MSNBC.com/NBCNews.com Split

A corporate divorce between NBC and Microsoft is reportedly planned to be announced, with the network buying back the remainder of their hugely popular MSNBC website from the software giant, say people familiar with the breakup. Under the planned split, officials will reportedly rebrand MSNBC.com which is constantly ranked among the top three online news sites, as NBCNews.com. The deal is still in the works, but an NBC spokesman said Wednesday that “we’re absolutely having those conversations, but there is no deal.” The MSNBC cable channel was originally a joint venture between NBC and Bill Gates’ company, hence the initials in the name, but the television partnership was dissolved in 2005. The two companies, however, remained in a 50-50 partnership in the website.