MSNBC revealed its new name and logo on Monday…. and has been mocked endlessly ever since.
The left-leaning cable channel will soon be known as MS NOW – sans any mention of NBC or its iconic peacock symbol. The rebrand is part of the network’s effort to separate itself from NBCUniversal as it and several other cable channels (including USA Network, CNBC, Oxygen, E!, and Golf Channel) are being spun off by parent company Comcast into a separate entity called Versant.
But everything from the logo to the acronym are being lambasted on social media by industry insiders and viewers alike. On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine to react to the shakeup and why they don’t think it will stick.
The Rebrand
MS NOW is short for the mouthful “My Source for News Opinion and the World,” and its new logo features a red-and-white striped flag on a blue background. The New York Post reported NBCUniversal exec Mark Lazarus, who will lead Versant when the spin-off is finalized later this year, made the announcement in a memo to employees on Monday.
The move reportedly came as a surprise because MSNBC staffers were previously told the network would retain its name and logo, but Lazarus told The Wall Street Journal the rebrand is meant to mitigate “brand confusion” post-spin off.
Lazarus also said the network will continue to serve a “progressive audience” and focus on “holding the political figures from both parties to account.”
The Spin
On the airwaves, MSNBC talent has been trying to spin the PR disaster as some sort of win. Rachel Maddow told Kara Swisher on the Pivot podcast that MSNBC will no longer have to make do with “leftovers” from NBC News.
“In this case, we can apply our own instincts, our own queries, our own priorities, to getting stuff that we need from reporters and correspondents,” she said. “So, it’s going to be better.”
Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough praised what he called the “very sporty” new logo and what it signifies. “This shows we’re independent,” he claimed. “When you have somebody come into your company… and they go, ‘We want you to be entrepreneurial. We want you to come up with new ideas. We want you to push the boundaries.’ I’m excited about that.”
CNBC host and frequent Morning Joe guest Andrew Ross Sorkin had an interesting choice of words to describe the new identity. “I’ve always thought about [MSNBC] and CNBC and USA, and actually all of those assets as insurgent networks,” he told Scarborough. “This is an insurgent network.”
Jonathan Lemire agreed. “This is an ideal time to rebrand, an ideal time to embrace a new identity… to be an insurgent network,” he added.
‘Too Stupid’
Megyn wasn’t buying it. “We’re an ‘insurgency,'” she asked. “Most adults of a certain age understand that term as about Iraq, and ISIS, and a group that killed American service personnel. It’s not really how you want to describe yourself as a news organization, like a bunch of disgusting, heartless killers.”
“What they’re bragging about is that now… this is their break, so they’re no longer part of legacy media,” Megyn noted. “You see, this is their attempt to make the cable news channel MSNBC into a 2Way, or a Next Up, or a Megyn Kelly Show and try and revitalize their relevance.”
She believes they would be better served admitting what everyone already knows. “Why doesn’t anyone come out and say, ‘This was so f-cking stupid, but they insisted that we do it. So, all right, that’s who we’re going to say we are,'” Megyn said.
Turrentine agreed. “I think it’s the dumbest name I’ve ever heard. The jokes online were hilarious,” he said. “Look, I think if you’re going to relaunch like this… what is the ‘insurgent’ new ideas or formats or posts or shows that you’re going to have… They’re going to continue to do the same lineup with the same hosts, but with a different name. And they’re ‘insurgent’ now?!”
Spicer joked that by the time he remembers to call the network “MS NOW,” it will likely be out of business entirely, but Halperin does not believe the name is going to stick. “It’s too stupid,” he said. “Whoever came up with this process needs to reevaluate the process in place to make decisions because this is just a several week long PR hit, and they’ll have to pay someone else to come up with a new name, and they will embarrassingly have to tell the media there’s yet another new name. Big mistake, I would say.”
He also had a proposal for Comcast. “Give me access to my ChatGPT account,” Halperin quipped. “In 20 minutes, I’ll get them a better logo and a better name.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Halperin, Spicer, and Turrentine by tuning in to episode 1,132 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.