Powell: Cable Helps Power American Dream

National Cable & Telecommunications Association President Michael Powell strode, rather than rolled, in at The Cable Show's opening session in Chicago.

The former military man did so with the short and to-the-point message that cable needs to lead, government needs to get out of the way, and cable content must follow consumers to new applications and devices. Following a tape of Powell's forward roll 10 years ago before addressing the same convention in the same venue when he was Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Powell said he would pass on a repeat performance -- he is a former gymnast -- saying he might break a hip. But he did not break stride in what he suggested was cable's march toward a digital future for which it is well positioned. "We believe we can make media and communications better for our shareholders and our citizens....Cable helps power the American dream," he told the opening general session audience. The military vet invoked the "lead, follow or get out of the way" mantra of his army days and said cable "has what it takes to lead... No industry can be paralyzed by either the infinite possibility or the unsettling uncertainty of its time. Standing still simply is not an option."