Posted by MSNBC is Going Separate Ways from NBCUniversal
The news channel of nearly thirty years known as MSNBC will soon be parting ways with its “NBC” moniker to become a new entity known as “MS NOW.”
Later this year, MS NOW will separate from its current parent company, Comcast’s NBCUniversal. MS NOW, which stands for My Source News Opinion World, will reportedly be headed by Chief Executive Officer Mark Lazarus of Versant, a new umbrella company slated to encompass the spinoff NBC cable TV networks.
While originally MSNBC was going to retain its name, Lazarus wrote in a memo that it was necessary to implement the name change, in keeping with the “need to accelerate the distinction between MSNBC and NBC News organizations.”
MSNBC was launched in 1996 as a joint venture between NBC News and Microsoft, creating the “MS” reference in the acronym. A name change was considered back in 2005, when Microsoft divested itself from its equity in the news network. But the initials were already considered too entrenched in the network’s brand identity to make a switch, and the initials were retained.
MSNBC has since become the second most watched cable news network behind FOX News, averaging over 500,000 viewers daily, and a leader among the Hispanic and African American demographic.
A new national marketing campaign for MSNOW is planned for the coming weeks, during which time the news channel will also separate itself from its association with NBC’s iconic “peacock” logo.
The move toward independence and establishing its own identity could potentially signal a shift to a broader range of perspectives for the news station. Its new parent company, Versant, has plans in the works to spin off as a publicly traded company before the end of this year.
Will MSNOW be able to maintain its position as one of the leading cable TV news sources and potentially expand its demographic base? Keep reading here.