NBC deal OK’d, Comcast hires regulator

May 12, 2011|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A top telecommunications regulator who voted to approve Comcast Corp.’s takeover of NBCUniversal in January is leaving to join the company as a lobbyist.

Meredith Attwell Baker, one of two Republicans on the five-member Federal Communications Commission, will become senior vice president of government affairs for NBCUniversal.

Comcast said it did not begin discussions with Baker about a possible job until after the transaction had closed. Baker will leave the FCC on June 3, less than a month before her term was set to expire.

Craig Aaron, head of the public interest group Free Press, called the move an example of “business as usual in Washington — where the complete capture of government by industry barely raises any eyebrows.’’

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable TV firm, bought a controlling interest in NBCUniversal after the FCC and the Justice Department approved the deal. The FCC’s vote was 4 to 1.

At the FCC, Baker frequently expressed concern that the agency was imposing unnecessary regulations on phone and cable companies.