[May 11, 2011] Comcast to hire FCC official who voted for merger Tweet PHILADELPHIA, May 11, 2011 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- Comcast Corp. said Wednesday that it was filling one of its top lobbying positions with a Federal Communications Commission official who voted in January to approve its $30 billion merger with NBC Universal. Meredith Attwell Baker, a Republican FCC commissioner, will become senior vice president of government affairs for NBC Universal in Washington after her FCC term ends in June, the company said. Before being nominated by President Barack Obama to the FCC (she became commissioner in July 2009), Baker had worked in several posts under George W. Bush: acting administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and acting assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. She will replace Bob Okun, who announced last month he was stepping down as head of NBC Universal's government affairs to open his own firm, Comcast said in a prepared statement. "I've seen Meredith's mastery of issues up close as we've worked together on issues at the FCC and NTIA," said Rick Cotton, NBC Universal's executive vice president and general counsel, with whom she will work. "Meredith's executive branch and business experience along with her exceptional relationships in Washington bring Comcast and NBC Universal the perfect combination of skills," said Kyle McSlarrow, president of Comcast/NBC Universal for Washington, to whom Baker will report. Baker, an attorney whose prior jobs involved telecommunications, intellectual property and international trade issues as well as a post with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, described her seven years of government service as a privilege. "I'm excited to embark on a new phase of my career with Comcast and NBC Universal," she said. In siding with the majority in the FCC's 4-1 vote to approve Comcast's merger with NBC in January, Baker helped push forward a deal that allowed the nation's largest cable network to take ownership of a massive portfolio of content providers. The deal buttressed the company's influence not only over cable TV but the expanding world of Internet-based entertainment. The FCC imposed a number of conditions on Comcast before approving the merger _ a move that Baker and a fellow Republican on the FCC criticized in a statement that they issued jointly at the time. ___ (c) 2011, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit Philadelphia Online, the Inquirer's World Wide Web site, at http://www.philly.com/. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]