marketplace,” Eshoo said. “The FCC should also make better use of the data it is collecting on data caps to understand how best to inform consumers and promote the public interest.” GAO recommended that fixed providers focus such a code on communications with consumers and that the FCC help track and better utilize data. The “FCC said it will monitor complaints and provider plans to determine if a more proactive approach is needed,” GAO said in the 41-page report released Tuesday on an audit done over the past year. “GAO continues to believe that better communication is warranted. FCC agreed to use existing data to analyze UBP [usage-based pricing] issues.” GAO looked at the top 13 fixed and mobile ISPs, noting that mobile providers employ UBP more often than fixed. GAO found seven of the biggest 13 fixed providers used UBP and that their consumer education could be “confusing.” GAO said it held eight focus groups. “The potential effects of UBP are uncertain and could depend on competition among providers,” GAO said. It cited FCC officials who called the volume of complaints about fixed provider UBP “relatively low” when looking at all broadband service complaints but said that may not capture the whole picture. The GAO report shows that “today’s data caps work against the best interests of consumers and the growth of the internet,” said Public Knowledge Vice President Michael Weinberg in a statement. He urged the FCC to “move quickly to adopt strong Open Internet rules that prevent all types of discrimination, including discrimination instigated by data caps.”

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is gearing up for a potential Dec. 10 hearing on pay-TV industry billing practices, industry officials told us. McCaskill and her aides have wanted to hold the hearing for months, and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said she should lead it. Despite doubts from industry lobbyists about the hearing’s prospects, McCaskill had told us last month she was moving forward with plans for the hearing in December, and on Monday industry officials named Dec. 10 as the expected date. Spokespeople for McCaskill and Commerce didn't confirm Monday whether such a hearing may happen Dec. 10. One industry official said McCaskill is seeking witnesses from big cable, satellite TV, the American Cable Association and Public Knowledge. McCaskill chairs the Consumer Protection Subcommittee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee rescheduled its hearing on sports blackouts for Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. It had postponed the hearing twice previously. Several industry lobbyists have been dubious about the hearing’s prospects in recent weeks, speaking with the assumption that the issue was off the table this Congress. Witnesses weren’t announced. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is to preside, with legislation he has introduced to be the focus.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., urged Verizon and Cox Media Group to resolve a retransmission consent dispute affecting some 400,000 households in Massachusetts. “For many Massachusetts consumers, Black Friday was preceded by blackout Thursday and could be followed by further programming blackouts until Cox Media Group and Verizon come to agreement,” Markey said in a statement Monday. “That's not right -- the consumer shouldn't be caught in the middle. I urge both sides to continue working to resolve this dispute so consumers can access all of the programming they have paid for and expect from their video provider.” He had tweeted about his dismay Friday, arguing that consumers shouldn’t be “caught in [the] middle” of the fight.

President Barack Obama signed the E-Label Act into law Wednesday, the White House said. The bill (S-2583) will allow device manufacturers to include a required FCC label digitally rather than on the physical device. The House approved the act Nov. 13 (see 1411140031). The bill said U.S. manufacturers and consumers of FCC-licensed devices "would prefer to have the option to provide or receive important Commission labeling information digitally on the screen of the device" and such an option "would give flexibility to manufacturers in meeting labeling requirements." Within nine months, the FCC is required to "promulgate regulations or take other appropriate action, as necessary, to allow manufacturers of radiofrequency devices with display the option to use electronic labeling for the equipment" in place of affixing physical labels to the equipment, the bill said.

Public Knowledge lamented passage of Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation last week -- "exactly what we feared," it emailed supporters Monday, pointing to "a special interest provision straight from the cable industry that could drive up cable bill prices, reduce consumer choice, and hurt innovation across the TV industry." Public Knowledge referred to the bill's provision that would repeal the set-top box integration ban a year after enactment, a lobbying priority of NCTA and greatly feared and opposed by TiVo. "Now, devices like TiVo could be prevented from developing and competing in the video device marketplace," Public Knowledge said. "The rules previously in place ensured that all cable services and features remained available to consumers who chose to buy a third-party set-top box instead of rent a set-top box from their cable provider." It included a petition to the FCC: "We encourage the FCC to take action quickly on this in order to give consumers more choices and lower price options for set-top boxes and related devices consumers need for connecting to their service." The legislation also included language instructing the FCC to create a working group to find a CableCARD successor, which the agency has said it will do as soon as possible.