The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice on Tuesday approved the deal between Comcast and NBC Universal. Most of the conditions and specifics of the deal are quite wonky and might not affect the average consumer, except for one point - what about Hulu?

In 2009, Comcast brokered a deal with General Electric to acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal for $6.5 billion. Given that NBCU has a stake in Hulu (along with News Corp. and Disney), many wondered what control, if any, Comcast might have over Hulu. Would Comcast pull NBCU content from Hulu in order to stop cable customers from moving to online-only TV watching? Would Comcast kill Hulu?

Interested parties have had to wait for more than a year to get answers to those questions, but on Tuesday, senior FCC officials said the commission has taken steps to make sure programming cannot be unreasonably withheld from Hulu.

In a nutshell, Comcast will have ownership rights to Hulu via the NBCU stake, but it will not have managerial rights. Financial interest? Yes. Control over day-to-day activities? No.

As a result, Comcast has an incentive to see Hulu succeed, but it cannot impose any rules on the video site that would give Comcast an unfair competitive advantage, the officials said.

In an afternoon conference call, David L. Cohen, Comcast's executive vice president, said the company was "perfectly satisfied" with the Hulu arrangement.

Comcast continues to have an interest in the growth and advancement of Hulu, and preferred to maintain its ownership position rather than sell it off, Cohen said. When asked if Comcast would consider divesting its stake in Hulu down the road, Cohen said Comcast doesn't yet known enough about Hulu's financials or contracts to make that decision, but "there's certainly no current contemplation."