1. PAID TV PROVIDERS TESTIFY AT SENATE HEARING Executives from Major Paid TV Providers Testify at Senate Subcommittee on Investigations Hearing Details of the Testimonies on Billing and Customer Service Practices in the Cable and Satellite Television Industry Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO), the Chair and Ruling Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs respectively, conducted an investigation on the cable and satellite television provider industry and released an investigative report. investigative report June 23, 2016 | Yanni Chen Sources: “Investigations Subcommittee Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,” Capitol Hearings, June 23, 2016; “Pay TV Firms Promise to Stop Overcharging Customers,” Fortune, June 23, 2016; Noun Project, 2016. 1 The Senate Subcommittee on Investigations heard from executive representatives of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications, DirecTV, and Dish Network, the five top paid television providers in the US who together account for more than half of all US households to hear their testimony on industry billing and customer service practices.

2. PAID TV PROVIDERS TESTIFY AT SENATE HEARING Statements from Senate Subcommittee Members Notable Quotes from the Hearing June 23, 2016 | Yanni Chen Sources: “Investigations Subcommittee Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,” Capitol Hearings, June 23, 2016; “Pay TV Firms Promise to Stop Overcharging Customers,” Fortune, June 23, 2016. 2 Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) Expressed outrage over the lack of standards, transparency, and straightforwardness she and her constituents felt they had experienced when dealing with cable customer service Noted “nobody knows how to get the lowest price from you guys. I think the secret sauce is to get really mad” Stated the business model of paid-TV providers was: “figure out a way to make the entry price as low as possible, figure out how to roll people off that entry price as quickly as you can, and then deal with their anger once the price has gone up” Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) Noted that many companies have put in place better measures since the commencement of the investigation Voiced that he wanted more competition in the industry to provide more choices for consumers Told companies, “If you overcharged and you find out about it, you ought to make them good, and that’s what other businesses do” Criticized companies by saying, “you’re not providing people the money that they’re owed, even though you know that they deserve a refund” Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) Noted the importance of competition in the industry to drive better practices Voiced disappointment that his constituents “reached the point where they called their cable provider so many times and got non- answers, that they eventually called their senator…Why does it take, literally, an act of someone in Congress to try to get attention on someone who has a billing problem?” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) Mentioned that the US has other problems to focus on, such as Social Security Said, “We need to keep this hearing in perspective and not get carried away”

3. Cable and Satellite TV Industry Execs Map Out Progress and Future Steps PAID TV PROVIDERS TESTIFY AT SENATE HEARING June 23, 2016 | Yanni Chen Sources: “Investigations Subcommittee Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,” Capitol Hearings, June 23, 2016. Details of the Testimonials Given by Executives CompanyRepresentativeNotable Statements Senior Vice President, Customer Service Tom Karinshak Acknowledged and apologized for customer service issues; announced commitment to change; stated that Comcast is spending more than a half of a billion dollars on customer service improvements, including new call centers; outlined steps for improvement that Comcast is taking, including investing in employee training, reassessing company policies and fees, measuring customer satisfaction and tying parts of employee and executive compensation to customer feedback Former Executive President and COO, Residential Services John Keib Acknowledged the issues and challenges associated with customer service; reported improvement plans that started in 2013, which included investments in the network, technology augmentations, and investments in employee training and counseling sessions; cited 80% customer satisfaction rate Executive Vice President, Customer Operations Kathleen Mayo Reported 99.4% accuracy rate in billing system but acknowledged 100% should be the standard; stated that the company is in the process of notifying customers about overbilling errors; said there would be simplification of billing processing Senior Vice President, Project Management Rasesh Patel Noted the company had reduced complaints by 40% and plans to spend more that $1 billion from 2016 – 2017 to enhance their customer service experience Senior Vice President, Operations Kathleen Schneider Called on Congress and the FCC to enter negotiations over content acquisition and forced channel bundling to lower programming prices for consumers and allow them to select the channels they want 3