The decision to spin off MSNBC as part of a new company will result in the loss of NBC News as a partner, potentially a new network name, and maybe even new owners plus a different direction.

Variety reported:

The cable-news outlet could have to consider changing its name and familiar markings under a spin-off of the bulk of the cable assets of parent company Comcast, one of the nascent company’s new top executives suggested to an assemblage of MSNBC staffers Wednesday morning, according to two people familiar with the gathering.

Lazarus told an audience that included Rachel Maddow, Chris Jansing and Katy Tur that he was not sure whether MSNBC would have to change its identity as part of the transaction, which will split the cable network and its business-news sibling CNBC from NBC News and NBCUniversal. If the two networks are no longer part of the NBC corporate entity, attendees wanted to know, will they still be able to carry marks that are part of their former home?

MSNBC was using NBC’s news gathering operation, which means that a lot of the reporters that viewers saw on MSNBC actually work for NBC News. Without those reporters or a newsgathering operation, MSNBC would nothing more than televised talk radio that would consist of roughly 18 hours of talking heads talking to each other.

The reality is that MSNBC and the other networks Comcast is spinning off will be ripe to be sold. It is easy to imagine a right wing billionaire or company like Sinclair buying MSNBC, rebranding it, and converting it into a Fox News competitor.

MSNBC could use a rebrand since both Microsoft and MSNBC are both not going to be part of the operation going forward.

For viewers, this means that MSNBC could soon be gone, and what replaces it is a question mark right now.