While Assembling New Team, Comcast Presses FCC

By Andrew Gauthier 

TVSpy

As COO Steve Burke rounds out his new management team, Comcast is putting pressure on the FCC and the Justice Department to complete their review of the company’s proposed merger with NBC Universal.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Burke has chosen veteran programmers Bob Greenblatt and Ted Harbert to run NBC. Harbert, who currently oversees Comcast’s LA-based channels including E! and Style, would be in charge of affiliate relations and advertising sales. Greenblatt, the former president of entertainment for Showtime, would be in charge of programming. Comcast has yet to comment on a new management team but the Los Angeles Times reports that Burke is set to make a formal announcement this week.

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Of course Burke’s plans for the future hinge on government approval of the Comcast-NBCU merger. According to recent filings, Comcast’s EVP David Cohen spent last week pressing federal officials to come to a decision on the merger. Comcast has been eyeing an end-of-the-year target date for the merger’s approval. On an October 27th conference call, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said that “the regulatory reviews are continuing and we believe they are on track to enable us to close by the end of this year.”

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