Over seven seasons of The West Wing, Martin Sheen played President Jed Bartlet, a politician whose integrity can seem out of place in a political environment where trust is in short supply.
Now Sheen is lending some of that magic to MS NOW, voicing a new 60-second brand commercial for the cable news channel, which rebranded from MSNBC last month.
In the spot, Sheen recites William Tyler Page’s “The American’s Creed,” as images and video of MS NOW anchors, historic moments from American history, and other heartwarming vignettes (a soldier reuniting with their family, a school election) play along with words like “Freedom,” “Equality” and “Humanity.”
“I believe in the United States of America … As a government of the people, by the people, for the people,” Sheen says. “A democracy in a republic. A sovereign nation of many sovereign states. A perfect union, one and inseparable. Established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it. To respect its flag. To support its Constitution.”
Watch:
There is actually a more direct connection between The West Wing and MS NOW. Lawrence O’Donnell, MS NOW’s 10 p.m. host who appears briefly in the commercial, was previously a writer and producer on the NBC drama, and played Bartlet’s father in some flashback scenes.
The new commercial is part of MS NOW’s We the People campaign, which began last month in connection with the rebrand. The first two spots featured voiceovers from Rachel Maddow and the late Maya Angelou, which also featured her reciting one of her famous poems.
MS NOW is seeking to reinvent itself in conjunction with its separation from NBC News, and with NBCUniversal’s cable channels about to be split off into a new company called Versant. MS NOW and NBC News have already split their newsgathering and operations, though the Versant split won’t be finalized until early 2026.
In a roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter last month, MS NOW anchors like Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle expressed optimism about the changes.
“I liked saying MSNBC more, but I kind of do like the perceived independence of what we do now, given the exact world that we’re in right now where the ability to argue that you are an independent journalist, but your work for corporate media gets tougher,” Velshi said. “I’m not actually minding the name that nobody has gotten used to yet.”
“For me, it’s not MS NOW, it’s MS WOW,” quipped Ruhle. “I was surprised when I heard it, but I was never concerned. I think the media is in this tumultuous place. Who’s doing it right? Who’s doing it wrong? Like, oh my goodness, is the business dying? We work at a place that’s investing, and so to me, that’s the most exciting thing. Did we think that MS NOW was going to happen? We didn’t think it was going to happen. But for me, anytime the status quo is being shaken up, it’s a positive.”
MS NOW put out a press release Thursday claiming that it now has double the number of viewers than MSNBC had a decade ago, despite there being far fewer pay-TV homes.
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