And the new MS moniker could also cause some confusion with an emerging digital product tied to NBC News. NBC News Now is an ad-supported streaming service that has gradually expanded its hours and features shows led not only by “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas, but also Hallie Jackson and Gadi Schwartz.

The cable news channel is getting a new name and dropping NBC's peacock logo as part of a spinoff from NBC Universal.

MSNBC is being renamed after parent company Comcast spins the cable news channel off into a separate corporate entity later this year. The left-leaning channel will be known as MS NOW once it becomes part of Versant, a new company, and is no longer associated with NBC News, staffers were told Monday.

MSNBC changing its name to MS NOW is one of the worst branding disasters in media history. The logo looks like it belongs on a discount computer from 1998, not a serious news network. Absurd. pic.twitter.com/vjLAw6cOt5

Say goodbye to MSNBC and hello to... MS NOW. The cable channel owned by NBCUniversal (which, in turn, is owned by Comcast) is going through a name change, which means a rebrand.

The cable news network will adopt the new name MS NOW ahead of its spinoff from NBCUniversal.

In addition to MS NOW, USA Network and Golf Channel will merge into a new USA Sports brand and CNBC will change its logo but retain its name

Reactions rolled out on the news that MSNBC is getting a new name, MS NOW, and a new logo that drops the peacock symbolism.

MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow publicly defended the cable news network's rebrand during an appearance on the Pivot podcast with tech journalist Kara Swisher. “In this case, we can apply our own instincts,