Television Market Broken as Viewers Pay More, Senator Says

Consumers’ television bills keep climbing and blackouts of popular programs have become common, showing that marketplace rules set in the 1990s may need to be changed, a U.S. senator said.

“Consumers are still forced to purchase larger and larger packages of channels,” Senator Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat who heads the Commerce Committee, said at a hearing on cable regulation. “The market isn’t working. Real competition should be bringing rates down.”