LOS ANGELES (AP) - The nation’s largest cable TV company, Comcast, says it will complete its takeover of NBC Universal at just before midnight Eastern time.
The deal will give Comcast Corp. 51 percent of the fourth-ranked broadcaster NBC, a bevy of cable channels and the Universal Pictures movie studio. It caps a yearlong regulatory review that resulted in conditions meant to keep it from stifling the growth of online video services such as Netflix and Hulu.
Comcast will pay General Electric Co. about $6.5 billion in cash and contribute $7.25 billion worth of cable channels such as E! Entertainment and The Golf Channel to NBC Universal.
GE’s stake will drop to 49 percent from 80 percent, but it plans to exit within seven years and leave Comcast the sole owner.
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