MS NOW's New Membership Costs $7.99 a Month: Is It Worth It?
The rebranded MSNBC spinoff is adding a paid membership tier on September 9 — here's what it costs and what you actually get.
What’s changing
MS NOW, the network formerly known as MSNBC, is rolling out a new paid membership on Wednesday, September 9. The subscription is separate from cable or existing streaming bundles — it’s a direct-to-consumer product that gets you 24/7 live streams, original content, extra TV programming, and ways to interact with anchors and reporters.
The actual numbers
The membership runs $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year if you pay upfront — a modest discount over paying monthly, which would run $95.88 annualized. If you sign up at launch and before September 30, MS NOW is offering an introductory rate of $39.99 for the first full year, effectively half off the standard annual price. That works out to about $3.33 a month for year one, before it presumably resets to the regular $79.99 annual rate.
There’s no word yet on whether this membership requires an existing cable subscription or streaming login, or whether it’s a standalone add-on. The company hasn’t said if the intro price is a one-time-only offer for new members or something that could recur.
Who this actually affects
This is a genuinely new charge, not a price hike on something you already pay for. If you don’t sign up, nothing about your current bill changes — MS NOW’s regular programming, whatever access you already have to it, stays as is. This is squarely for people who want more: live-stream access beyond normal broadcast, extra original content, and community features tied to the network’s personalities.
MS NOW says it draws 3.2 billion views across YouTube and TikTok so far this year, and that its typical viewer watches nine hours a week — the network says that’s the second-most of any cable network. The membership is being pitched as a way to deepen that relationship, not replace anything viewers currently get for free.
The spin versus the substance
MS NOW president Rebecca Kutler frames this as long-term strategy — “the first step” in building audience relationships beyond what people already get from the network. That’s a reasonable business goal, but readers should note the framing doesn’t answer the practical question: does $7.99 a month buy you anything you can’t already get through a cable package, YouTube, or TikTok, where the network already has a massive following? The company says it will “research, test, and refine” the offering, which suggests the current $7.99/$79.99 structure and feature set could change.
What to do about it
If you’re not already a heavy MS NOW viewer, there’s no reason to rush. Wait and see what the membership actually includes once it launches on September 9 — CCN’s report doesn’t specify exact original-content titles or how “connecting with anchors” works in practice.
If you are a regular viewer and want in, the intro deal is the one worth grabbing: $39.99 for a full year beats the standard $79.99 annual price by 50%, and beats month-to-month billing by nearly $56 over twelve months. But that discount window closes September 30, so if you’re going to try it, sign up before then rather than after the full price kicks in.