MSNBC is ready to step out on its own after the network began its split from NBC News on Monday (October 6), marking a new era away from its long-time partner as it reshapes itself under a separate company, Versant.
According to AdWeek, MSNBC largely stopped relying on NBC News correspondents and crews for coverage on Monday across both its domestic and international reports. There is one exception, with the D.C.-based coverage continuing to be shared until October 19.
MSNBC and NBC have been partnered for years, with both news organizations sharing resources and staff. However, last year, Comcast announced it would be spinning off its cable networks into a new company, Versant. Alongside MSNBC, Versant will be the home for CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and the Golf Channel.
Per Fox News, once the D.C.-based coverage ends, MSNBC will operate entirely independently of NBC News for the first time in its 30-year history. This means no more shared coverage and no longer following NBC News guidelines or taking part in NBC News-led editorial calls and meetings.
In August, it was announced that MSNBC would be changing its name to My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW, in an effort to further separate it from the NBC brand. This includes a logo change, with MSNBC losing the iconic Peacock logo. It’s yet to be confirmed when the name change will take effect.
The split will see several NBC reporters move across to the newly branded MS Now, including Ken Dilanian and Ryan Reilly, White House correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, national correspondent Jacob Soboroff, Internet reporter Brandy Zadrozny, and more.
NBCUniversal will continue to oversee NBC News and the NBC News Now streaming service, as well as Telemundo and Bravo.
According to AdWeek, Brian Carovillano, Versant’s senior vice president of standards and editorial partnerships for news, sent an internal memo to employees on Monday to mark the changes. In the memo, Carovillano outlined MS Now’s “ten core principles,” which include accuracy, fairness, and opinion based on “accurate, reported facts.”
There was also an emphasis on using sources that can be identified by name. When it comes to sources that wish to remain anonymous, the information has to be a firsthand account, and the network must be transparent about why the source is not revealing their identity.