FCC's Powell, Wiley, Hundt Confirmed for House Hearing

As of now, there are three former FCC chairs confirmed for planned House Communications & Technology Subcommittee hearing Jan. 15 on updating communications laws.

According to a committee source, those are former Republicans chairman Dick Wiley and Michael Powell, and Democrat Reed Hundt.

The committee was also said to be interested in hearing from Democrat Julius Genachowski, who exited in May and just recently joined The Carlyle Group, but a source could not confirm that and he is not among the confirmed participants.

"As our work begins on a #CommActUpdate, there are few better equipped to provide insight and expertise on the Communications Act than former chairmen of the FCC,” said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) in announcing the hearing Jan. 8. “I expect the subcommittee will discuss a broad array of issues with the former chairmen as we chart our course to update the law to better fit today's communications marketplace, foster innovation and opportunity, and promote consumer choice, job creation, and economic growth."

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.