Michael Powell

The cable industry certainly has yet to complain about Powell’s strong and confident leadership, evidenced this past winter when it bestowed upon him a new three-year contract. An avid proponent of an open Internet, Powell keynoted this year’s Cable Show to caution against governmental regulation of the Internet and cable TV. “It is the Internet’s essential nature that fuels a very heated policy debate that the network cannot be left in private hands and should instead be regulated as a public utility,” he said. “We need to continue to build a faster and open Internet [and] to continue to produce content that entertains, informs and delights. We need to keep prices reasonable and the value of our services high.”