NBCUniversal Appoints Phil Tahtakran Head of Federal Government Affairs

WASHINGTON—Comcast NBCUniversal has named Phil Tahtakran Head of NBCUniversal Federal Government Affairs, and promoted Margaret Tobey to Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs.

Working closely with Kim Harris, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NBCUniversal, Tahtakran will coordinate NBCUniversal’s federal government affairs efforts with those of parent company Comcast Corporation. He will also represent the company on federal government affairs issues in conjunction with its membership in the Motion Picture Association of America.

Tahtakran, who joined NBCUniversal in 2010, has been representing NBCUniversal before Congress and the Administration on a variety of issues, including copyright, combating piracy of intellectual property, broadcast and cable legislation, as well as theme park-related matters. In his new role, he continues to work at the Comcast NBCUniversal Federal Affairs Office in Washington, and reports to Mitch Rose, who was recently named Comcast’s Senior Vice President of Congressional and Federal Government Affairs.

Margaret Tobey will continue to manage the regulatory landscape facing the broadcast business and FCC matters for NBCUniversal, and serve as a member of the broader regulatory team, headed by Kathy Zachem, Executive Vice President of Regulatory and State Legislative Affairs for Comcast NBCUniversal.

She will also represent NBC on the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), reporting to Harris. “Margaret’s promotion is well-deserved; she is widely regarded in the industry as a leading expert on broadcast regulatory matters, and helped successfully navigate the company’s participation in the broadcast incentive auction,” Harris said. Tobey has been with NBCUniversal for more than 11 years and has over three decades of communications law experience.

Claudia Kienzle