MS Now’s inaugural direct-to-consumer membership product has set a Sept. 9 launch.
The offering, which serves as an additive experience to the network’s television and digital offerings, will offer new opportunities for members to interact directly with its trusted journalists, exclusive community features to engage with each other, a new roster of contributors and experts, original creator content, new verticals that explore how news and politics impact everyday life, and 24/7 access to live streams and television programming.
The membership will be available for $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually. Through Sept. 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET, new members can take advantage of an introductory offer of $39.99 plus tax for the first full year of the membership.
The launch, which is part of MS NOW parent company Versant’s effort to boost audience engagement, extend the reach of its brands and make the transition from linear to digital, comes as the typical viewer watches the network nine hours every week on average – the second-most hours viewed of any cable network.
MS NOW has also seen more than 3.2 billion views across YouTube and TikTok year to date, more than 80 million podcast downloads so far this year and a series of sold-out, mass-market live events.
“Our Membership is the first step in a long-term strategy to deepen our relationship with audiences in ways that build on what they already value about MS NOW, while addressing what consumers told us was missing from the news experience,” MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said in a statement. “We will continue to research, test, and refine this experience because we want it to be something that our loyal MS NOW fans genuinely love, as well as something that future fans genuinely need.”
