A new report suggests Microsoft and NBC have decided to end their partnership operating the MSNBC.com news site, which is based in Redmond.
Howard Kurtz at The Daily Beast is reporting that NBC is buying out Microsoft's stake and will continue to operate the site as NBCNews.com.
A renegotiation has been expected since the companies ended their partnership operating the MSNBC cable channel in 2005 and NBC was acquired by Comcast in 2009.
Microsoft has also steadily cut back on its investments in original Web content, winding down efforts that began in the dot-com heyday. MSNBC.com and the cable channel were its most ambitious effort, starting in 1996.
Word of a possible rebranding of MSNBC.com surfaced two years ago and then in May, when AdWeek reported that NBC Universal was negotiating to buy out its share in the venture.
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