Pressure of Truth
Exposing the spin on all sides of the news.
Outlet profile

CNBC / MS NOW

U.S. center-left (CNBC); U.S. left / progressive (MS NOW)

Owned byVersant Media Group, Inc. — a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: VSNT) spun off from Comcast/NBCUniversal in January 2026, led by CEO Mark Lazarus. Versant also owns USA Network, E!, Syfy, Oxygen, Golf Channel, Fandango, and Rotten Tomatoes.
FundingAdvertising revenue and cable carriage fees from pay-TV providers; MS NOW is also launching a direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service in summer 2026.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

CNBC launched in April 1989 as a cable business news network and has long dominated financial and markets coverage in the United States. MSNBC launched on July 15, 1996, as a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC News; Microsoft exited the partnership in 2005. Through the 2000s and 2010s, MSNBC shifted toward a decidedly progressive prime-time lineup, a turn widely credited to hosts such as Keith Olbermann and, later, Rachel Maddow. In November 2024, Comcast announced plans to spin off most of its cable networks — including both CNBC and MSNBC — into a new public company, later named Versant. On November 15, 2025, MSNBC rebranded as MS NOW (a backronym for 'My Source for News, Opinion, and the World') and simultaneously began separating its editorial operations from NBC News, building its own reporting staff. Versant started trading on Nasdaq on January 5, 2026. MS NOW has announced plans to launch a subscription streaming service in summer 2026, positioning itself explicitly as a digital hub for progressive audiences. The Trump administration has listed both outlets among news organizations it accuses of biased coverage; Trump has repeatedly singled out MSNBC/MS NOW by name, calling it 'MSDNC' and accusing it of acting as an arm of the Democratic Party.

Sources

  1. MS NOW — Wikipedia
  2. Versant — Wikipedia
  3. Versant launches, Comcast spins off E!, CNBC and MS NOW — Yahoo Finance
  4. Comcast spinoff Versant starts trading on Nasdaq — CNBC
  5. MS Now, Formerly MSNBC, Will Launch Subscription Streaming Service in Summer 2026 — Cord Cutters News
  6. Don't call it MSNBC. MS NOW takes on Trump's Washington. — The Washington Post
  7. CNBC Media Bias — AllSides
  8. CNBC — Bias and Credibility — Media Bias/Fact Check
  9. MSNBC Reinvents Itself as MS NOW — DesignRush

Profile compiled 2026-07-14; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record