Why MSNBC is becoming MS NOW

Aug. 19, 2025 3:56 PM PT

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MSNBC is being renamed after parent company Comcast spins the cable news channel off into a separate corporate entity later this year.

The left-leaning channel will be known as MS NOW once it becomes part of Versant, a new company, and is no longer associated with NBC News, staffers were told Monday.

But why the split and what to expect? The Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Faughnder has the details.

Entertainment & Arts

Ryan Faughnder

Ryan Faughnder is a former senior editor with the Los Angeles Times’ Hollywood Inc. team, which covers the business of entertainment. He also launched and wrote the entertainment industry newsletter The Wide Shot. A San Diego native, he earned a master’s degree in journalism from USC and a bachelor’s in English from UC Santa Barbara. Before joining The Times in 2013, he wrote for the Los Angeles Business Journal and Bloomberg News. Faughnder was previously a film business reporter for Company Town and was part of the team that was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of the “Rust” set shooting.

Mark E. Potts

Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.