June 14 (Bloomberg) -- NBC Universal, General Electric Co.'s media division, and two partners entered ``exclusive'' negotiations to buy the Weather Channel cable-television network, its owner Landmark Communications Inc. said.

A sale to NBC and private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Bain Capital LLC, would include the Weather.com Web site, closely held Landmark said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The company put the assets up for sale in January.

Hours earlier, Time Warner Inc. dropped its bid for the channel, according to a person familiar with the talks. The NBC group offered $3.5 billion, below the $5 billion Landmark's Batten family had sought, the New York Times said May 31. The Weather Channel reaches 96 million households, and Weather.com had 34.9 million U.S. visitors in April, making it the 15th most-popular Web property, according to ComScore Inc.

Richard Barry, vice chairman and spokesman for Landmark, wouldn't comment beyond the statement. NBC Universal spokeswoman Kathy Kelly-Brown didn't immediately return a call and e-mail message seeking comment.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are advising Landmark, which is seeking to boost the value of the entire Norfolk, Virginia-based company. It also owns the Roanoke Times newspaper in Virginia and the News & Record in Greensboro, North Carolina as well as television stations.

Landmark has said it plans to separately sell its CBS- affiliated TV stations in Las Vegas and Nashville, Tennessee.

24-Hour Programming

Began in 1982 by billionaire Frank Batten Sr., the Weather Channel provides 24-hour programming. The network, with about 110 meteorologists among its 800 employees, started a high- definition channel in October. Batten stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer in 1998, handing the positions to his son, Frank Batten Jr.

Weather.com syndicates its reports on current conditions and forecasts to more than 100 million users of News Corp.'s MySpace. The Weather Channel also runs sites for vacation rentals, climate-change discussions and international weather.

Landmark had $1.75 billion in sales in 2006 and 12,000 employees, according to Hoover's Inc. The company doesn't release earnings.

GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, rose 10 cents to $29.15 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 21 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net; Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 14, 2008 00:01 EDT