Comcast-NBC Universal Deal is Done

Comcast is now officially majority owner of NBC Universal. If it feels like this deal has been in discussion forever, that's because it's dominated the media news cycle since rumors of the Philadelphia-based cable company's interest in General Electric's entertainment division first emerged in early October via a rumor on Sharon Waxman's The Wrap.

Today, the deal is done. The New York Times' DealBook blog breaks down the sale by the numbers: Comcast will pay $6.5 billion in cash to General Electric, with another $9.1 billion borrowed from banks including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup.

By incorporating NBC Universal, Comcast is poised to become one of the most powerful entertainment companies in the world, with production and distribution consolidated under one organization. That is, if they can bypass anti-trust concerns. An urgent release this morning from Free Press, a media reform organization, says that the merger would hurt competition for traditional video markets, online video, and possibly "rigger more media consolidation."

Per the release: "Approval of this deal will undoubtedly trigger a merger wave, as the remaining players in both the distribution and content markets seek to muscle-up to match this new behemoth. As a result, competition from new entrants will be limited, consumer choice will be restricted, and prices will rise."

PaidContent's Staci D. Kramer lays out several ways Comcast might put allay these fears with the Federal Communications Commission, including "promising that at least 75 percent of our On Demand programming be available to subscribers at no extra charge"; "continuing to provide free over-the-air television"; "stressing the number of non-Comcast channels it will carry as a cable operator"; "promises to maintain NBCU’s political news independence"; and "honoring NBCU’s collective bargaining."

The Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin and Tim Arango also report that Comcast had considered making a bid for "another cable company, a mobile phone company or even Facebook. At one point, it considered acquiring Viacom" before settling on NBC Universal.

Well, there's always next year: Maybe they can buy that stuff another time.