New York ? NBC completed its deal to merge with the Universal entertainment businesses Wednesday, creating a new media conglomerate that will take its place alongside giants such as Time Warner Inc. and Viacom Inc.

The new company, to be known as NBC Universal, mainly will be led by NBC executives including Bob Wright, the NBC chairman who will become its chairman and CEO.

Wright also will continue as vice chairman of General Electric Co., NBC’s parent company.

The deal brings together television’s top-rated network among the 18-49 age group, which advertisers try hardest to reach; a major movie studio; a television production studio; a handful of cable TV channels including USA, Sci-Fi, CNBC and Bravo; and a group of 29 television stations.

Wright said the combination presented a “tremendous growth opportunity for our viewers, advertisers, employees, and GE shareowners.”

While not as diverse or large as some of the other major conglomerates, NBC Universal will own several top-quality properties, not least of which is the powerful “Law & Order” franchise, a cash cow for NBC which is produced by Universal’s television arm.

Before the deal, NBC had been the only major television network that wasn’t part of a larger media conglomerate with its own major production studio. Now that it has one, NBC is not only assured of more future shows in the pipeline but it also will have more bargaining power in negotiating for shows of its own.

“They all have mutually assured destruction,” says Tom Wolzien, a media analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein and a former NBC executive. “They all buy and sell to each other. NBC’s been on top for a long time, but if it goes into the pits like ABC did, it will still have product.”

GE will own 80 percent of NBC Universal, while the French media and telecommunications conglomerate Vivendi Universal will own the remaining 20 percent. Vivendi also is getting $3.4 billion in cash in the deal, and GE is assuming $1.7 billion in debt from Vivendi.

Jacob Serrano, 3, poses for his parents in front of Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif. He was photographed Wednesday when NBC completed its deal to merge with the Universal entertainment businesses.