MSNBC Becomes NBCNews.com As Microsoft & NBC Part Ways
As of last night, MSNBC is no more. Click your MSNBC bookmark, and you'll find yourself at NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal acquired MSNBC from Microsoft, officially splitting that 16-year partnership. The financial terms haven't been disclosed, but the site was quick to explain the nuts-and-bolts details to reader who discovered the new page this morning. The site cited brand alignment (among TV and Internet properties) as the reason for the move.
Merging NBC News staff and MSNBC staff could be challenging, as the former is at Microsoft and the latter is in New York. NBCNews.com plans to model the transition on TODAY.com, which pulled together disparate organizations.
At the moment, MSNBC.com leads to NBCNEWs.com, but that is likely to change. NBCNews.com will be the address you'll visit for news, while MSCNBC.com will eventually point to MSNBC TV. That should clear up any confusion over the two news channels. Where MSNBC.com was driven by hard news, MSNBC TV is a commentary-driven outlet.
Merging NBC News staff and MSNBC staff could be challenging, as the former is at Microsoft and the latter is in New York. NBCNews.com plans to model the transition on TODAY.com, which pulled together disparate organizations.