MSNBC To Change Its Name To MS Now After Being Spun Off From NBCUniversal

MSNBC will soon have a new name. The news network announced Monday that it will soon operate under a new label: MS NOW. The change is part of a larger series of shakeups at MSNBC after NBCUniversal spun off MSNBC and other cable assets into a new company now known as Versant. Due to that, it looks like Versant wanted to de-NBC MSNBC.

MSNBC changing name to MS NOW

“Later this year, MSNBC will take on a new name: My Source News Opinion World (MS NOW),” begins a statement posted Monday on the MSNBC website announcing the company’s rebranding. The statement explains that the change comes as MSNBC and other companies, such as CNBC and several sports networks, will move under the umbrella of a newly created VERSANT media company. The change separates MSNBC from NBCUniversal and the NBC News network, and the name change reflects the separation. The statement assures viewers, however, that MS NOW will continue the same quality of news coverage that it conducted under its old brand.

Latest in a series of changes this year

The name change comes amid a period of significant corporate shakeup at the company and its sister and parent networks. Blavity reported earlier in 2025 that Rashida Jones, who became the first Black woman to lead a major news network when she took the top MSNBC spot in 2021, decided to step down this year in the midst of the corporate restructuring. After Jones’ departure, the network also shook up its on-air talent, canceling Joy Reid’s show and shifting around other journalists such as Rachel Maddow. Now, MS NOW will be part of the new Versant company, along with other cable networks such as SyFy and E!.

Skepticism over new name

The renaming ends nearly 30 years of the MSNBC brand, which was first created in 1996 as a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC. Even with the corporate reasons behind the name change, not everyone appears to be on board. Former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann tweeted “They can change it to LES MS for all it matters they still screwed up what I built for them.”

Another tweet compared it to the now reversed HBO Max name change: “His mama named him MSNBC, so I’mma call him MSNBC. They learned nothing from the HBO name change.”

Now that the organization currently known as MSNBC will soon be part of a new company, a rebranding is necessary. Whether or not viewers will accept the new name, and whatever other changes that may come along with it, remains to be seen.