There's a new man at the helm of the FCC. Julius Genachowski assumed his new responsibilities at the end of June. His background has been covered extensively already, but it is worth noting that he has some experience with the FCC: He served as chief counsel to former FCC chairman Reed Hundt. He has also been involved with media and telecommunications in various roles, so at least he joins the agency with some familiarity as to its function.

There have been five FCC chairmen since 1993. With a new guy coming in, I looked back at his predecessors to see what their legacies have been.

Kevin Martin (2005 - 2009): He'll likely be remembered for ignoring procedures and micromanaging the agency.

Michael Powell (2001 - 2005): He was a champion of broadband over power lines. He also created the FCC University.

William Kennard (1997 - 2001): He fought for a competitive marketplace to all consumers. He was the champion of LPFM.

Reed Hundt (1993 - 1997): Under his reign, the FCC conducted the first spectrum auction in U.S. history, raising almost $20 billion in its first two years.

So what's in store for our new chairman?

As I noted earlier, he worked for Reed Hundt, who appears to be the most popular former FCC chairman to date. I still see Hundt's name from time to time, and he's still active in business and telecommunications. Perhaps Genchowski will benefit from the company he kept.

One big stroke in Genachowski's favor is that he replaces Kevin Martin. Martin took the chairman's job with mixed reviews, and had the potential to be a strong chairman, but Martin fell flat. Some would say that anyone would be better than Martin. That's not strong praise for the new guy per se, but it makes it easier when the initial expectations are already very low.

What does Genachowski have to look forward to? The FCC has plenty of pending issues before it.

Good luck in your new job, Mr. Genachowski.

What's your opinion? Send it to radio@RadioMagOnline.com