BOTTOM STORY OF THE DAY: MSNBC Changes to MS NOW Today: What’s behind the network’s branding makeover?
Saturday will mark the end of an era for MSNBC as the liberal cable network moves forward under new ownership and a new name: MS NOW.
The media shakeup was nearly a year in the making after Comcast announced it would spin off its cable networks into its own company called Versant, separating MSNBC from its sister broadcast network NBC, which will remain under the NBCUniversal umbrella.
The looming split led to many burning questions about MSNBC’s future, including how it would operate without NBC News’ resources, who gets what in the corporate divorce, and whether MSNBC could even keep its name.
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In an effort to distance itself from NBC as part of the corporate separation, MSNBC is changing its name to MS NOW, an acronym for “My Source for News, Opinion, and the World.”
When MSNBC first launched in 1996, “MS” originally stood for Microsoft, NBC’s former partner in launching the network, although the company divested decades ago.
Notably, CNBC, MSNBC’s sister network that Comcast is also spinning off into Versant, will keep its name as it has always stood for Consumer News and Business Channel.
The New York Times reported MSNBC employed a $20 million ad campaign this month to sell viewers on the change, including an ad where Rachel Maddow reads the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Another series of spots featured MSNBC hosts promising, “Same mission, new name.”
Stephanie Ruhle rifles through a rolodex of pretend emotions as MSNBC signs off for the last time:
The end. @Sruhle with the final moments of @MSNBC just before midnight Friday night: “This show is the very last broadcast for MSNBC from 30 Rock.” pic.twitter.com/XjGG6fKN4n
— Brent Baker 🇺🇲🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) November 15, 2025
Fortunately, we’ll always have the memories: Dan Gainor: Five ridiculous moments to remember MSNBC as it transitions to MS NOW.
3. And then there’s “Morning Joe”: Just as the thrill up the leg comment defined the Obama era, Joe Scarborough, the host of “Morning Joe” served up the garbage that defined the Biden presidency. We had a president who people knew was unable to speak coherently and unable to run the country. We all saw it. Biden held an embarrassing February press conference and was fond of saying he had talked to foreign leaders who were already deceased.
None of that mattered to Scarborough. It wasn’t long after that presser when he was defending Biden. On “Morning Joe” in March 2024, Scarborough said of Biden, “I’ve said it for years now, he’s cogent. But I undersold it when I said he was cogent, he’s far beyond cogent. In fact, I think he’s better than he’s ever been, intellectually, analytically, because he’s been around for 50 years.”
Then he put the cherry on top of the lie sundae: “Start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And f— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden, intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever.” He ended up apologizing, but the damage to his reputation was toast.
4. Hating Charlie Kirk: The number of awful things said by the left and media about Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s death is difficult to count. One of them was so bad, it cost an MSNBC employee his job. The network fired political analyst Matthew Dowd for his comments about Kirk. Dowd, a rhetorical bomb thrower, said Kirk has been “one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.
It was so awful, that Kutler had to issue an apology: When you’ve lost MSNBC…
Still though, meet the new network, just the same as the old network: MS NOW Only Goes 4.5 Hours Before Making First Nazi Analogy.