• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 17, 2011

Comcast promised a commitment to re-energize NBC and broadcasting in general before taking control of NBCUniversal earlier this year. Last week, it buoyed affiliates by acquiring rights to the Olympics through 2020. Now, it's re-branding its own station division to reflect the emphasis.

Its group of 10 owned NBC stations, which took on an "NBC Local Media" umbrella to emphasize expansion into new platforms, is switching to NBC Owned Television Stations.

The move comes as Valari Staab, who led the ABC-owned station in San Francisco, takes over as president of the division at NBCU.

During the previous re-branding to "NBC Local Media," the URLs for the station Web sites moved away from the on-air brand to ones with a market-wide, platform-neutral approach. For example, in South Florida, NBC6.net became NBCMiami.com.

In an internal memo, Staab wrote to NBCU employees about the latest change: "This new name serves as a reminder to all of us that this division is first and foremost defined by 10 great television stations serving 10 very dynamic and diverse communities."

She went on to say that the "owned and operated" identification that networks have used for their station groups for years will be gone, "because while the stations are owned by NBC, they are operated by the local management team of each station."

However, she did note that the emphasis on multiplatform distribution will continue.