Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSA) Wins FCC Approval to Acquire NBC Universal (NYSE:GE)

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq:CMCSA) announced today they've cleared one more hurdle in their quest to acquire majority interest in NBC Universal from General Electric (NYSE:GE).

Two unidentified agency officials said the FCC voted 4-1 for the deal to be allowed to go forward. The deal still has to be cleared with the Justice Department in order to win final approval to go ahead.

Along with the NBC television network, Comcast will also get with the deal cable channels, broadcast stations and a 4,000 plus library of movies. NBC also holds a stake in the increasingly popular Hulu Internet video services, which Comcast would inherit with the deal.

Concerns over whether or not Comcast will release NBC shows on the Internet, along with the idea Comcast could hold back their high-speed customers from having access to content outside of Comcast's control has weighed on the deal.

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