NBC Universal Execs Pledge Harmony

This time it will be different, say the folks at NBC Universal.

Though other large-scale media mergers have gone awry in recent years, executives from General Electric (GE Quote) and Vivendi Universal (V Quote) insist that things are going smoothly at the world's newest media conglomerate.

"I think there's no apprehension," said Ron Meyer, the former president of Vivendi's U.S. entertainment subsidiary who now becomes the head of Universal's movie studio and theme parks. The merger, he said, "was not done haphazardly."

Certainly there is a lot of business to put together at NBC Universal, whose creation was formally announced at a Wednesday press conference. GE, which owns 80% of the new company, contributed its NBC television network and other television properties, from the Spanish language Telemundo network, 29 owned-and-operated TV stations, CNBC and Bravo. ...