NBC Reportedly in Talks to Buy 35% Stake in Lycos

NBC and Lycos are discussing a deal in which the television network would acquire a 35% stake in the Internet’s third-largest search service, the Industry Standard reported Thursday.

If the deal is completed, Waltham, Mass.-based Lycos would merge with Snap, an online service operated by CNet that is 60% owned by NBC, the weekly newsmagazine said. The report cited unnamed sources.

Both companies declined to comment on the report.

Industry watchers have expected media companies to continue their consolidation with leading Internet sites. Last year, Disney spent $420 million to buy a 43% stake in Infoseek. The two companies launched the co-branded Go Network in January.

Two deals struck last month have also helped fuel consolidation rumors. High-speed Internet service @Home said it would buy Web portal Excite for $6.7 billion in stock, while the top-rated portal, Yahoo, said it would buy the Web’s biggest community site, GeoCities, in an all-stock deal worth $3.9 billion.

Shares in General Electric, which owns NBC, fell $2.75 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday to close at $100.13. Lycos shares dropped $1.13 to close at $129.38 on Nasdaq.