MSNBC.com becomes NBCNews.com as Microsoft and NBC end partnership

NBC and Microsoft, who joined forces in the mid-90s, are parting ways, and as a result, MSNBC.com became NBCNews.com last night. Microsoft, who had a 50 percent stake in the site, will reportedly receive some $300 million in the divorce from Comcast, the company that controls NBC.

Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, said that with the separation, “we will fully own our digital businesses.”

“It’s undeniable how big a part of all of our businesses the digital properties are going to be,” Capus told The New York Times. “We think we have a much better opportunity to shape them, and frankly grow the news division over all, if we have direct control over all of it.”

MSNBC.com will reportedly be reborn early next year as a stand-alone site for the MSNBC cable channel. Microsoft hasn’t had a stake in the channel since 2005.