MSNBC and NBC News to split early next month

MSNBC and NBC News, which have shared editorial resources going back to the cable news channel’s 1996 founding, will officially split beginning next month, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Following the split, MSNBC will change its name to MS NOW.

According to the report, the first key date will be Oct. 6, “which is when NBC News staff that will be joining MSNBC move over to their new roles (for example, Vaughn Hillyard, NBC News White House correspondent, will become MSNBC White House correspondent on that day). All MSNBC staff will also begin using guidance from the newly-created MSNBC standards team

“MSNBC has been staffing up since the split was announced last year, with high-profile hires like Hillyard, Laura Barrón-López, David Noriega, Jacob Soboroff and Marc Santia among the names that the cable channel has hired.

“Perhaps more notably, Oct. 6 is also the day when MSNBC will stop relying on NBC News correspondents and crews for all coverage outside of Washington, D.C. MSNBC will instead start to rely on its own reporters and crews.”

Oct. 20 will be the next critical date, continues the report, “as that is the day when MSNBC will stop using NBC News resources in Washington, D.C. too, instead leaning on its newly-created Washington bureau, led by Sudeep Reddy, with the channel set to add new hires in the coming weeks.”