MSNBC is preparing for a big identity shift. The network will soon change its name to My Source News Opinion World (MS NOW), according to a Monday report from The Wall Street Journal.
The move comes as part of a $7 billion spinoff approved by Comcast last fall. The deal separated several NBCUniversal channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, E! and SyFy, following a steep ratings decline after the 2024 election.
As part of the rebrand, MSNBC will also lose its iconic peacock logo. Executives say the change is aimed at creating distance from NBC News and giving the network its own identity. Staffers were informed of the shift on Monday, WSJ reported.
The new company housing these spun-off channels will be called Versant. Mark Lazarus, who will lead Versant as CEO, initially assured staffers that they wouldn’t need to worry about a name change. That plan quickly changed, with executives deciding a new direction was necessary.
Inside NBCUniversal, there was early debate over whether to keep the NBC name attached. But as the spinoff took shape, leadership agreed that the new MS NOW brand would still highlight both news and opinion programming. “Holding the political figures from both parties to account” will remain its mission, Lazarus told WSJ.
Meanwhile, Comcast will keep NBC, Bravo, and the Peacock streaming service under its control. Those brands remain central to its broader media strategy.
The rebrand follows a sharp ratings collapse. After the 2024 election, MSNBC’s primetime audience plunged by 53%. While viewership has since bounced around, it still lags far behind Fox News. In the second quarter of 2025, MSNBC averaged just over 1 million primetime viewers and 596,000 daytime viewers, according to AdWeek. That’s well above CNN but nowhere close to Fox.
The transition to MS NOW is expected to formally launch once Versant is publicly listed later this year.