Former FCC Chairman Michael Powell to lead Big Cable's lobbying group

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell has been named the new head of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

The NCTA represents dozens of companies, including leading cable and Internet providers such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable and top programming networks, including Discovery Communications Inc. and Disney Media Networks. The association's companies provide service to more than 90% of the nation's cable TV households. Powell, the son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, has been a senior advisor with Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on media and communications. He left the FCC in 2005 after more than seven years as a commissioner, including a controversial four-year tenure as chairman. Powell led an aggressive crackdown on over-the-air obscenities while at the same time pushing to scale back the government's role in the telecommunications industry. He championed a loosening of media ownership rules that was later struck down by the courts.

Powell will step down as honorary co-chair of Broadband for America.