Why MS NOW? What MSNBC’s name change means for viewers

Cable channel assures loyal audience ‘we're just going to keep doing what we do.’

- By STEPHEN BATTAGLIO

MSNBC MS NOW, which debuts Saturday, is part of the network being spun off into a company called Versant.

Starting Saturday, NBCUniversal’s cable news channel MSNBC will be called MS NOW, a makeover that may come asa shock to its loyal audience.

It’s why every MSNBC host has been sending the same message in promotional spots, on their programs and in press interviews about the new moniker. They say: We're not going anywhere and we're not changing.

“Morning Joe’ will still be ‘Morning Joe,’” said the program’s co-host Joe Scarborough in a recent Zoom conversation. “Chris Hayes will still be Chris Hayes. Rachel Maddow will still be Rachel. Lawrence O’Donnell will still be Lawrence.”

“We're just going to keep doing what we do,” added Scarborough’s wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski.

‘Though no programming changes are planned, the rebranding will be a test in an age when brand awareness is difficult to achieve as the media marketplace is highly fractured. MSNBC kept its name for 29 years even after founding partner Microsoft gave up its stake in the network.

MS NOW — an acronym for “My Source for News, Opinion and the World” — is the result of the politically progressive network being spun off into a company called Versant. Parent company Comcast announced the move last year as it no longer wants the slow, steady decline of the cable business holding back its stock price.

Versant, which also includes CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E! and Golf Channel, will be its own publicly traded company starting in January.