Mediacom tore into the arguments of TVFreedom, a...

Mediacom tore into the arguments of TVFreedom, a coalition of broadcast interests including NAB, in a Friday letter (http://bit.ly/1ph5SB9) to Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. McCaskill has attacked the billing practices of pay-TV providers and begun investigating them, eyeing eventual legislation, which has earned great praise from TVFreedom. Mediacom dismissed TVFreedom’s minimization of broadcast blackouts and argued they far exceed what a TVFreedom spokesman has touted. Broadcasters fear bringing transparency to wholesale billing practices of local TV stations, which could “shine a light” on all the money broadcasters receive from retransmission consent negotiation, Mediacom said, suggesting that Missouri broadcasters disclose what rates they charge pay-TV providers. In response to Mediacom’s letter, a TVFreedom spokesman reiterated the problems he sees with “deceptive billing practices” of pay-TV companies. “Cable and satellite TV providers should be holding themselves accountable for billing errors and more fully examining the negative impact that high equipment rental fees and unnecessary or inflated charges are having on their customers,” the spokesman said. “This is a real market failure that needs to be addressed."