According to Reuters, NBC and Microsoft were considering a counter offer for the Dow Jones over the last few weeks. Rupert Murdoch's well-publicized and unsolicited bid apparently had the folks over at NBC a little spooked, pushing them to explore some out-of-the-box options. Even with the degree of interest on both sides, it was eventually relayed that "the conversations with Microsoft were exploratory," according to an NBC spokesman. He went on to reveal that this type of contact "ended over a week ago."
If anything, this was more of knee-jerk reaction than anything else. There's a lot of activity going on in Murdoch's News Corp. camp, especially with recent buzz pointing to a spin-off news network of their own. So to have Murdoch move in on the Dow Jones (which has a contractual agreement to provide CNBC with news until 2012) is definitely a cause for alarm. Microsoft only makes sense as NBC's go-to ally, as they have both the capital to invest and the amicable relationship with the network after the forming of MSNBC. Although things have cooled off for the time being, one has to wonder what NBC's next steps will be since they have abandoned their hopes of a joint bid and the Bancrofts are still looking for a buyer.
