FCC Doesn't Need To Intervene in Set-Top Box Market, NCTA's Powell Says

Government involvement in the set-top box market "is backward looking and puts undue faith in industrial planning over naturally occurring innovation," NCTA CEO Michael Powell said in a counterpoint editorial Monday in USA Today. Powell's piece was in response to an editorial in USA Today backing FCC intervention in the set-top box market. "Nothing prevents any company from making and selling a cable box," Powell wrote. "Buying a cable box is just not that compelling for most consumers." Meanwhile, Powell said, the set-top is becoming somewhat superfluous as pay-TV companies make services available through apps. "Just last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook declared, 'The future of TV is apps.' And several cable providers offer Netflix on the same box with cable content," Powell said.