The US television network is building its own news division separate from NBC News, removing the NBC Peacock symbol from its new logo.
MSNBC News Network has said that as part of my corporate divorce with NBC, I will be renaming it to my world of source news opinions, or MS for short.
The television network, which appeals to liberal audiences with stable personalities such as Rachel Madow, Ali Melber and Nicole Wallace, announced on Monday. We are building our own news division from NBC News, and will remove the NBC Peacock symbol from our logo as part of the change.
The name was changed last November, Cable Networks USA, CNBC, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, oxygen and golf channels are called Versant. None of the other networks have changed their names.
MSNBC came from its formation in 1996 as a partnership between Microsoft and NBC. Even back then, it was a mysterious moniker for many. But even after the NBC partnership with Microsoft that created it, it got stuck.
Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said the name MSNBC will remain in the first few days of the spinoff, making Monday’s announcement an unexpected face.
There is always an inherent risk to renaming names, and MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler said it’s difficult for employees to imagine a network under a different name. “This was not a decision made without prompt or serious discussion,” she said in a note to staff.
“During this transition period, NBC Universal has determined that our brand needs a new, independent identity,” she said. “This decision allows us to assert independence as we continue to set up our own courses and build our own modern news investigative organisation.”
Kutler said the network editing instructions remain the same. “Our name changes, but who we are and there’s nothing we haven’t done,” she said.
Still, it is worth noting that business channel CNBC leaves behind “NBC” under its name. MSNBC argues that CNBC has always maintained a greater separation and that its business focus is unlikely to cover many of the same topics.
The relationship between the news sector, which emphasizes objectivity and its unconcealed liberal bends, has long been causing tension. US President Donald Trump has called the Democratic National Committee’s cable network “MSDNC.”
Maddow said in a recent episode of Pivot that MSNBC will no longer have to compete with the NBC news program to report products out on the field.
“In this case, we can get what we need from reporters and correspondents, our own instincts, our own queries, our own priorities,” Madow said. “And that would be even better.”
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough revealed the network’s new logo at the show Monday morning. “It looks very sporty,” he said.
