For $7.99 a month, MS NOW will let you talk to Rachel Maddow — and help you calm down afterward

BS BULLETIN:

MS NOW launches its new paid Membership service Wednesday for $7.99 a month, promising subscribers more direct access to Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough and other network personalities.
Members get twice-daily live Q&A sessions, with some viewers invited to speak directly with hosts over live video.
And because apparently watching cable news isn’t stressful enough, MS NOW has partnered with Calm to provide meditation and wellness content.

For years, cable news viewers have yelled at their televisions.

MS NOW has apparently decided there is money to be made by letting the television answer back.

The network formerly known as MSNBC officially launches its new direct-to-consumer Membership service Wednesday, offering subscribers live MS NOW programming along with exclusive content, community features and direct interaction with its anchors and reporters.

The price is $7.99 per month or $79.99 annually, although the network is offering the first year for $39.99 through Sept. 30.

The centerpiece is a schedule of twice-daily live conversations.

At noon Eastern, subscribers can submit questions to MS NOW anchors. At 6 p.m., reporters and correspondents take over.

And some members won’t merely type questions.

On Mondays, Rachel Maddow will host “Ask Maddow Anything,” with selected subscribers able to join Maddow directly over live video.

Tuesday brings the “Morning Joe Family Meeting,” featuring Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and other members of the show’s cast.

MS NOW President Rebecca Kutler told WIRED that the network surveyed 18,000 people while developing the offering and sees an opportunity to transform its unusually devoted audience into something closer to a “fandom.”

The idea is to capitalize on viewers’ attachment to personalities including Maddow, Scarborough, Jen Psaki and Chris Hayes as traditional cable television continues to lose ground to digital platforms.

But the network isn’t stopping with politics.

MS NOW has also partnered with the meditation app Calm to offer subscribers wellness programming designed to help them deal with the stress produced by the news.

The membership includes meditations and programming on topics such as mindfulness, parenting, caregiving and relationships.

In other words, MS NOW has stumbled onto a remarkable vertical integration opportunity:

Sell you the anxiety.

Then sell you the meditation.

MY QUICK TAKE

This is magnificent.

For eight bucks a month, Rachel Maddow can explain why you should be worried, Joe Scarborough can explain why you should be even more worried, and then Calm can explain how to breathe through what Rachel and Joe just told you.

For some viewers, these aren’t simply news anchors. They’re political comfort food. MS NOW has finally figured out how to put a monthly subscription fee on the emotional support group.

I have just one question for “Ask Maddow Anything”: Does the meditation start before or after the monologue?