Like a lot of Americans, President Obama thinks cable TV costs too much. Unlike a lot of Americans, he is in a position to do something about it – and even if he fails, it’s still worth the effort.

Last Friday, Obama took the unusual step of announcing his support for a Federal Communications Commission proposal intended to make it easier for customers to buy their own set-top cable boxes. Whether the idea would actually save consumers money remains to be seen, but it could help bring more competition, improved technology and greater choice to viewers.

About 99 percent of cable-TV subscribers rent their set-top boxes from their local providers. The average household pays over $200 a year, generating up to $20 billion in revenue for the companies (the cable industry disputes these numbers). The FCC’s past attempts to open up the cable-box market have failed – in large part because cable providers did their best to make buying third-party boxes a hassle. This time, though, the government has powerful new allies: Google and other tech players.

The FCC wants a world in which consumers need only one box and a single remote control to explore all the information coming through their cable wires. This seems unlikely. More plausible is a future in which all these competing services, along with new app-based technologies, combine to give viewers even more choices.

Either way, the FCC proposal is likely help bring more disruption and more competition more quickly – which Americans should be able to appreciate on whichever screens they choose.

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