Microsoft Leaves MSNBC.com

NBCNews | BCBusiness
After building a 16-year relationship, Microsoft and NBC dissolved their partnership on msnbc.com, which will be rebranded.

The tech giant dissolves its joint venture with NBC, opening the opportunity to start its own news site.

Some big changes are ahead for one of the Internet’s most visited news sites.
 
Microsoft ended its 16-year relationship with NBC as it pulled out of msnbc.com over the weekend.
 
Late Sunday night, the two companies called it quits and announced the long-expected breakup. The 50/50 joint venture began in the early ’90s, and Comcast, the owner of NBC, agreed to pay Microsoft a reported $300 million for its share in the news site.
 
The two companies already dissolved their partnership on the site’s companion cable news channel, MSNBC, back in 2005.
 
Renamed NBCNews.com, visitors to the msnbc.com URL are already being automatically redirected to the new site. Most of the site’s Redmond, Wash. staff will also relocate to NBC’s headquarters in New York City.
 
The two companies going their separate ways will likely be beneficial to both parties. Microsoft has hinted at building its own news site to work in conjunction with its MSN.com web portal. And because the former msnbc.com is no longer bound by a restrictive content agreement, NBC can refresh the site with a redesign to keep it competitive.