00:00A new name for the network by the end of the year.
00:04We will become MS Now, which stands for my source for news, opinion and the world.
00:11And look, Andrew, they even have a graphic up.
00:15MSNBC will soon be a name of the past.
00:19The news channel will soon no longer be part of the larger NBC News umbrella.
00:23It's splitting off under a new media company, Versant.
00:27And Versant is announcing the network will be given a new name and new look as part of its new ownership.
00:36The media landscape has been changing a lot over the last decade or so, but it's been really accelerated in the last few years in this particular moment.
00:44So it does seem an ideal time to rebrand, an ideal time to embrace a new identity.
00:49MSNBC hosts announced a major change coming by year's end.
00:53The network will be renamed to MS Now and will drop its Peacock logo.
01:00The rebrand is part of a $7 billion spinoff deal, splitting several cable channels into a new company called Versant.
01:09NBC, Bravo and the Peacock streaming service will remain under NBC Universal.
01:15Internal memos from Versant CEO Mark Lazarus and new MSNBC president Rebecca Cutler shows this shift is about establishing a clearer identity separate from NBC News.
01:29The new media company is in the middle of building its first ever standalone newsroom in Washington, D.C.
01:35And has already hired dozens of journalists from CNN, Bloomberg and Politico.
01:41MSNBC is home to popular left-leaning hosts like Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki.
01:48The rebrand is expected to roll out later this year.
01:50Other cable channels included in the spinoff deal like CNBC, USA, Oxygen and E will also undergo some changes.
01:59CNBC will reportedly keep its name, but is also reportedly ditching the Peacock logo.
02:06MSNBC remains the second highest rated cable news network, averaging more than a million primetime viewers.
02:14Second only to Fox News and still ahead of CNN in ratings.
02:19Thanks for watching our news update.
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