Sources: Powell Likely Successor to McSlarrow

Sources: Powell Likely Successor to McSlarrow

Multiple Washington sources said Wednesday that former FCC Michael Powell has emerged as the likely successor to NCTA President Kyle McSlarrow.

Powell is currently chairman of the MK Powell Group and a senior adviser to Providence Equity Partners.

One source called Powell's succession of McSlarrow "likely," while another said it could be down to deal points. NCTA would not comment on the search, and Powell was not reachable at press time.

Unlike Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who proved McSlarrow's and cable's nemesis on issues like a la carte and cable pricing and network management, Powell was a deregulatory chairman who focused on marketplace mechanisms.

Powell served as both commissioner and chairman, and before that was chief of staff of the antitrust division at the Justice Department.

He is a graduate of Georgetown Law, William & Mary undergrad, and is on the boards of AOL and Cisco, among others, as well as an adjunct professor at Catholic University.

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.