The cable outlet known until Saturday morning as MSNBC has long been recognized for its newsy hot takes. Now, it’s putting greater emphasis on reporters’ news breaks.
In September, MSNBC touted a dispatch from reporters Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, revealing that the FBI in 2024 allegedly recorded current White House border czar Tom Homan accepting a paper bag containing $50,000 in cash from undercover agents posing as business executives. After President Trump took office, however, the probe was reportedly shut down. Suddenly, MSNBC wasn’t just weighing in on the news later in the evening—it had kicked off a news cycle.
The network, which recently rebranded itself as MS NOW as it splits from its previous identity, is undergoing a significant transformation. Where the network once relied entirely on the journalism apparatus of NBC News to inform its programming, it now boasts dozens of its own journalists dedicated to breaking stories about the White House, the Department of Justice, and even, potentially, Taylor Swift—if it’s something viewers might care about.
MS NOW was the first to secure a live interview with Senator Alex Padilla in June after he was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security press conference. The network has also landed appearances by newsmakers who might not typically come on MSNBC, including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
There are ambitious plans in place for this newly built journalism team. “We are planning to have our reporters talking to individuals in communities to understand their view, what America looks like now, and it will be, you know, it will be honest,” says Joey Cole, who joined MS NOW as vice president of planning after working as a producer for NBC News. “We’re going to be raw.”
Could the infusion of home-grown journalism dim some of MS NOW’s traditionally blue-leaning stance? After all, facts can sometimes get in the way of a good primetime soliloquy. And what if some of the findings by MS NOW’s news staff clash with what the network’s primetime partisan die-hards want to hear?
“I think it’s important to note that we are a news department. And in our jobs, the news and the facts will take us to whatever conclusion the facts take us to in the story. And that is what we are here to do, what we focus on,” says Scott Matthews, senior vice president of newsgathering for MS NOW.
“We never really worry at all about, you know, who is going to like the story and who is going to not like the story,” he adds.
There is an expectation that the work of the news staff will appear on both MS NOW’s opinion programs and its daytime news hours, across TV and digital platforms.
Under Rebecca Kutler, who was named president in February, the network has touted new editorial hires like David Rohde, Jacob Soboroff, and Leonnig and Dilanian, as well as newsgathering alliances with AccuWeather and Sky News. It has also parted ways with some of its more vociferous left-leaning personalities, including Joy Reid and Katie Phang.
Still, no one managing MS NOW sees a shift toward moderation. “I think our hosts are just as aggressive in their thoughts of what they think about the news as they have ever been,” says Kutler. “I am incredibly proud of the lineup we have.”
There is good reason for MS NOW to seek a jolt from the headlines. While the network attracts more overall audience than CNN, it lags both CNN and Fox News Channel among the viewers advertisers want most in news programming—adults between 25 and 54.
In the third quarter of 2025, MS NOW’s viewership among that demographic was down 59% across the programming day, while CNN’s fell 45% and Fox News’ slipped 26%.
CNN has already begun emphasizing its daily newsgathering. The Warner Bros. Discovery outlet recently launched a new “All Access” subscription streaming service that highlights feet-on-the-ground reportage from around the world.
MS NOW, which aims to give its viewers both world news and opinion, will need to compete vigorously.
Besides, MS NOW is one of the biggest assets in the portfolio of its new corporate parent, Versant, which is being spun off from Comcast and NBC over the next several weeks.
The new company faces ongoing declines in its main lines of revenue, according to a recent research note from Craig Moffett, an analyst with MoffettNathanson. Affiliate fees tied to Versant’s networks fell 6.6% in 2024, while ad revenue slipped 7.2%. MS NOW is projected to see ad sales fall by 11% in 2025, to $653.9 million, according to Kagan, a market-research unit of S&P Global Intelligence.
However, an uptick is forecast for MS NOW in 2026, as the network gears up for a long run to pivotal national midterm elections.
There are already signs viewers have renewed interest. On Election Night, with Democrats winning pivotal seats in an off-year election cycle, MSNBC’s coverage drew an audience nearly on par with that of Fox News Channel, which typically dominates the cable-news audience.
The newly convened newsgathering staff aims to get inside the Beltway and beyond, with Sudeep Reddy, the network’s new Washington Bureau chief, organizing teams devoted to the White House, Congress, national security, legal affairs, and more.
Meanwhile, other parts of the team want to dig into scenes across the nation to demonstrate the effects of national policy. During the government shutdown, some reporters were sent to talk to people waiting in line at food pantries, showing what the end of SNAP benefits meant to citizens who depend on them.
“We are taking all of these things that are being decided in Washington, and we’re showing the real-world impact,” says Erin Zimmerman, vice president of newsgathering. “And it’s not just our linear viewer, but it’s our digital viewers. We’re doing a lot of digital packages, a lot of TikToks, trying to cover the whole realm.”
They are doing it all without much time for idle thought. The bulk of the team has been assembled over the last several months, with many coming over from various backgrounds.
And while MS-Old and MS-New are naturally driven by the news cycle, more headlines in the days to come will be generated by a team that continues to coalesce.
No pressure, folks!
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/ms-now-opinion-launch-hard-newsgathering-programs-1236582617/
