''Now with Alex Wagner'' (stylized ''NOW'') is a political opinion program on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

presented by progressive host Alex Wagner. The show debuted on November 14, 2011, and aired on weekdays at noon ET. Starting on January 13, 2014, ''Now'' aired at 4 P.M. due to the resignation of former MSNBC host Martin Bashir. On July 30, 2015, MSNBC President, Phil Griffin announced that the series had been cancelled in an effort to transition the network's daytime programming to more breaking news reporting and less political commentary and opinion. The program aired its final episode on July 31, 2015.

Format

''Now'' utilized a panel format for a majority of the show featuring correspondents and special guests that analyze and break down the most important stories of the day with Wagner serving as both moderator and anchor. The focus was generally

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

, but also included breaking stories and

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ...

. The program also featured branded special segments. Instead of the traditional daytime "

news crawl A news ticker (sometimes called a "crawler", "crawl", "slide", "zipper", or "ticker tape") is a horizontal or vertical (depending on a language's writing system) text-based display either in the form of a graphic that typically resides in the l ...

" at the bottom of the screen, ''Now'' featured a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

feed that displays tweets from various news organizations, reporters, and other relevant organizations and individuals regarding the story being discussed at the time.

Special segments

* The Bullpen: Was a conversation with another

personality about the news of the day. * Post Script (P.S.): Was a short editorial segment that featured Wagner's opinion on an important issue or news story.

History

''Now'' was created to replace the 12pm hour of '' MSNBC Live'', which was hosted by Contessa Brewer until August 2011. Between Brewer's departure and ''Now''s debut, ''MSNBC Live''s noon hour was presented by rotating fill-in anchors. Wagner was the third MSNBC personality in quick succession to be announced as host of a new show on the network. Al Sharpton's '' PoliticsNation'' and

Chris Hayes Christopher Loffredo Hayes (; born February 28, 1979) is an American political commentator, television news anchor, activist, and author. Hayes hosts '' All In with Chris Hayes'', a weekday news and opinion television show on MSNBC. Hayes also ...

's '' Up'' also debuted in the three months prior to ''Now''s premiere.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Now with Alex Wagner MSNBC original programming 2011 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2010s American television news shows English-language television shows