Chairman Powell on hot seat: A deregulatory stance may sound good at election time, but does it suite the industry? (Top of the Week).(Federal Communications Commission chairman)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, March, 2002 by Albiniak, Paige

It's gut-check time for Michael Powell. After a little over a year in office, the FCC chairman has a problem: He's a deregulatory guy, but some powerful lawmakers are pressuring him not to deregulate, often encouraged by well-heeled lobbies with fickle interest in deregulation.

The result is a budding reputation as a do-nothing chairman. "This is a chairman who is very lofty and erudite," said one industry executive. "He's very gifted as a speaker. And he hasn't done a goddamn thing." Said another, "He's running the risk of being all hat, no cattle. In a Texas administration, that's dangerous."

Judging by his own rhetoric, Powell should be leading the charge to raise the 35% national TV-station ownership cap, to lift the ban on owning both...

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