If content isn't king, then it's at the very least the king's mistress.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) knows, finally pulling the trigger on a deal that will eventually hand it a controlling 51% stake in General Electric's (NYSE:GE) NBC Universal. Comcast will get to pad its modest programming empire that now consists of E!, Style Network, and a few sports-related channels.

This doesn't mean that the combination -- valuing the entire content collection at a beefy $30 billion -- is a done deal. There are bound to be plenty of regulatory hurdles to clear over the next year. Smaller cable providers and satellite television companies aren't going to sit quietly as their archrival controls rates for CNBC, Bravo, and USA. They will fight the deal, demand concessions, or break out into smaller buyouts of their own.

The content fireworks are just getting started.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  • Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) finally rolled out a new television marketing campaign. It's clearly aimed at an older audience, which may not be a bad place to aim because they're the people who probably have never heard of Pandora Music.
  • Nokia (NYSE:NOK) is suing LCD panel manufacturers over price-fixing allegations. If it wins, expect the wireless giant to pull a Daniel Plainview and belt out "I'm Finnish!" at the end.
  • Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt decided to criticize Rupert Murdoch's threat to have his News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWS) online content pulled from Google searches. In a gutsy move, he did this in an op-ed piece in Murdoch's own The Wall Street Journal.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz