Ex-News Corp exec aids Comcast on NBC bid: source

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Peter Chernin, who quit his job as one of the top executives at Rupert Murdoch's News Corp earlier this year, is advising Comcast Corp in its bid to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal, a source who knows Chernin said on Monday.

The former News Corp president and chief operating officer has worked as a paid Comcast consultant for several months and advises the company on its bid for NBC Universal, now owned by General Electric Co and Vivendi SA, The New York Times reported on its website on Monday.

Chernin is not expected to take a management role if Comcast reaches a deal with GE to take NBC Universal, the Times reported, citing sources. The Reuters source confirmed this.

Chernin declined to comment in response to an e-mailed message.

Comcast is trying to strike a deal to get 51 percent of NBC Universal, which Comcast contributing programing assets and cash. GE would contribute debt to the deal and own 49 percent of the company.

First, GE would have to buy Vivendi's 20 percent stake in NBC. GE owns the other 80 percent of the company.

Analysts and media experts consider Chernin one of the most experienced and skillful hands in the U.S. TV and entertainment world in Los Angeles.

He has worked in the business for decades and brought a measure of financial discipline to News Corp that pleased investors who sometimes fretted over how Murdoch's plans to build out his international media empire often diminished the value of their shares.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan; editing by Andre Grenon)