| Microsoft Corp. and NBC have announced they are merging their financial Web sites, MoneyCentral and CNBC.com, into a personal finance site expected to be launched this summer.
Microsoft and General Electric, which owns the CNBC and NBC television networks already have a partnership in MSNBC, a 6-year-old cable news channel and Web site.
The new site, CNBC MoneyCentral, will become part of MSN, Microsoft’s portal that also includes Slate and Hotmail.
Microsoft will operate the Web site out of its Redmond offices while editorial services will be split between Redmond and Fort Lee, N.J., where CNBC is based.
Bob Wright, NBC president and chief executive, said the deal would likely result in some layoffs, but he didn’t think they would be substantial.
NBC recently shut down its main Internet initiative, NBC Internet, a publicly traded subsidiary that pooled a number of online businesses. CNBC had a small role in NBC Internet.
For Microsoft, a broader content offering is another selling point for its planned set of Internet-based premium services, called HailStorm, said Rick Belluzzo, Microsoft’s president and chief operating officer.
“We are working to integrate an entire experience,’’ Belluzzo said, and this partnership “will be an important piece of that.’’ |
