MS NOW Announces Deal With Progressive Podcast Network For Weekly TV Show

(Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

MS NOW announced on Tuesday that the network signed a broadcast deal with progressive podcast group Crooked Media to bring some of its most popular content to cable television through a new weekly program.

The move comes amid growing crossover between cable news and the podcast sphere. Fox News was first to enter the fray last July with its licensing deal with the popular Ruthless podcast, which is a counterbalance to Crooked’s most well-known show, Pod Save America.

Crooked on MS NOW will debut Saturday, February 28 at 9 p.m. ET, featuring highlights from Crooked Media’s popular podcast lineup, including: Pod Save the World, Strict Scrutiny, Lovett or Leave It, and newer additions like Runaway Country with Alex Wagner and Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams.

The premiere episode of Crooked on MS NOW will focus on coverage of the State of the Union address on February 24th, which is all but guaranteed to cap off a blockbuster week in U.S. politics.

The deal offers Crooked Media access to one of the largest audiences on cable. MS NOW reaches approximately 11 million Americans weekly on television and has been building its presence on new media platforms as well. The network reported 3.8 billion YouTube views and 140 million audio downloads in 2025 from its own line-up of original podcasts.

MS NOW currently produces some 20 original podcasts and 22 showcasts, including award-winning programs like Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra, which received a 2025 Edward R. Murrow Award. MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace joined Maddow in the podcast space with her show, The Best People, which launched last summer. MS NOW is working hard to try and catch up to Fox News, which jumped out ahead with a streamer and podcast line-up earlier than its rival networks and now reaches nearly 200 million people each month across linear and digital media.

Crooked Media, a new media company founded by former Obama administration staffers in 2017, was one of the first major podcast groups on the left and scores some 30 million monthly podcast downloads from its line-up of shows. Popular figures on the left, like former President Barack Obama and California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), are regulars on the network’s shows, which are now rivaled on the left by the surging upstart MediasTouch Network.

MS NOW will also be looking at Crooked on MS NOW as a way to boost its weekend ratings, which have long been one of the network’s weakest parts of its line-up.

“Crooked Media has built a large and loyal audience and a beloved brand, centered around standout audio programming. I’ve long admired what they’ve created, and I’m thrilled to introduce their best shows to the MS NOW audience,” MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler said of the deal.

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