Pressure of Truth
The news, with the spin made visible.
Outlet profile

MSNBC (ms.now, opinion)

U.S. progressive left

Owned byVersant Media Group (Nasdaq: VSNT), a publicly traded company spun off from Comcast on January 2, 2026. Brian L. Roberts, former Comcast CEO, controls approximately 33% of Versant's voting power through Class B supervoting shares. Mark Lazarus serves as Versant's CEO.
FundingPrimarily cable carriage fees and advertising revenue. A direct-to-consumer subscription streaming service is planned for launch in summer 2026, designed as a paid membership hub.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

MSNBC launched on July 15, 1996, as a joint venture between NBC News and Microsoft, which invested $221 million for a 50% stake in the cable channel. Microsoft gradually exited the partnership, divesting its share of the TV channel in 2005 and the MSNBC.com website in 2012. Through the early 2000s, the network evolved away from general news toward opinion-driven programming with a progressive political slant, formalizing this identity in 2010 with a 'Lean Forward' marketing campaign. By the 2010s, hosts such as Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Chris Hayes made it a go-to destination for left-leaning viewers, and it routinely ranked among the most-watched cable news networks. In November 2024, Comcast announced it would spin off most of its cable networks—including MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, and others—into a new independent company. MSNBC rebranded as MS NOW on November 15, 2025, adopting a backronym ('My Source for News, Opinion, and the World'), and the spin-off into Versant Media Group was completed on January 2, 2026. During the second Trump administration, the network's coverage has remained predominantly critical of White House policies, and it is planning a subscription streaming service explicitly framed around progressive civic engagement, launching in summer 2026.

Sources

  1. MS NOW – Wikipedia
  2. MSNOW | Formerly MSNBC, Anchors, Shows, History, & Rachel Maddow | Britannica Money
  3. From MSNBC to 'MS NOW': Legacy of Microsoft's news experiment echoes in network's new name – GeekWire
  4. Comcast Announces Intention to Create Leading Independent Media Business Through Spin-Off of Select Cable Television Networks
  5. Comcast announces plan to spin off cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC and USA – NBC News
  6. Exclusive: MS Now, formerly MSNBC, to launch subscription product – Axios
  7. MS Now, Formerly MSNBC, Will Launch Subscription Streaming Service in Summer 2026 – Cord Cutters News
  8. MSNBC's Project 2025: Trump Era Rebuilding With Rachel Maddow – The Hollywood Reporter
  9. MSNBC Media Bias – AllSides

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

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