According to media reports, NBCUniversal is in talks to buy back MSNBC.com, in which Microsoft Corp. has a 50 percent stake. NBCU parent Comcast Corp is reportedly conducting "its due diligence" and the partnership with NBC News could be dissolved by this summer, reported AdWeek. "Discussions are taking place," NBC News' director of communications Amy Lynn told the Wall Street Journal.
AdWeek cited "several sources with first-hand knowledge of the situation," reporting that negotiations between the two companies are likely to result in a deal ensuring that MSNBC.com secures its spot on MSN.com, somewhat like the treatment Fox Sports gets.
NBC and Microsoft joined forces back in 1996 to create a joint venture, a cable news channel and online news service - MSNBC and MSNBC.com, respectively - that combined broadcasting with Internet technology. At the time, the Web was just emerging as a news vehicle.
NBC bought the majority of Microsoft's stake of MSNBC in 2005, leaving MSNBC and MSNBC.com as separate operations. Microsoft no longer has a stake in the cable channel, but it still holds a 50 percent stake in the news Web site. The cable channel has since moved toward an overtly liberal and very opinionated programming, a "liberal alternative to Fox News," as AdWeek puts it. MSNBC features opinionated hosts such as Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow, while MSNBC.com has maintained its focus on general news reporting and the main online outlet for NBC News. On the other hand, although the Web site maintained a distinct personality from the network, MSNBC.com has remained a joint venture nonetheless.
A couple of years back, several reports indicated that MSNBC.com would undergo a rebranding operation in order to distinguish itself from the cable network's liberal persona. Under the Comcast reign, however, the company seemed more interested in keeping MSNBC.com to bolster its network brand.
MSNBC.com features Today Show and NBC News content, but it is very distinct from its TV counterpart. The site pulled in 55.7 million unique visitors (April 2012, comScore), enjoying prominent real estate on the MSN portal, something NBCU may not want to lose. With this in mind, one of AdWeek's sources said the companies will likely negotiate a deal ensuring that MSNBC.com keeps its spot on MSN.com.
The future of MSNBC.com's employees is uncertain at the moment, as the company has never operated a large content staff. AdWeek notes, however, that Charlie Tillinghast, the site's president and CEO, "is a prominent name in the Web publishing world, having recently served as the chairman of the Online Publishers Association."
