MS NOW

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Rachel Maddow’s eponymous MSNBC program became one of the network’s signature shows.

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MS NOW is an American cable television news and political commentary channel launched in 1996 as MSNBC. MS NOW is owned by Versant Media Group, Inc. (VSNT). The network is generally considered to be liberal or left-leaning. In November 2025, it changed its name to MS NOW after separating from NBC. MS NOW stands for My Source News Opinion World.

MSNBC was formed as a joint venture between Microsoft (MSFT) and NBC, and it began broadcasting in 1996. A companion website, MSNBC.com, was launched at the same time. The channel’s initial offerings included news programs and opinion shows, the latter featuring both liberal and conservative perspectives. As viewership lagged behind CNN and the conservative Fox News Channel, MSNBC implemented various programming changes, though they had little impact.

In 2004, NBC became part of the newly formed NBC Universal. The following year, NBCUniversal acquired a controlling interest in MSNBC from Microsoft. In 2011, Comcast (CMCSA) acquired a controlling stake in NBCUniversal, which became a subsidiary of Comcast. In 2012, Microsoft sold its stake in MSNBC’s digital operations to NBC News, and MSNBC.com became NBCNews.com.

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Lawrence O’Donnell joined MSNBC’s prime-time lineup in 2010 as host of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.

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In the early 2000s, MSNBC began to focus on politics and adopt a more left-leaning stance. This transition was largely credited to Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2003–11), a show that mixed news, politics, and liberal commentary. Olbermann attracted particular attention for his frequent scathing critiques of Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and the Republican Party. Hardball with Chris Matthews, which aired on MSNBC from 1999 to 2020, also gained a dedicated viewership with its criticisms of George W. Bush’s administration.

The popularity of these programs led MSNBC to add other liberal hosts, most notably Rachel Maddow. Her eponymous show debuted in 2008 and eventually became the channel’s premier program. Lawrence O’Donnell joined the prime-time lineup with The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell in 2010.

As its opinion programming expanded, MSNBC faced criticism that it was too closely aligned with the Democratic Party, but the network embraced its progressive perspective and in 2010 adopted the tagline “Lean Forward.”

Following a ratings slump in 2014–15, MSNBC changed its daytime programming to focus more on news. The evening lineup, however, continued to be dominated by opinion-driven shows. During the presidency of Donald Trump (2017–21), the channel experienced some of its highest ratings. Notable MSNBC hosts in the early 21st century included Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, Chris Hayes, Joe Scarborough, Jonathan Capehart, and Joy Reid.

In November 2024, Comcast unveiled plans to spin off MSNBC and several other cable networks, including CNBC, Golf Channel, and USA Network, from its NBCUniversal subsidiary to form a new company, Versant Media Group. Amid the transition, MSNBC also overhauled its lineup, severing ties with Reid and making Psaki a prime-time host four nights a week.

The network became MS NOW in November 2025 as it separated its operations and branding from NBC News. Versant became an independent publicly traded company in January 2026, with MS NOW among its cable networks.

In September 2026, Trump banned journalists from MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House because of what he said were “purposely negative stories.” The action came more than a year after Trump banned journalists from the Associated Press from the White House because of the news organization’s decision to continue to call the Gulf of Mexico by its historic name after Trump renamed it the Gulf of America.