Cable news channel MSNBC is going to rebrand as My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW, according to a new report from the New York Times. The change is happening because Comcast’s NBCUniversal is spinning off many of its cable TV assets into a new company called Versant, severing ties with the “NBC” part of MSNBC.
But it’s not yet clear where you’ll be able to find MS NOW on the web. That’s because the web domain msnow.com is registered in Gyeonggi, South Korea by someone who is clearly not trying to produce news content. It’s a one-page domain that reads “msnow.com – Motorized Snow vehicles (SnowMobile)” in English and includes a vague explanation for what snowmobiles are in Korean.
MSNBC was first created as a cable channel and web venture in 1996 by Microsoft and NBC, mashing up the names of the two brands. Microsoft sold its stake in 2012, but the name was retained. The spinoff of Verant is expected to be finished by the end of the year and will include the media properties, CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MS NOW, Oxygen, Syfy, and USA Network. Versant will also get the digital outlets Fandango, GolfNow, Rotten Tomatoes, and SportsEngine.
MSNBC had originally planned to keep its name, according to Variety. But NBCUniversal, which will keep NBC News, apparently decided to keep ownership of its peacock design with no intention of sharing it. CNBC will get to keep its name because it stands for Consumer News and Business Channel, not National Broadcasting Company, according to a memo explaining the rationale that was seen by CNN.
But all of that leaves the question of where MS NOW’s online home base will be established. The website msnow.com, as it exists today, is rather odd. It appears to have been first parked in 2001, according to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, but it doesn’t look like it’s ever been properly utilized.
A translation of the page from Google Translate looks like filler text about Korean snowmobiles:
A snowmobile is a vehicle that travels on snow. Equipped with skis and tracked wheels, it is used for winter recreation and transportation. Also known as a motor sled or snow machine. In Korea, it is used for maintenance, rescue operations, and cargo transport at ski resorts and other locations.
The page also has some confusing stock art, with a hand touching some colored blocks, as you can see below.
The handles on social media sites are also parked by others. The X account for @msnow is an account with three followers that’s never tweeted. The TikTok account for @msnow is a private account following no one with no followers. The name is even taken on Truth Social, with an account called Michael Snow that’s following four accounts. One of those accounts is President Donald Trump, of course.
It seems like an understatement to say that online reaction to the MSNBC name change has been negative. People have been making endless jokes about what MS can stand for, including multiple sclerosis, Mississippi, and a salutation for a woman. It also could be read as “M snow.”
People typically resist change, especially when it’s a brand they feel some connection with. But only time will tell whether the move hurts the network in any real way. The streaming service Max eventually relented and switched back to HBO Max after much ridicule, but that’s not an option in this case if NBC is going to claim ownership of all the branding assets necessary to maintain that brand.
MSNBC/MS Now didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed on Monday. Gizmodo will update this article when we hear back.
