MSNBC.com, one of the most trafficked news sites on the Internet, is weighing the possibility of changing its name, The New York Times reported today (Thursday). The site is currently owned equally by NBC Universal and Microsoft, but, according to the two parents, it is often confused with the mainstream cable TV news channel in which Microsoft holds an 18-percent stake and which is known primarily for its liberal commentators in primetime like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. The Times quoted a memo by MSNBC.com President Charlie Tillinghast as saying, "Both strategies are fine, but naming them the same thing is brand insanity." The tentative plan under consideration, the Times said, is to rename MSNBC.com's current operation NBCNews.com and create an entirely new site named MSNBC.com that would primarily serve as a promotional vehicle for the cable news channel.

07/10/2010