FCC Probes Cable Firms’ Influence on Web TV

The Federal Communications Commission is probing whether big cable firms use special contract provisions to discourage media companies—from Walt Disney Co. to smaller firms—from running programming on the Internet.

It is part of a broader attempt by the FCC to address one of the big conundrums of the telecom age: Why has television been so slow to come to the Internet, despite technical breakthroughs that made it possible long ago. The FCC is expected to act soon to curb such contracts on the part of two big cable firms, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, if the agency approves their merger. Consumer advocates hope that change would set a precedent that could eventually cover the industry as a whole.