Comcast Buys Microsoft Stake In Msnbc.Com

According to reports, the parent company of NBC has bought out Microsoft’s stake in the website MSNBC.com.

According to reliable sources, the parent company of NBC has acquired 50 percent stake in MSNBC.com. It is also heard that the site has been renamed to NBCNews.com.

In a deal, Comcast has paid Microsoft around $300 million for its stake. Some portion of the remaining amount will come from past profits as a result of joint venture.

Visitors are automatically shifted to the new website i.e NBCNews.com. This move has eventually broken the 16 years old relationship between NBC and Microsoft.

Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said:

“It’s undeniable how big a part of all of our businesses the digital properties are going to be. We think we have a much better opportunity to shape them, and frankly grow the news division over all, if we have direct control over all of it.”

NBC president also said that with the changes, “we will full own our digital business.”

Microsoft and NBC made a partnership in 1996 to develop the website, which at the time was generated with progressive technology to combine a cable news channel and broadcasting. However, with this acquisition, Comcast will now have rights over advertising on both the newscasts and websites, which was previously in control of Microsoft.

“MSNBC TV will launch a new digital home in 2013, as an extension of the MSNBC TV on-air brand,” the editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com wrote in a letter posted on the MSNBC website.

It is also rumored that the acquisition process started two months before. Looking at the latest comScore data, MSNBC is presently ranked at the top 5 general news sites which are accessed online. It has currently more than 50 million monthly visitors.