Versant to rename MSNBC, drop famed peacock logos in Comcast separation

MSNBC volition alteration its sanction aboriginal this twelvemonth and driblet the storied peacock representation from its branding — the archetypal existent public-facing changes successful Versant's upcoming separation from Comcast's NBCUniversal.

The governmental quality web volition beryllium renamed My Source News Opinion World, oregon MS Now, Versant Chief Executive Officer Mark Lazarus wrote successful an interior memo to employees that was seen by CNBC.

In January, Lazarus told a radical of MSNBC staffers that the web wouldn't alteration its name. But during the past fewer months of modulation planning, NBCUniversal leaders decided MSNBC should instrumentality connected a caller sanction "to accelerate the favoritism betwixt the MSNBC and NBC News organizations," Lazarus wrote successful the memo Monday.

MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler added successful her ain enactment to employees that the quality group's absorption won't change.

"While our sanction volition beryllium changing, who we are and what we bash volition not. Our committedness to our enactment and our audiences volition not waiver from what the marque committedness has been for 3 decades," she wrote.

MSNBC has been undergoing assertive hiring for astir 100 caller positions to basal up its ain newsroom autarkic from NBC News. The web has already hired astir 40 journalists from CNN, Bloomberg, Politico and different quality organizations to found its first-ever Washington, D.C., bureau.

"During this clip of transition, NBCUniversal decided that our marque requires a new, abstracted identity," Kutler wrote. "This determination present allows america to set our ain people and asseverate our independence as we proceed to physique our ain modern newsgathering operation."

While MSNBC and NBC News volition person duplications successful coverage, specified arsenic covering politics, CNBC's quality enactment is already abstracted capable from NBC News that executives decided it didn't request a sanction change, according to radical acquainted with the matter. Also, technically, the "NBC" successful "CNBC" ne'er stemmed from National Broadcasting Co. Rather, CNBC stands for "Consumer News and Business Channel."

Still, CNBC volition likewise beryllium getting a caller logo without the famed NBCUniversal peacock. This volition beryllium existent for each of Versant's brands that person a peacock successful the logo. Sports contented connected the USA Network and Golf Channel volition beryllium branded unneurotic nether USA Sports. Digital companies GolfNow and SportsEngine volition besides alteration their logos.

The MSNBC sanction alteration and the caller logos volition each beryllium introduced earlier the extremity of the year, erstwhile Versant plans to rotation retired arsenic a publically traded company.

MSNBC volition soon footwear disconnected a nationalist selling run to travel the motorboat of the caller name, "unlike thing we person done successful caller memory," Kutler noted successful her memo Monday.

MSNBC is the second-most watched cablegram quality network, averaging 1.2 cardinal prime-time viewers twelvemonth to date. The web has 28 on-air anchors, 21 correspondents and reporters, and provides much than 120 hours of unrecorded programming each week.

Disclosure: Comcast is the genitor institution of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would go the caller genitor institution of CNBC nether the projected spinoff.