Michael Powell, former FCC chairman and son of retired military general and former Secretary of State Collin Powell, has been named as the new president and CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), the cable industry’s lobbying arm in Washington. Powell succeeds Kyle McSlarrow, who announced last week he was leaving the association to become head of Comcast and NBC Universal's Washington offices.
Powell, who oversaw broadcasters’ transition from analog to DTV transmission, served as an FCC commissioner during the Clinton administration before being named chairman by President George W. Bush in a move that many at the time saw as a quid-pro-quo deal to entice his father to help promote the Republican Party.
Since leaving the FCC in 2005, Powell has been a senior adviser with Providence Equity Partners. Powell has also served as chief of staff of the antitrust division in the Department of Justice.
