McDowell Hospitalized, Says Likely COVID-19

Former FCC commissioner Robert McDowell is in the hospital with what he tweeted was likely COVID-19.

[embed]https://twitter.com/McDowellTweet/status/1242599632452149248[/embed]

McDowell had tweeted on March 22 that after "three brutal days battling pneumonia and likely #COVID19 in the hospital," he was being discharged for self-isolation.

McDowell joined the FCC in 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. He was reappointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama and left in 2013.

Related: Five Spot with Robert McDowell

He is currently a partner at Cooley LLP in Washington, where he advised on the T-Mobile-Sprint deal. McDowell has also represented Microsoft in the FCC's "white spaces" proceeding.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.