FCC Approves Comcast Deal to Buy NBC

The FCC is giving Comcast, the country's largest cable company, the green light to take over NBC Universal, home of the NBC television network. The deal is still awaiting Justice Department approval, which is expected later today. With the deal certain to transform the entertainment industry landscape, regulators are attaching conditions to prevent Comcast from trampling competitors once it takes control of NBC's vast media empire.

Among other things, the government is requiring Comcast to make NBC programming available to rival cable companies, satellite operators, and new Internet video services that could pose a threat to Comcast's core cable business. The FCC voted 4-to-1 to let Comcast buy a 51% stake in NBC Universal from General Electric for $13.8 billion in cash and assets. (More Comcast-NBC merger stories.)