October 11th, 2004
F.C.C.'s Chief Turns Into Pitchman For Converting Nation to Digital TV
By Matt Richtel
The New York Times
The legendary consumer electronics salesman Crazy Eddie is no longer around. But the job of hawking televisions has been taken over in recent weeks by a new TV personality: Michael K. Powell, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Some of his critics are arguing that Mr. Powell and the F.C.C. have no place spending tax dollars promoting $2,000 consumer electronics devices.
In an interview, Gary Ruskin, executive director of Commercial Alert, reacted even more strongly to Mr. Powell’s appearances, saying, ‘’What’s Powell going to do next, give Sharp and Sony seats on the F.C.C.?’’