Versant Posts Lower Second Quarter Revenues and Profits After Comcast Spinoff — The Hollywood Reporter

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

Versant , the cable TV-focused spinoff from NBCUniversal that runs CNBC , MS NOW , USA, Golf Channel and other assets, reported lower second earnings on lower revenue and public company costs from its Comcast separation.

Now solo Versant reported revenue for the quarter to June 30 at $1.64 billion, down 3.8 percent from $1.7 billion in the same period of 2025. In that revenue mix, linear distribution was down 6.3 percent to $954 million, as Versant continues to navigate a declining pay TV landscape.

Advertising revenue at $423 million was down just under 1 percent from the year-earlier period when ad revenue dropped 13 percent and content licensing revenue was unchanged at $43 million. Platforms revenue grew 0.8 percent to $212 million. Excluding SportsEngine after its divestiture, platforms revenue rose 9.3 percent to $225 million. Related Stories Business ITV Bullish in First Results Since Confirming Sky Deal, Orders Share Buyback of $135M Business Peacock Turns Its First-Ever Profit in Q2 as NBCUniversal Split Looms

Versant CFO and COO Anand Kini during a morning analyst call said platform revenue was the "fastest growing part" of the media group, driven in part by momentum at Fandango and GolfNow. Net income attributable to Versant was down 30 percent at $211 million due to lower overall revenues and one-time costs following the separation from Comcast, including higher tax expenses after the divestiture of SportsEngine. The adjusted EBITDA fell 9 percent to $624 million.

Versant is looking to move beyond traditional pay TV channels to invest more in streaming TV platforms and new digital business lines. "Together, these investments extend our audience reach and build upon the foundation of our iconic, highly cash-generative brands," Versant CEO Mark Lazarus told analysts during the morning call in prepared remarks.

Versant is creating direct-to-consumer extensions for CNBC and MS NOW as both platforms have strong brands and engaged audiences, Lazarus said. He also discussed a recent overhaul of Fandango to battle Tubi, Pluto and Roku Channel in the free, advertising-based video-on-demand arena.

"AVOD is one of the fastest growing areas in media, and we enjoy clear advantages from the well known Fandango brand: broad, connected TV distribution, rich first-party data and unique and exclusive content," Lazarus argued. Versant plans to leverage Fandango's brand identity of new and recent theatrical films to differentiate itself from AVOD competition as existing account holders already purchase movie tickets or movies at home.

"Where we aspire to move this … is to really create a comprehensive entertainment platform where consumers under one brand can buy films or TV series, watch for free at home with differentiated and exclusive content, and with Rotten Tomatoes it's really a great discovery platform," Lazarus added.

The Versant chief also talked about a recent deal involving USA Sports to include games from the Bundesliga, Germany's top soccer league. "The Bundesliga was an opportunity that we saw to create at scale live sports content, a significant number of hours — 600 or 700 hours of live sports — and be able to both serve our pay TV customers with premium matches on USA and create a new marketplace for ourselves in free AVOD," Lazarus said.

Versant said it was raising both revenues and EBITDA guidance for the second half of the year. The full-year outlook for 2026 will see total revenue of between $6.2 billion and $6.45 billion, while the adjusted EBITDA will come in between $1.9 billion and $2.05 billion.

Versant Posts Lower Second Quarter Revenues and Profits After Comcast Spinoff — The Hollywood Reporter | AIPROPX