Cable news outlet CNBC has languished in the shadows of Microsoft’s MSN network since 2001, when a licensing agreement between parent company General Electric and Microsoft made it little more than a content partner for MSN and MSN Money. As of today, however, CNBC is once again running under its own power—although, in a great bit of irony, the CNBC Web site is effectively useless at the moment while in “transition.”
According to NBC President Mark Hffman, the new CNBC site will carry new Web-specific video clips, market updates, video from news events and press briefings, as well as interviews with CEOs and other business news makers. CBC also says it has hired an addition 55 employees to operate the Web site, and will offer premium features for $10/month to users who want to access archival video as well as live streaming videos from the cable-based financial news network.
The move follows NBC’s “takeback” of the MSNBC cable channel about a year ago, with an option to buy out all of Microsoft’s remaining shares at the end of 2007. CNBC’s transition back to independence began in the second quarter of 2006 when its licensing agreement with MSN Money expired; like MSNBC, CNBC decided it was time to part ways with the Redmond software giant.
