MS NOW enters 2026 with new shows posting double-digit growth in Prime

Last year was all about change at MS NOW, starting with the divestiture of the MSNBC name when the divorce between the cable news network and NBC became official. That name change also brought a massive hiring spree to staff the new independent network, and a move from NBC’s home base at 30 Rockefeller Plaza to MS NOW’s new studios in Times Square.

2025 also saw big changes to the network’s primetime lineup — always a tricky move for any network, betting on something new in a medium where fame often brings viewers back night after night. But just like the name change, MS NOW in prime seems to have made the right bet, with both new nightly shows, The weekday evening And The briefing with Jen Psaki, posting double-digit ratings gains compared to the same month a year ago.

ForbesSame news, no peacock: ‘From this moment on, we are formerly MSNBC’By means of Mark Joyella

The briefing And The weekday evening ensure prime time profits

In September, the network announced that Jen Psaki would move to the 8:00 PM ET hour on Monday nights, following an experiment that proved highly successful with the creation of The Rachel Maddow Show as a Monday night event at 9 p.m

In January, The briefing was up 42 percent among total viewers, with an average total audience of 1.074 million viewers. Among viewers ages 25 to 54 — the key demographic valued by advertisers — Psaki delivered 98,000 viewers in January, a 44 percent increase from a year ago.

Bee The weekday eveningthe Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders Townsend-hosted show drew an average total audience of 961,000 viewers – up 21 percent from a year ago – and 87,000 viewers in the key demo (up 19 percent from last January).

Prime time growth saw MS NOW’s prime time average reach over one million viewers in January, up 13 percent year-over-year, and outperform rival network CNN. Fox News Channel remained the dominant force in cable news in January as it ranked number one for the 24th year in a row.

New name? No problem for viewers

If executives at Versant, the newly independent company that is the parent company of MS NOW, CNBC and other ex-NBC properties, were concerned about the potential impact of dropping the MSNBC name — a legacy built over nearly 30 years — January’s ratings didn’t show that.

ForbesMSNBC is rebranded as ‘MS NOW’By means of Mark Joyella

Since launching as MS NOW in November, the network has grown across all dayparts, with an overall daily rating of 20 percent, along with gains in digital programming and the network’s presence on platforms like YouTube, where MS NOW dominates other news networks in total views.

Velshi & Ruhle say the connection with viewers is of utmost importance

Leading up to the name change, then-MSNBC hosts Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle told me that the network’s connection to viewers has always been a strength — and one that wouldn’t be affected by a simple change of letters in the corner of the screen.

“I think MSNBC – or MS NOW – has always been a place of smart content,” Ruhle said, emphasizing that on her show: The 11th houras on Velshithe two hosts don’t just read a teleprompter. “We are not TV presenters who are given a script and cover different topics every day.”

As is becoming increasingly common in the increasingly diverse network news ecosystem, Velshi and Ruhle launched a weekly show on YouTube in 2025, adding that to their duties hosting their own shows on MS NOW.

“We’re talking to a general news audience that wants to be engaged and informed and wants to know how we can be better and smarter,” Ruhle told me in November. While some cable news networks fill hours with “round the table” conversations dominated by partisan debates — shouty panels of Democrats and Republicans talking over each other — that’s not what you’ll see on their YouTube show or on MS NOW.

“Come in, just join in and tell us what you want,” Velshi said. Send us your questions. Take advantage of the fact that on YouTube and TikTok people can send us questions. “I think if the viewer gets the message that they’re interacting with hosts on MSNBC or MS NOW, and that carries over into the way we cover things, I think that makes us better for our viewers in the longer term.”