Tues’ Sen Commerce hearing on the Cable Act turned out to be a big deal with #cableTV (the hash tag encouraged by C-SPAN) trending on Twitter. Still, there weren’t many surprises during the roughly hour and 40-min hearing, nor were there any real fireworks. The biggest news may have come from cmte chmn Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who said that consumers deserve a refund when blackouts occur. He hammered at cable, complaining that “real competition should be bringing rates down.”

Also in the July 25 issue of CableFAX Daily:

Tennis Channel remained victorious at the FCC, with the Commission upholding the ALJ’s decision that Comcast discriminated against the channel.

AT&T added 155K U-verse TV subs in 2Q, down 23% from last year’s gain. Consensus was 184K adds.

Indy Show Notebook: On the topic of the DirecTV/Viacom spat, Public Knowledge staff attorney John Bergmayer told attendees Tues, “Neither side can overplay their hand because alternatives start to emerge.” He pointed to reports that kids who used to watch Nick have found substitute programming. More on the Indy Show here.