MSNBC gets new name and logo in major shakeup
As part of a new company, Versant, to be spun off from NBCUniversal in late 2025, the home of popular left-leaning hosts like Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki will adopt a new name and logo.
Versant, which includes USA Network, Syfy, CNBC and Golf Channel alongside MSNBC, will build an "individual identity" for those brands, according to a staff memo from CEO Mark Lazarus Aug. 18.
MSNBC, perhaps the biggest name in the exodus, will rebrand as My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW, a move that conflicts with previous claims from NBCUniversal that the network would be allowed to keep its name amid the shift. NBC's iconic peacock logo will no longer be used for the cable-news network, either.
All the TV news anchors exiting their roles, including Lester Holt and Joy Reid
A memo sent Aug. 18 by MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler addressed the flip-flop, writing: "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."
Lazarus wrote that the peacock logo "is synonymous with NBCUniversal, and it is a symbol they have decided to keep within the NBCU family. This gives us the opportunity to chart our own path forward, create distinct brand identities, and establish an independent news organization following the spin."
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MSNBC, which ranks second to Fox News in cable news, has long been tied to the larger NBC news operation. Now, it will operate as a standalone news-gathering machine, with its own set of fact-finders, its own Washington bureau and a fresh leadership team. The editorial tone of the channel is not expected to change.
CNN's Marcus Mabry, Crooked Media's Madeleine Hareringer, and ABC News' Scott Matthews are among the big names joining the executive suite. It is losing Steve Kornacki to NBC but gaining NBC's Jacob Soboroff (both had split their time in recent years.)
Maddow, by far the network's biggest star, recently addressed the changes during an episode of New York Magazine's "Pivot" podcast.
"We're standing up this whole newsgathering operation, which was funded as part of, well, funded, as part of the spin," Maddow said. "We will no longer have to compete with NBC News's properties for the newsgathering, the product of the newsgathering organization, which we otherwise had to."
The news comes amid a season of tumult for cable shows writ large, and cable news in particular. As a growing number of younger viewers turn away from the traditional format and an increasingly polarized nation opts out of shows that don't align with their views, networks are scrambling to claim their ever-thinning slice of the pie.
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