MSNBC will soon have a new name and look. The network announced it will rebrand as MS NOW — short for “My Source News Opinion World” — by the end of the year. The change comes as MSNBC splits from NBCUniversal in a $7 billion spinoff deal that will create a new media company called Versant.
Breaking from the NBC identity
The rebrand means MSNBC will also drop the iconic NBC peacock logo, a symbol the network has used since its launch in 1996. Executives say the move is aimed at establishing a clearer identity separate from NBC News.
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
“During this time of transition, NBCUniversal decided that our brand requires a new, separate identity,” President of MSNBC Rebecca Kutler wrote. “This decision now allows us to set our own course and assert our independence as we continue to build our own modern newsgathering operation.”
Kutler said the channel will continue to serve a progressive audience while building out its own newsroom independent from NBC.
“While our name will be changing, who we are and what we do will not. Our commitment to our work and our audiences will not waiver from what the brand promise has been for three decades,” Kutler wrote in a memo.
New newsroom and expanded staff
MSNBC is building its first-ever standalone newsroom in Washington, D.C., and has already hired dozens of journalists from CNN, Bloomberg and Politico. Executives say the shift comes at a time when the media landscape is changing rapidly and provides an opportunity to embrace industry landscape changes.
Other networks also affected
Other channels included in the spinoff — such as CNBC, USA, Oxygen and E! — will also reportedly undergo changes. CNBC will keep its name but, like MSNBC, will remove the peacock logo. NBC, Bravo and the Peacock streaming service will remain under the NBCUniversal banner.
Unbiased. Straight Facts.TM
The original “MSNBC” name stems from a partnership between Microsoft and NBC in 1996. Microsoft left the venture in 2005.
MSNBC’s upcoming name change marks a shift from its original roots nearly 30 years ago, when the channel was created through a partnership between Microsoft and NBC. The brand combined Microsoft’s “MS” with NBC’s name to form MSNBC. NBC teamed up with Microsoft to launch the cable news channel and an online news platform, combining traditional broadcasting with the emerging world of the internet.
In 2005, Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC, and then, in 2012, sold its remaining 50% stake in MSNBC.com, ending its 16-year joint venture.
MSNBC remains the second-highest rated cable news network, averaging over one million prime-time viewers, ahead of CNN and behind Fox News.
