MSNBC To Rebrand As ‘MS NOW’

The new logo for ‘MS NOW’ which will replace the MSNBC name later this year

Versant

Later this year, MSNBC will unveil a new name, “MS NOW,” which stands for My Source, News, Opinion, World.” This new branding underscores our mission: to serve as a destination for breaking news and best-in-class opinion journalism, all rooted in accurate and reported facts,” said MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler in an internal memo to staff Monday morning.

“I know this announcement will be met with questions, and I want to acknowledge that for many of you who have spent years or decades here, it is hard to imagine the network by any other name,” Kutler said. “This was not a decision that was made quickly or without significant debate.”

‘Our success is not tied to remaining within the NBC family and using the peacock as part of our identity’

The change comes as part of NBC’s spinoff of its cable properties into an independent media company, Versant, which has a portfolio of brands including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel. “Over the last eight months, we have worked to untether ourselves from NBC News and embrace our independence,” Kutler said. “During this time of transition, NBCUniversal decided that our brand requires a new, separate identity.”

“The future of our success is not tied to remaining within the NBC family and using the peacock as part of our identity,” Kutler told employees Monday. “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.

‘The peacock is synonymous with NBCUniversal’

“As we all know, the peacock is synonymous with NBCUniversal, and it is a symbol they have decided to keep within the NBCU family,” said Versant CEO Mark Lazarus in an internal memo Monday. “This gives us the opportunity to chart our own path forward, create distinct brand identities, and establish an independent news organization following the spin.”

CNBC, which stands for Consumer News and Business Channel, will keep its name, but lose the incorporated peacock in its logo. The changes will go into effect by the end of the year, and will be part of a massive marketing campaign to familiarize viewers with the new “MS NOW” identity.

MSNBC’s familiar but clunky name derived from a partnership between NBC and Microsoft at the time of the network’s debut in 1996. The partnership ended formally in 2012, but the separation began in 2005, when Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC. The name, however, stayed.