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

MS Now

U.S. left / progressive

Owned byVersant Media Group (Nasdaq: VSNT), a publicly traded holding company spun off from Comcast's NBCUniversal in January 2026
FundingCable carriage fees and advertising; a direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service was also launched in mid-2026
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

MSNBC launched on July 15, 1996, as a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft, with Microsoft investing $221 million for a 50 percent stake in a channel meant to blend broadcast journalism with early internet distribution. The partnership underperformed: Microsoft divested its share of the cable channel in 2005 and its stake in the co-branded website in 2012, after which NBCUniversal held full ownership. Through the late 2000s the network pivoted from rolling news to prime-time opinion programming, building a roster of liberal commentators—Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews—and cementing a clearly left-of-center identity it has held ever since. Comcast, which acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, announced plans to spin off most of its cable networks into a new publicly traded company, Versant Media Group, a transaction completed on January 2, 2026. In anticipation of that split, MSNBC rebranded as MS NOW on November 15, 2025—the name is a backronym for 'My Source for News, Opinion, and the World'—and relocated its New York studios from 30 Rockefeller Plaza to the former New York Times Building. Network president Rebecca Kutler publicly stated that the editorial direction would remain unchanged, and Versant subsequently announced a subscription streaming service positioned explicitly as 'a digital hub for progressives.' Coverage of the Trump second term has followed that stated direction, with the network running sustained critical reporting on administration personnel, policy rollbacks, and executive actions.

Sources

  1. MS NOW – Wikipedia
  2. MSNBC rebranded as MS NOW, leaving NBCUniversal behind – The Hill
  3. MSNBC Sets Date For Rebrand To MS NOW – Deadline
  4. A message to our community: MSNBC is changing our name to MS NOW – ms.now
  5. Versant Plans Launch of MS NOW Subscription Service – Variety
  6. Versant Plans MS Now DTC Offering – Deadline
  7. From MSNBC to 'MS NOW': Legacy of Microsoft's news experiment echoes in network's new name – GeekWire
  8. MSNBC – Wikipedia (founding and history)

Profile compiled 2026-07-12; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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