Jeff Zucker today said today that NBC Universal tried to acquire the Huffington Post, according to an article by Bill Kirtz at Poynter.org.

According to the article, Zucker, "said NBC had tried for 18 months to buy the popular blog but ‘could never agree on price.’ "

As we previously reported earlier today, AOL has agreed to purchase the Huffington Post for $315 million, $300 million of that in cash.

 The Poynter article continues, "At a talk sponsored by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center [today, Feb. 7, 2011], Zucker called the purchase ‘a very good day if you believe in news. It helps The Huffington Post monetize its investment and gives AOL a bigger platform."

The article adds, "Zucker, who lost his job when Comcast acquired the network, has in the past described broadcast television’s financial problems as trading “digital dimes for analog dollars.” But now he sees progress, and puts those numbers as 25 cents for digital and 50 cents for analog."