Top pay-TV operators spent 49M on lobbying in 2015, Open Secrets says

The top eight pay-TV operators spent more than 49 million on lobbying in 2015, according to figures recently posted by the non-partisan research group Open Secrets. 

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) led all companies in the telecom industry in terms of spending on government influencing efforts, spending over $15.6 million, according to the organization.

The broader umbrella group the National Cable Telecommunications Association came in second, spending $14.2 million. Time Warner Cable ($6.8 million), Charter Communications ($4.2 million), Cox Communications ($3.6 million), Dish Network ($1.5 million) and AT&T ($1.5 million) also ranked in the top 10.

Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) was a relatively light spender at $360,000, Open Secrets said. Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), the group said, spent $472,000.

All told, Open Secrets has the U.S. telecom sector spending around $88 million last year on government influence.

The big question: Where's Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in all of this?

Notably, Open Secrets says Alphabet Inc., the holding company for Google, spent $16.6 million on lobbying in 2015.

For more:
- read this Open Secrets post

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Google, the most profligate lobbyist of all, drinks the cable biz's milkshake with FCC set-top proposal

UPDATE: This story was updated on March 1 to reflect a clarification on Google.