[UPDATED] Comcast Roundup: NBC deal awaits Vivendi approval, Cohen called most powerful Philadelphian and More

Updated: 11/12/09 @ 11:19 p.m.: Vivendi no comment on NBC deal

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The Wall Street Journal reports that Comcast and General Electric have agreed to value NBC Universal in the neighborhood of $30 billion, one of the final details of their impending deal. As the Inquirer’s Bob Fernandez reports, whether or not French cable company Vivendi—with a 20 percent stake in NBC—will exercise its ability to veto the deal, may be announced today during its third-quarter earnings call. The Inquirer reports that Vivendi executives gave no comment during the call.

But Bloomberg reports that Vivendi has little reason to move on the deal and may hold out to get a better deal.

The LA Times entertainment blog reports that “no major regulatory hurdles” need to be jumped for the Comcast-GE deal to happen.

After the jump, the most powerful man in Philadelphia, rivaling ESPN and more.

• Reuters reports that Comcast and General Electric have agreed that current NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker would remain the head of their joint venture, much to the displeasure of the Silicon Alley Insider.
• Philadelphia magazine profiles Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen, calling him the most powerful man in Philadelphia.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

• USA Today questions whether Comcast’s purchase of NBC could create something large enough to rival ESPN, something we’ve heard before. H/T Philly Tech News
• The Inquirer’s Joe DiStefano reports that some say Comcast played a large role in Philadelphia’s city broadband stimulus plan not earning the support of the state. As we previously reported, Comcast executives seemed to take issue with some stimulus grabs duplicating their service.
• Doc Searls, the Harvard University fellow and blogger, pens a letter to Comcast customer service.
• Philly Tech News reports that Comcast’s massive VoIP business services arm will increasingly compete with smaller brands, like the region’s EvolveIP, Alteva and CoreDial.

GIVE A GLANCE

• Reuters reports that Comcast is putting roughly $200 million into another valuation of Clearwire, though Google has balked on this round.
• The Sun Sentinel’s TV blog ponders whether Comcast, if it were to take majority control of NBC, might move to back struggling Jay Leno out of the 10 p.m. slot. Just the kind of decisions a telecommunications giant was meant to make, right?

When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST