MS NOW

Quick Take

The network is broadly understood as the progressive counterweight to Fox News. Britannica describes MS NOW as "generally considered to be liberal or left-leaning."[2] Network leadership publicly affirmed during the November 2025 rebrand that editorial direction would not change: "while our name will be changing, who we are and what we do will not," president Rebecca Kutler wrote to staff.[3] One twist worth knowing: the legacy parent Comcast's corporate PAC gave roughly 53% to Republicans and 47% to Democrats in the 2024 cycle, which is the regulatory-incumbency pattern common across heavily regulated industries and a separate question from the network's editorial identity.[4]

Public Political Activity

The political activity record is unusually layered right now because of the corporate transition. From 1996 through the end of 2025, the cable channel operated as part of NBC Universal, a Comcast subsidiary. Versant Corporation (Nasdaq: VSNT) became MS NOW's parent in early January 2026, with shares first trading January 5, 2026.[1] As a freshly-spun-off public company, Versant has no reported federal lobbying or PAC activity yet through the first quarter of 2026.

The legacy Comcast record is substantial. Through the 2024 election cycle, the Comcast Corporation corporate PAC contributed $1,917,900 directly to federal candidates, and the broader organization (PAC plus employee donations of $200 or more reporting Comcast as employer) contributed $7,365,222.[5] Federal lobbying expenditures in 2024 totaled $13,931,000.[5] OpenSecrets' candidate-recipient breakdown shows the corporate PAC split 53.17% to Republicans and 46.83% to Democrats in 2024.[4] This is consistent with the historical pattern: the 2020 cycle reported roughly 54% Republican / 46% Democrat.[6] The corporate giving pattern reflects what is typical for heavily regulated industries: bipartisan giving to incumbents in committees of jurisdiction, regardless of the news arm's editorial identity. The Philadelphia Inquirer characterized Comcast as a firm that "rewards incumbency, not party."[6]

Versant's political activity going forward will be tracked separately from Comcast as a freestanding public company. As of this profile's publication, there is no Versant corporate PAC reported on OpenSecrets.

Public Positions & Statements

The clearest documented editorial direction comes from the network's own corporate communications around the November 2025 rebrand. President Rebecca Kutler told staff that "while our name will be changing, who we are and what we do will not," explicitly committing to continuity of editorial direction.[3] Versant CEO Mark Lazarus, announcing the rebrand, described the goal as establishing "an independent news organization."[3] Coverage of the rebrand across both partisan and centrist outlets has used "progressive" or "left-leaning" as the default characterization of the network without controversy. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that MSNBC was "reclaim[ing] its Rachel Maddow-centric identity" under new president Kutler in early 2025.[7] Axios reported that the 2025 lineup changes signaled the network's intent to "double down on its liberal bend" rather than move toward the center in the Trump era.[8]

Several primetime anchors have public histories that further establish the editorial direction. Jen Psaki, who anchors The Briefing Tuesday through Friday at 9 p.m., served as White House press secretary under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2022 and previously held senior communications roles in the Obama administration.[9] Symone Sanders-Townsend, a co-host of MS NOW's weeknight program The Weeknight, served as chief spokesperson and senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris. Michael Steele, a co-host of The Weeknight, is a former Republican National Committee chairman who broke publicly with the party over Donald Trump and now co-anchors on the network.

The morning daypart runs less ideologically uniform than primetime. Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough is a former Republican congressman from Florida.[10] In 2010, MSNBC suspended Scarborough for two days after he made campaign donations to Republican candidates in Florida in violation of NBC News policy.[10] He has been openly critical of Donald Trump since the 2016 campaign, and the show generally runs Trump-critical from a centrist-to-liberal frame.

The network has been the target of vocal criticism from President Donald Trump, who has called it "MSDNC" and "a threat to our democracy" on Truth Social and questioned whether the network "should even have a right to broadcast."[11] On November 14, 2025, Eric Trump publicly stated he intended to sue the network and Jen Psaki over a monologue questioning his business interests in connection with a state visit to China.[12]

Products & Services

MS NOW operates as a 24-hour cable news network, available on most cable and satellite providers in the United States and reaching approximately 70 million subscriber households. The network produces a substantial podcast slate including The Rachel Maddow Show podcast, Why Is This Happening? with Chris Hayes, Morning Joe, and the Rachel Maddow Presents original-series feed. The network operates the ms.now website (formerly msnbc.com) and is moving operations to a new Manhattan headquarters at 229 West 43rd Street.

Founding & Ownership

MSNBC launched in July 1996 as a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC News, originally combining a cable channel with an early commercial news website.[2] Microsoft exited the joint venture progressively over the following years, with full transfer of the cable channel to NBC Universal completed in 2005 and the website rebranded from MSNBC.com to NBCNews.com in 2012. The cable channel was wholly owned by NBC Universal, a Comcast subsidiary, from 2005 through the end of 2025.

On November 20, 2024, Comcast announced it would spin off most of NBC Universal's cable networks and select digital properties into a new publicly traded company.[1] The new company, named Versant, was led by Mark Lazarus, a longtime Comcast executive. Comcast president Michael Cavanagh described the move as a response to the transition of the video businesses away from traditional cable. The spinoff completed in early January 2026, with Versant shares beginning trading on the Nasdaq under ticker VSNT on January 5, 2026.[1]

MS NOW is one of several cable networks now owned by Versant. The portfolio also includes CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, and the Golf Channel. Versant also owns digital properties including Fandango Media, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass, and SportsEngine. Versant is headquartered at 229 West 43rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[1] Under a commercial services agreement signed in May 2025, NBCUniversal continues to sell domestic advertising inventory for Versant's cable networks through the 2026 and 2027 upfront cycles.[13]

Network leadership: Mark Lazarus serves as CEO of Versant Corporation. Rebecca Kutler is president of MS NOW; she was promoted from senior vice president to interim president in January 2025 and confirmed in the permanent role thereafter, succeeding Rashida Jones.[7]

Recent News

The defining recent event is the rebrand itself. MSNBC officially became MS NOW on Saturday, November 15, 2025, with the new logo dropping the NBC Peacock that had been part of the brand identity since launch.[14] Beginning October 6, 2025, the network stopped relying on NBC News correspondents and crews for domestic and international coverage, with Washington coverage following on October 20, building out an independent newsgathering operation in advance of the formal corporate separation.[15]

Programming changes through 2025 under President Rebecca Kutler included the cancellation of The ReidOut (Joy Reid), Alex Wagner Tonight, Katie Phang's weekend program, and Jose Diaz-Balart's daytime show.[9] On her February 24, 2025 broadcast, Rachel Maddow publicly criticized the reorganization on her own program, calling the decision to part with Joy Reid "a bad mistake" and the broader programming overhaul "indefensible."[16] Maddow returned to a five-night-a-week schedule for the first 100 days of the second Trump administration.[8]

In September 2025, the network terminated political analyst Matthew Dowd the same day he made on-air comments during breaking-news coverage of a shooting that killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University speaking event. Dowd, a former chief strategist for George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign who had joined the network in 2022, said on air that Kirk was "constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech aimed at certain groups" and that "hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which ultimately lead to hateful actions."[17] President Rebecca Kutler issued a public statement calling the comments "inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable," and the network apologized. Dowd also publicly apologized; in a subsequent Substack post he wrote that the firing was a reaction to a "right wing media mob."[18]

In early November 2025, ahead of the rebrand, MSNBC launched its We The People ad campaign with a 60-second spot featuring Rachel Maddow reading the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. MediaPost reported the campaign launch on November 4, 2025 was "timed to benefit from typically higher election day viewership."[19]

Versant began trading publicly January 5, 2026, on the Nasdaq under ticker VSNT.[1]

Where to Find Them

• Official website: ms.now (formerly msnbc.com)
• Cable carriage on most major U.S. cable and satellite providers
• Podcast distribution via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most major podcast platforms

Footnotes

[1] Michael P. Hill, NewscastStudio, "Comcast completes Versant spinoff with IPO," January 5, 2026. https://www.newscaststudio.com/2026/01/05/versant-ipo/

[2] Britannica Money, "MS NOW," accessed May 27, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/money/MS-NOW

[3] NBC News, "MSNBC will change its name to MS Now and unveil new logo this year," August 18, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/media/msnbc-change-name-ms-now-spinoff-nbcuniversal-rcna225563

[4] OpenSecrets.org, "Comcast Corp PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates, 2024 cycle," accessed May 27, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/comcast-corp/C00248716/candidate-recipients/2024

[5] OpenSecrets.org, "Comcast Corp Profile: Summary," accessed May 27, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/comcast-corp/summary?id=d000000461

[6] Chris Brennan, Philadelphia Inquirer, "Corporations recoil from eight Pa. GOP vote 'objectors,' suspending their money," January 12, 2021. https://www.inquirer.com/news/corporate-campaign-pacs-comcast-trump-gop-republicans-pa-democrats-supend-donations-20210112.html

[7] Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, "MSNBC's Project 2025: Trump Era Rebuilding With Rachel Maddow," January 17, 2025. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/msnbc-trump-maddow-president-rebecca-kutler-1236110556/

[8] Sara Fischer, Axios, "MSNBC will lean into its progressive roots in Trump era," February 23, 2025. https://www.axios.com/2025/02/23/msnbc-maddow-trump-programming-changes

[9] Rob Tornoe, Philadelphia Inquirer, "MSNBC lineup changes: Joy Reid, Alex Wagner out; Rachel Maddow to continue expanded hosting schedule," February 24, 2025. https://www.inquirer.com/entertainment/tv/msnbc-lineup-rachel-maddow-joy-reid-jen-psaki-symone-sanders-townsend-20250224.html

[10] Brian Stelter, NBC News, "Joe Scarborough suspended over political donations," November 19, 2010. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna40277217

[11] Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Fox News, "Trump slams MSNBC as a 'threat to democracy' in wake of NBCUniversal's lawsuit settlement," February 22, 2025. https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-slams-msnbc-threat-democracy-wake-nbcuniversals-lawsuit-settlement

[12] The Hill, "Eric Trump says he'll sue Jen Psaki, MS NOW over report on China trip," November 14, 2025. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5880380-eric-trump-lawsuit-msnow-psaki/

[13] Variety, "NBCUniversal Strikes Deal to Sell Versant Ads for Two Cycles," May 7, 2025. https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/nbcuniversal-versant-tv-advertising-sales-deal-1236389950

[14] Deadline, "MSNBC Sets Date for Rebrand to MS NOW," October 27, 2025. https://deadline.com/2025/10/msnbc-rebrand-ms-now-1236598210/

[15] Tom Jones, Poynter, "Today is MSNBC's first day apart from NBC. Here is its new code of principles," October 6, 2025. https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2025/msbnc-rebrand-starts-today-code-principles/

[16] CNN, "Rachel Maddow and other anchors lambast MSNBC's decision to cancel Joy Reid and Alex Wagner's shows," February 25, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/25/media/rachel-maddow-joy-reid-msnbc/index.html

[17] David Bauder, Associated Press (via Boston.com), "Matthew Dowd loses his MSNBC job following his Charlie Kirk commentary," September 11, 2025. https://www.boston.com/news/media/2025/09/11/msnbc-matthew-dowd-charlie-kirk/

[18] David Bauder, Associated Press (via Fortune), "Matthew Dowd cites 'right wing media mob' in firing from MSNBC," September 15, 2025. https://www.fortune.com/2025/09/15/matthew-dowd-right-wing-media-mob-in-firing-from-msnbc

[19] Wayne Friedman, MediaPost, "MSNBC Begins 'MS NOW' Rebrand, Breaks New Spots," November 4, 2025. https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/410414/msnbc-begins-ms-now-rebrand-breaks-new-spots.html