Versant to rename MSNBC, drop peacock logos

MSNBC will change its identify later this 12 months and drop the storied peacock picture from its branding — the primary actual public-facing adjustments in Versant’s upcoming separation from Comcast’s NBCUniversal.

The political information community will likely be renamed My Supply Information Opinion World, or MS Now, Versant Chief Govt Officer Mark Lazarus wrote in an inside memo to staff that was seen by CNBC.

In January, Lazarus instructed a gaggle of MSNBC staffers that the community would not change its identify. However in the course of the previous few months of transition planning, NBCUniversal leaders determined MSNBC ought to tackle a brand new identify “to speed up the excellence between the MSNBC and NBC Information organizations,” Lazarus wrote within the memo Monday.

MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler added in her personal word to staff that the information group’s focus will not change.

“Whereas our identify will likely be altering, who we’re and what we do won’t. Our dedication to our work and our audiences won’t waiver from what the model promise has been for 3 many years,” she wrote.

MSNBC has been present process aggressive hiring for about 100 new positions to face up its personal newsroom unbiased from NBC Information. The community has already employed about 40 journalists from CNN, Bloomberg, Politico and different information organizations to determine its first-ever Washington, D.C., bureau.

“Throughout this time of transition, NBCUniversal determined that our model requires a brand new, separate identification,” Kutler wrote. “This determination now permits us to set our personal course and assert our independence as we proceed to construct our personal trendy newsgathering operation.”

Whereas MSNBC and NBC Information could have duplications in protection, CNBC’s information group is already separate sufficient from NBC Information that executives determined it did not want a reputation change. Additionally, technically, the “NBC” in “CNBC” by no means stemmed from Nationwide Broadcasting Co. Quite, CNBC stands for “Shopper Information and Enterprise Channel.”

Nonetheless, CNBC will likewise be getting a brand new brand with out the famed NBCUniversal peacock. This will likely be true for all of Versant’s manufacturers which have a peacock within the brand. Sports activities content material on the USA Community and Golf Channel will likely be branded collectively below USA Sports activities. Digital firms GolfNow and SportsEngine may even change their logos.

The MSNBC identify change and the brand new logos will all be launched earlier than the tip of the 12 months, when Versant plans to spin out as a publicly traded firm.

MSNBC will quickly kick off a nationwide advertising marketing campaign to accompany the launch of the brand new identify, “not like something now we have performed in latest reminiscence,” Kutler famous in her memo Monday.

MSNBC is the second-most watched cable information community, averaging 1.2 million prime-time viewers 12 months to this point. The community has 28 on-air anchors, 21 correspondents and reporters, and gives greater than 120 hours of stay programming every week.

Disclosure: Comcast is the mother or father firm of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would develop into the brand new mother or father firm of CNBC below the proposed spinoff.