CNBC replaces its peacock with . . . a triangle

CNBC and its sister networks, including USA, Golf Channel, and E!, are spinning off from their former parent company Comcast NBCUniversal to form a new publicly traded company called Versant. As part of the new company, some of the brands in the portfolio have to rebrand to get rid of NBC’s iconic Peacock mark, CNBC included.

CNBC’s new logo, which goes live December 13, might take viewers some time to get used to.

The financial news network’s new logo was designed in house to easily match the preexisting visual assets it uses on air. The typography of the mark based is on the network’s font, Gotham, and it shows a triangle cutting into the letter N and floating just above the wordmark. That triangle, which the network calls an arrow, matches its on-air graphics package.

The triangle shape has been used by CNBC since 2023. It’s shown next to stocks to indicate which companies are up in green and which are down in red, and it appears as an icon displayed next to on-air chyrons like “Earnings Report.” The colors used in the new logo match the the dark “Broadcast Blue” and light “Neon Blue” already used in the network’s primary color palette.

The new logo is meant to reflect a modern, streamlined identity, CNBC says, but the initial reaction online to the new logo hasn’t exactly been positive. In one Reddit thread, complaints ranged from “generic” and “corporate-looking” to being bothered by the triangular notch at the bottom of the N and B. “The triangle represents a guillotine blade, killing the brand,” one wrote. On X, a commenter asked if it was a joke.

Though the peacock is gone, CNBC is betting that by sticking to its arrow and wordmark it will be able to maintain the strength and recognition of its name brand with its audience even with a new look.