MS NOW previews ‘Connect with Jacob Soboroff’ with first on-air promo

MS NOW has provided NCS with a first look at the on-air promotional spot for “Connect with Jacob Soboroff,” debuting Saturday, June 13, in the 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET timeslot.

The spot leans into Soboroff’s field reporting identity ahead of the show’s debut.

The promo opens on Soboroff in the field, asking a protester why they’re holding a sign, checking in with people waiting in line, moving through crowds. The visuals lean into his reputation as a street-level reporter before cutting to studio footage as a narrator closes the spot.

“For me, being a part of this place has always been about the people, not about the politics,” Soboroff said in the promo. “I love human beings. To spend time connecting with them is the biggest blessing that I could ask for.”

The narrator’s closing line ties the field footage to the new format: “From the field to the studio, Jacob is finding the heart of the story. Connect with Jacob Soboroff. Premieres Saturday, 10 a.m. Eastern on MS NOW.”

The program will be MS NOW’s first Los Angeles-based show.

Dina Moss will serve as executive producer. Soboroff will anchor both Saturday and Sunday editions while retaining his title as senior national and political reporter for the network.

The 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET weekend slot was previously anchored by Ali Velshi, whose program posted a 17% gain in total viewers and a 46% gain in the key news demo in May year over year, per Nielsen Big Data + Panel ratings. Velshi is taking over the “The 11th Hour” on June 15, with current host Stephanie Ruhle moving to the  9 to 11 a.m. ET weekday slot.

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Soboroff joined MS NOW in 2015 and previously worked as a political and national correspondent for NBC News.

His coverage of the Trump administration’s family separation policy earned him the Walter Cronkite Award for Individual Achievement by a National Journalist and the Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism. He was named a Yale University Poynter Fellow in Journalism in 2024.

“Connect with Jacob Soboroff” is one of several new programs launching as part of a broader MS NOW lineup overhaul, the first major programming changes since the network came under new parent company Versant.

Additional debuts on June 15 include “Money, Power, Politics with Stephanie Ruhle,” “On the Line with Alicia Menendez,” “The Moment with Katy Tur” and “The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi,” along with the addition of Luke Russert as co-anchor of “The Weeknight.”