Why Rupert Murdoch Won't Buy NBC Stake

Sources tell CNBC Rupert Murdoch wants to add a stake in NBC Universal to his ever-expanding media empire—which could lead to some awkward moments between Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann at the company Christmas party—but it probably won’t happen, writes John Cook on Gawker. Considering the ongoing negotiations between NBC parent company GE and Comcast, the rumors are “almost certainly just a way for GE to keep pressure on Comcast and let them know that it has other options.”

Not to mention, “the FCC would blow a gasket.” News Corp. has already maxed out the number of television stations it can own, and “the anti-trust implications make it a far stretch.” Plus—and this seals the deal—a prognosticator who has been used by the CIA to predict the future says it will happen. So, “much as we'd love to imagine MSNBC under Murdoch's gentle-but-firm leadership,” Cook concludes, “it’s not going to happen.” (More Rupert Murdoch stories.)