(Newser)
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Comcast has confirmed its deal to buy a controlling share of NBC Universal from GE to create one of the world's biggest entertainment firms. Comcast will pay $13.75 billion in cash and assets for a 51% stake in NBC, the AP reports. The nation's largest cable TV operator will control the NBC network, Telemundo, dozens of cable channels, and Universal Studios if regulators sign off on the deal.
Antitrust regulators are expected to spend months scrutinizing whether the deal gives Comcast—which already holds a quarter of the American pay-TV market—too much power over the entertainment market. GE chief executive Jeff Immelt says the firm got a good price for NBC and it plans to use the cash "to invest in our high-technology infrastructure businesses at attractive returns."
