"We all ought to wake up and be careful ... so we don't
blow this into smithereens at some point and invite the government to do it for
you, which I think nobody would be a winner in," Powell said in an
interview this week on C-SPAN's "The Communicators," according to Joe Flint at latimes.com.
Powell, who chaired the FCC from 2001 to 2005, is now the
head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn., the lobbying arm of
the cable industry.
The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in the fees
broadcast and cable channels pay for television rights for sports. Many of
those costs are ultimately passed on to pay-TV subscribers.
Citing ESPN's new deal to keep "Monday Night
Football," Powell said, "I can't control that the NFL has the power
to demand a 73% increase for 'Monday Night Football,' which I find
astonishingly insane." Powell said he wonders if there is a point where
distributors say, "I can't handle it anymore."
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