FCC appoints Flynn to oversee Comcast-NBCU merger

The Federal Communications Commission appointed John Flynn, general counsel of ICO Global Communications to head the review of Comcast's proposed merger with NBC Universal.

Because the merger spans so many areas of regulation -- media, broadband services, and cable -- the FCC said Wednesday that it put Flynn in charge of an inter-bureau steering committee that will conduct an investigation into whether the merger is in the public interest.

“The FCC staff has been working hard to analyze all issues presented by the proposed merger, and John’s legal expertise and broad experience will help to ensure that the commission’s review is thorough, fair, and efficient,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement.

Flynn led teams that took the ICO public, secured the company’s spectrum licenses and won a jury verdict for the firm in 2008.

The merger would combine the nation's biggest provider of cable and broadband services with a movie and television powerhouse.

In a letter to the FCC earlier this week, Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said that after several congressional hearings on the merger, they support the union.

"The Commission should act on this pro-consumer, pro-competition transaction without delay,” they said in the letter.