MSNBC to rebrand as MS NOW, drops peacock logo in spinoff from NBC

A new name for the network by the end of the year

We will become MS Now, which stands for my source for news, opinion and the world

And look, Andrew, they even have a graphic up. MSNBC will soon be a name of the past

The news channel will soon no longer be part of the larger NBC News umbrella

It's splitting off under a new media company, Versant. And Versant is announcing the network will be given a new name and new look as part of its new ownership

The media landscape has been changing a lot over the last decade or so

but it's been really accelerated the last few years in this particular moment. So it does seem an ideal time to rebrand, an ideal time to embrace a new identity

MSNBC hosts announced a major change coming by year's end. The network will be renamed to MSNOW and will drop its Peacock logo

The rebrand is part of a $7 billion spinoff deal, splitting several cable channels into a new company called Versant

NBC Bravo and the Peacock streaming service will remain under NBCUniversal Universal Internal memos from Versant CEO Mark Lazarus and new MSNBC president Rebecca Cutler shows the shift is about establishing

a clearer identity separate from NBC News. The new media company is in the middle of building

its first ever standalone newsroom in Washington, D.C., and has already hired dozens of journalists

from CNN, Bloomberg, and Politico. MSNBC is home to popular left-leaning hosts like Rachel Maddow

and Jen Psaki. The rebrand is expected to roll out later this year. Other cable channels included

in the spinoff deal like CNBC, USA, Oxygen, and E will also undergo some changes. CNBC will

reportedly keep its name, but is also reportedly ditching the Peacock logo. MSNBC remains the

second highest rated cable news network, averaging more than a million primetime viewers

second only to Fox News, and still ahead of CNN in ratings