MSNBC.com Editor-In-Chief Resigns

By: Helen Jung, AP Business Writer Updated at 10:15 a.m. EST, June 12

(AP) Merrill Brown, who helped lead Microsoft Corp.'s MSNBC news site from a fledgling Web initiative to one of the most visited news sites on the Internet, is resigning his position as editor-in-chief to pursue other opportunities in the media world, he said Tuesday.

Brown, 49, said the slowdown in growth in the Internet as well as declining online ad revenue convinced him it was time to look for new opportunities, after having spent the last six years with MSNBC.com, a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC.

His last day will be June 21. The company has not yet named a successor.

"This is a long time that I've been here and I really like start-ups and businesses that are ramping toward growth," he said in a telephone interview. "And that's when I'm at my best. Our company and our medium are not growing at the rate they were in our earlier years. It's harder and harder resource-wise to accomplish all that I think we need to."

He said that he believes Microsoft executives are committed to MSNBC and said "I don't know what would have convinced me to stay."

In an e-mail sent to staff Tuesday around noon, MSNBC General Manager Ona Karasa wrote "The heart and soul of a news organization is for certain its editor-in-chief. ... His imprint on us all and on our award winning Web site will always remain."

During his tenure at MSNBC.com, the Web site grew to attract 4 million visitors each day, according to the company's internal estimates.

But the economic downturn and a drop in online ad revenue has meant fewer resources for original reporting and software development, he said. The news staff now numbers just less than 100, down from its peak of about 120 four or five years ago, he said.

Online advertising provides the vast majority of the company's revenues with subscriptions for specific products totaling under 10%. Ad revenue has declined in recent years after a high point when the company came close to breaking even in 2000.

But MSNBC and other Internet news companies face some tough challenges, said Patrick Keane, vice president of New York-based Jupiter Research.

"One of the biggest challenges of the news category is the absolute myriad of places where you can get virtually the same exact thing," he said. "The category of general news online is more than saturated."

According to netScore/comScore Media Metrix, which measures Internet traffic, MSNBC.com ranked second in popularity to CNN.com among Internet news and information sites for May 2002, with 16.2 million unique visitors compared to CNN's 20.1 million.

Brown, who lives in the Seattle area with his wife and two teenagers, said he plans to stay in the area.