So long, MSNBC.
The left-leaning cable news channel, home to popular opinion host Rachel Maddow, is getting a rebrand ahead of its split into Versant from NBC, despite company officials previously saying they would keep both the name and its peacock-infused logo.
The new name will be MS NOW, an acronym for My Source News Opinion World, according to a memo sent by Versant CEO Mark Lazarus obtained by The Inquirer.
Lazarus said NBC made the decision to keep its famed peacock symbol for it’s own media brands, requiring Versant to shift.
“As we all know, the peacock is synonymous with NBCUniversal, and it is a symbol they have decided to keep within the NBCU family,” Lazarus wrote. “This means we will redesign our logos where the peacock has been incorporated into our brands.”
“While our name will be changing, who we are and what we do will not,” MSNBC President and Philly native Rebecca Kutler wrote in a memo. “Our commitment to our work and our audiences will not waiver from what the brand promise has been for three decades.”
MSNBC launched in 1996 as a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC News. Microsoft pulled out in 2005, and moving forward the network will have no remaining ties with NBC News. Versant has already made moves to beef up MS NOW’s own newsgathering operation, hiring Politico and Wall Street Journal veteran Sudeep Reddy to lead their Washington bureau.
NBC’s reversal means networks like the Golf Channel and CNBC will also get redesigned logos. NBC will remain in the name of CNBC (it was originally launched as the Consumer News and Business Channel back in 1989), partly due to licensing deals outside the U.S.
Largely due to the trend of cord cutting, NBC is splitting off MS NOW, CNBC, the Golf Channel, and several other cable TV networks into a new company called Versant. Other networks include USA Network, E!, Oxygen, and SYFY. The new company will also own Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.
The split is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.