Governing the NBCU joint venture

The structure of the NBC Universal joint venture announced Thursday morning by General Electric and Comcast is a tribute to modern dealcraft. Resources are redeployed, capital is redirected, and myriad contingencies are anticipated. General Electric's deal team has been boning up on alternative deal structures for at least a year now, and it shows. But leave it to former NBCU chief Bob Wright to look past the elegant design and get to the heart of the challenge that awaits beyond regulatory review and closing. "It's going to be a management challenge when one party is looking to grow and the other party is looking to get out," says Wright, who nevertheless thinks the deal is good for both sides. Current CEO Jeff Zucker remains in charge. Comcast forms a new unit called Comcast Entertainment Group, which will house Comcast's 51% interest in the joint venture and will be run by Comcast COO Steve Burke. There's a five-member board, with three seats for Comcast and two for GE. No doubt Burke, a veteran of Walt Disney with deep knowledge of the entertainment and broadcast businesses, will hold one of those seats.