MS NOW launches paid membership push to build audience community
The former MSNBC is offering direct access to journalists, exclusive content and community features as it targets viewers beyond linear television.
MS NOW is launching Membership, a paid programme designed to deepen engagement with its journalists and turn a broad audience of television and digital viewers into a more connected community.
The offering is expected to include direct interactions with anchors and reporters, community features, original creator content, new coverage verticals, livestreams and television programming. Members are reportedly due to interact with talent seven days a week at noon and 6pm, with Rachel Maddow scheduled for the Monday session.
MS NOW president Rebecca Kutler said the programme followed surveys, interviews and other research involving 18,000 people. She said the network intended to build and refine the product over time, with the offering expected to look different six months and a year after launch.
The strategy is aimed partly at audiences who consume MS NOW through YouTube, digital platforms, social media and audio but do not regularly watch linear television. Kutler said the programme would give those viewers another way to join the MS NOW community, while offering existing cable viewers greater access to the network’s talent.
MS NOW launched as a new brand roughly a year ago after formerly operating as MSNBC. It is now part of Versant, a company spun out of NBCUniversal that also includes CNBC, E! and golf-related businesses.
Kutler, who joined MSNBC before the 2022 US midterm elections after more than 20 years at CNN, has positioned presenters including Maddow, Chris Hayes, Jen Psaki and Lawrence O’Donnell as central to the network’s audience strategy. The source does not disclose Membership’s price, launch date or geographic availability.
