NBCUniversal wants its website back. According to Reuters, the media company, owned by parent company Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), is in talks to buy out Microsoft’s (NYSE:MSFT) 50% stake in joint venture MSNBC.com. NBC and Microsoft started the cable news channel and online news operation back in 1996. MSNBC then became its own entity, separate from the news website.NBCUniversal hopes to bring consistency between the news channel and the website with this buyout of Microsoft’s stake. MSNBC has been moving towards more liberal programming in recent years while MSNBC.com has focused strictly on straight news coverage.Sources say NBCU plans on having the partnership with Microsoft dissolved by the summer.
