Comcast has agreed to buy out General Electric’s remaining stake in NBCUniversal, reports The New York Times’ Media Decoder. Comcast will reportedly pay $16.7 billion.

The agreement speeds up a process that was previously expected to take several years, the article notes. The acquisition of the 49% stake in NBCUniversal that Comcast didn’t already own will be completed by March.

“We always thought it was a strong possibility that we’d someday own 100 percent,” said Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts.

The need to own content as well as a cable-TV operation helped the company make the decision, Roberts said, citing the quickly changing television industry. "It’s been a very smooth couple of years, and the content continues to get more valuable with new revenue streams,” Roberts said.

NBCUniversal will also buy the NBC studios and offices at 30 Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, and CNBC’s headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Those purchases will amount to about $1.4 billion.

30 Rockefeller Center is "iconic," Roberts said, adding: "We’re proud to be associated with it.”

The show "30 Rock" took place there, and programs such as "Today" and "Saturday Night Live" are also taped at Rockefeller Center.