Google, Comcast said to eye AOL stake

Reuters -Google, Comcast said to eye AOL stakeKenneth Li | New York | October 13Reuters -  Web search engine Google Inc. and cable company Comcast Corp. are in discussions to buy a stake in Time Warner Inc.'s America Online, two sources said, in a deal reportedly worth as much as $5 billion. An investment would set the stage for an alliance marrying Time Warner's trove of programing and Google's popular search and e-mail services with Comcast's high-speed Internet portal and experience in cable video distribution and telecommunications. It would also create a powerful new challenge to Internet media company Yahoo Inc. and software giant Microsoft Corp. Under one idea, Google and Comcast would jointly own half of the AOL web businesses, though Time Warner would retain a controlling stake, the Wall Street Journal reported in its Thursday edition.