FCC chief Tom Wheeler, a former cable TV lobbyist, is making his old industry sweat

Tom Wheeler, the hard-charging head of the Federal Communications Commission, is a history buff who’s written books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. Cable TV executives – infuriated at a series of recent agency actions, including placing them under utility-like oversight through his net neutrality initiative – might suggest a new research subject: Benedict Arnold.

Wheeler was a lobbyist for the industry during crucial formative years, from 1979 to 1984, earning induction into the Cable Hall of Fame. When President Obama tapped him to be FCC chairman in 2013, a top cable trade group called the selection “an exceptional choice,” while some consumer advocates worried the nation’s top telecommunications regulator would be too friendly to his former employers. Fast forward three years and those views have flipped. Wheeler has become a hero to consumer advocates while the cable industry portrays him as a turncoat. He’s pushed an aggressive agenda that helped torpedo a major merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable and has subjected the industry to tougher regulation.