Even if you are a casual MS NOW viewer—formerly known as MSNBC—you probably recognize the network’s biggest names, including Chris Hayes, Stephanie Ruhle, and Rachel Maddow. Together, these anchors have helped MS NOW build a loyal audience of casual viewers, enthusiastic fans, and deeply devoted supporters.
Now, MS NOW President Rebecca Cutler is working to turn that broad audience into an even stronger community. Her goal is to transform casual viewers and longtime fans into paying members of the MS NOW media ecosystem, both on television and across digital platforms.
To support that vision, Cutler is launching an ambitious subscription initiative called Membership. The program is designed to give MS NOW audiences more direct access to the network’s leading journalists, including Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow, while building stronger connections with viewers around the world. Many news organizations already offer subscription services, including WIRED (by the way, subscribe here). What stands out about Cutler and her team’s strategy, however, is the methodical research behind it: MS NOW surveyed 18,000 people before finalizing the program and placed its deep bench of on-air talent at the center of its paid-content strategy. As influencers increasingly shape how people consume news and traditional television continues to decline, MS NOW is responding by applying creator-economy and influencer strategies to build a more sustainable, future-focused media business.
I spoke with Cutler at WIRED’s New York studio a few days before MS NOW Membership launched. We discussed how television personalities become powerful drivers of fandom, whether MS NOW can compete more effectively with Fox News, and whether media consolidation could ultimately benefit major news networks.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Katie Drummond: Rebecca, thank you for joining us. To begin, when did you join MSNBC, now MS NOW, and what was the timeline?
Rebecca Cutler: I joined just before the 2022 midterm elections. I grew up professionally at CNN, where I spent more than 20 years. When I left in early 2022, several people I knew and respected reached out to me from MSNBC. They described a role that had plenty of opportunity and was somewhat undefined—which, in the best possible way, made it especially appealing. I decided to explore it and joined MSNBC, now MS NOW, to lead the digital business, essentially everything outside of traditional linear television.
That role gave me the opportunity to learn the organization from the inside while also identifying the opportunities we could pursue in the years ahead.
At a certain point, you took responsibility for the entire organization.
Yes.
What were the biggest challenges you identified when you looked across the full portfolio and asked, “What should we do next?”
One of the first things that struck me was how many genuine fans the network had.
I have worked in other newsrooms and have friends across the industry. I love journalism and believe deeply in the work we do, but I had never been part of an organization where the audience truly thought of itself as a fan community—with such a strong personal connection to the network’s talent.
When I joined MSNBC, Jen Psaki joined around the same time. We already knew each other a little from earlier in our careers, so we traveled into the field together and produced some candid reports. I have walked through airports with anchors and journalists throughout my career, but I had never experienced anything like walking through an airport with Jen. The level of attention she received was remarkable. People supported her, cheered for her, and felt a genuine connection with her. That is why she was such a natural fit for MS NOW.
Source: www.wired.com