(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.

MSNBC is being renamed after parent company Comcast spins the cable news channel off into a separate corporate entity later this year. The left-leaning channel will be known as MS NOW once it becomes part of Versant, a new company, and is no longer associated with NBC News, staffers were told Monday.

Cable news channel MSNBC will rebrand as My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW, according to internal memos seen by Reuters today, as parent Comcast presses ahead with the planned separation of many NBCUniversal cable networks later this year.