Editing Openai/69486775-45a4-8009-8cd1-c5cd3e355c65 (section)

=== Assistant: Yes — really! ===
Yes — really!
When MSNBC first launched in July 1996, it was ''created as a ''joint venture between NBC (National Broadcasting Company) and Microsoft*. That’s exactly how the name MSNBC came about: **“MS” from Microsoft’s MSN online service + “NBC” from the broadcast network.Wikipedia<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_NOW|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref>

Here’s the gist of it:
* Microsoft and NBC teamed up to build a 24-hour news channel and a companion website in the early days of the commercial internet. Wikipedia<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_NOW|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref>
* At launch, each partner owned roughly 50 % of the network, and the name MSNBC literally reflected that partnership (MSN + NBC). Wikipedia<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_NOW|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref>
* Microsoft’s involvement ended over time — it sold its stake in the TV channel back to NBC in 2005 and later exited the msnbc.com website in 2012. Wikipedia<ref>{{cite web|title=Wikipedia|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_NOW|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-22}}</ref>

So yes: that historic Microsoft connection isn’t just a rumor — it’s how the network was originally formed and named, though Microsoft hasn’t been involved for well over a decade.