MSNBC will change its name later this year to MS Now (My Source News Opinion World) and drop the peacock image from its branding. These are the first significant public-facing changes in Versant's upcoming separation from Comcast's NBCUniversal.

(Reuters) -Cable news network MSNBC will change its name and drop the iconic peacock logo as parent Comcast presses ahead with the planned separation of many NBCUniversal cable networks later this year.

Versant is rebranding MSNBC as MS NOW, which stands for My Source for News, Opinion and the World, and dropping the iconic Peacock logo as part of the change. The rebrand, announced Monday, is part of Comcast’s efforts to separate the progressive cable news channel from NBC News and its other assets as it…