> 1:50pm: THR: “The structure of the joint venture has prevented NBC Universal from realizing costs savings in back-office and financial reporting. Those barriers have now been replaced.”

> 1:40pm: The two companies have held serious negotiations for months on unwinding the venture, a network exec tells Reuters. “Both of us decided from a timing perspective that if we were going to do it, it would make sense to do it by year’s end,” the executive said.

> 1:32pm: Bloomberg: “MSNBC never lived up to the promise of what it was supposed to be,” said Peter Gardiner, chief media officer at New York advertising agency Deutsch Inc. “I would guess you’re going to see some big changes at MSNBC.”

> 1:30pm: Regarding a possible cable name change: “Would the separation of the on-air and online brands create any confusion? In my opinion, not enough to worry about,” LR’s Cory Bergman says…