14 DAY TRIAL // Today, Microsoft announced that it has decided to sell its 50 percent share in Msnbc.com to its partner in the joint venture, NBC.
Following the transaction, NBC will be the only company to operate Msnbc, which has already become a leader in the online news industry.
Through exiting this joint venture, Microsoft hopes to benefit from increased flexibility when it comes to providing users with news through Bing and MSN.
“The agreement we reached with NBC releases Microsoft from its exclusivity with NBC, which will allow us to not only continue featuring content from NBC on MSN as we do today, but also provide Microsoft new flexibility to deliver fresh and innovative news products across Bing and MSN,” Microsoft said.
Moreover, the Redmond-based software giant notes that it plans on taking advantage of the opportunities that the latest changes in the consuming of news have brought.
Today, users are looking into receiving news content almost continuously, while also being interested in benefiting from social sharing capabilities.
According to Microsoft, it should be able to deliver more original and third-party content through the new Bing News app for Windows 8.
“In the fall, we will be delivering a new MSN news experience. It will be singularly focused on online consumers, harnessing real-time signals produced by social networks using the power of search to deliver breaking updates based on relevant topics,” Microsoft also announced.
“MSN will utilize advanced technologies to mine real-time information from the web to keep users constantly up to date and in the know on the latest breaking news and trends across the Internet.”
MSN users will benefit from news from more sources, which will provide them with additional perspectives on what’s happening around the world.
Real-time news will also be there for people to consume, as “MSN will focus on creating a world-class news experience targeted to today’s online news consumers,” Microsoft says. MSN already has over 520 million monthly unique visitors.