Versant on Thursday made the case to investors that it was more than a Comcast cast-off as it looks to best position its declining, but still profitable, cable networks for growth.
Upon its separation, the company’s portfolio will include USA Network, CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine. It will officially separate from Comcast on Jan. 2 and trade under the ticker symbol VSNT starting Jan. 5.
During an investor day presentation at the Nasdaq in New York City, Versant leadership acknowledged that the cable network portfolio wasn’t a priority for Comcast. But they argued pay TV’s demise has been “significantly exaggerated” and that it would remain “highly profitable” for years to come. Additionally, Versant executives said they are “not stuck in old media” and poised for growth in four core areas: business news & personal finance, political news & opinion, golf & athletics participation and sports & genre entertainment.
The crux of Versant’s pitch was its still-wide reach, with a portfolio of networks seen in as many as 65 million households. The company’s executives estimated that 62% of its audience comes from live programming, largely across news and sports, while the remaining 38% comes from entertainment through a mix of live moments, scripted and unscripted programming. Specific areas of growth include digital offerings such as free ad-supported streaming channels and podcasts, over-the-air distribution, live events and M&A opportunities that allow for “vertical scale.”
“We are prepared to defy expectations and be the innovators in the markets that we serve,” Versant CEO Mark Lazarus said. “This is a company with a mandate to build beyond cable, in fact, beyond media, and we are ready to transform and position ourselves to win.”
News, sports and entertainment strategy
In order to capitalize on a business and finance market worth upwards of $20 billion, Versant will evolve its CNBC Pro offering and launch a new product aimed at retail investors that will feature stock recommendations, tools and data, real-time information and AI-powered quantitative analysis. Over time, the retail investor service will explore other areas of interest, including wealth, energy and options.
CNBC has also entered into a new multi-year agreement with Kalshi to incorporate real-time prediction data into its coverage across linear, digital and streaming starting in 2026. A Kalshi ticker will run alongside segments of CNBC’s on-air programming and it will launch a CNBC-branded page on its site, featuring CNBC-selected markets. Additionally, CNBC plans to partner with AI companies to develop new products and explore audience needs around cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, MS Now’s newsgathering operations officially separated from NBC News in October as it hopes to tap into the $20 billion market for political news and opinion. Versant said it is launching a new direct-to-consumer service for MS NOW in summer 2026 that will allow users to watch the network’s programming via a live feed.
MS Now president Rebecca Kutler said the service would differentiate itself by being centered around “community, membership, and democracy” and serve as a digital hub for progressives. She also said MS Now would look to triple the number of live events it hosts next year and that the network is on track to see more than 135 million podcast downloads.
At the same time, Kutler said MS Now viewers consume an average of eight hours on cable each week and are 60% less likely to cut the cord. She touted an average of 1.2 million viewers in primetime and said MS Now expects viewership increases on cable, driven by the upcoming midterm and 2028 presidential elections.
Versant estimates that sports & genre entertainment is a $200 billion market with 700 billion hours watched.
With golf alone worth $45 billion, USA Network will air over 1,400 live hours of sports, while Golf Channel will air 3,200 hours of live coverage in 2026. The company captured 40% of all hours watched for golf.
About half of Versant’s golf revenue comes from pay TV, while the other half comes from GolfNow and other related services. Nearly 4 billion golfers book rounds through GolfNow each year, but fewer than 10% are members of its GolfPass subscription.
The company has also struck long-term partnerships with the PGA Tour, U.S. Golf Association, Pac-12 and NASCAR, as well as the Premier League and WWE. It is also investing in women’s sports including golf, volleyball and the WNBA, and college sports. Additionally, Versant is partnering with Comcast’s NBCUniversal on the Winter Olympics in Milan early next year and from Los Angeles in 2028 for the Summer games.
Sports head Matt Hong said that the majority of its rights deals are locked up through 2030 and beyond. When asked about the company’s rights strategy going forward, Hong said Versant would focus on properties that provide the best return on investment and that it wouldn’t be in the mix for bigger franchises like the NFL and NBA. Lazarus added that it would go after properties that have built-in audiences, drive diversified ad revenue and help maintain or increase pricing in its distribution agreements.
On the entertainment side, “The Rainmaker” has been renewed for Season 2 after its debut this summer, while an adaptation of the book series “Anna Pigeon” and a third season of “The Ark” are set to premiere next year. On the unscripted side, Versant has “Everything On the Menu with Braun Strowman,” which entertainment head Val Boreland is optimistic will be picked up for a second season.
E! Digital Studios’ “Hot Goss” has also generated approximately 90 million video views, becoming its fastest short-form franchise. A longer-form version of the show will be developed for YouTube.
“Our strategy is to keep super serving these fandoms with our scripted, unscripted, live and sports content, and to continue to build our content libraries so that we can leverage them in new ways, through licensing, distribution and building our own AVOD content,” Boreland said.
Versant is currently in negotiations with multiple streamers, including Peacock, about licensing its library of content. One of those deals has been closed and will be announced in the coming days, while at least two other deals are in the works.
Digital expansion and M&A opportunities
Versant also plans to expand its existing digital offerings, with Fandango set to launch a free, ad-supported streaming offering in the second half of 2026. Boreland said the Fandango at Home platform is currently working on strategic content acquisitions with third parties, with plans to also create original programming for the service.
Fandango, which accounts for under 10% of domestic ticket sales, also plans to expand its U.S. market share through growing its FanClub loyalty program, increasing cross-promotion across Versant’s linear networks and establishing new partnerships with major circuits and independents.
Additionally, it will expand into new international markets through Versant’s acquisition of the cloud-based cinema operating system Indy Cinema Group, which will be integrated into its loyalty, payments and ticketing services.
Nearly 20 million entertainment fans have transacted with Fandango this year. Versant works with approximately 3,000 U.S. cinemas, though fewer than 5% of them use the Indy platform.
In addition to Indy, Versant will also acquire FAST channel and free over-the-air digital broadcast networks provider Free TV Networks as it looks to expand its forms of distribution. Free TV Networks operates four distinct networks, with Versant planning to add original series to their programming schedule over time. Around 20 million households access TV exclusively over the air, representing about 16% of all U.S. households. About 20% of Oxygen’s audience accesses the network through an antenna.
Financial terms of the Indy Cinema Group and Free TV Networks acquisitions were not disclosed.
When asked by analysts about additional M&A opportunities, Lazarus said the focus would be on “vertical scale” rather than horizontal, downplaying the possibility of acquiring more linear networks.
“We’re very happy with the portfolio that we have. I think a lot of people think of horizontal scale within networks,” CFO Anand Kini said. “We don’t really feel that there’s much value for us, frankly, in having more scale in that area.”
The comments come as the prospect for more cable-centric assets become available. Discovery Global’s separation from Warner Bros. is now slated to be completed in the third quarter of 2026 as Netflix acquires the streaming and studio assets. That deal has an enterprise value of $82.7 billion and an equity value of $72 billion. Disney and Hearst also put up Lifetime and History Channel parent A&E Global Media for sale in July as they explore strategic options.
At the same time, Versant isn’t ruling out asset sales, confirming TheWrap’s previous reporting of a strategic review of alternatives for SportsEngine. An insider familiar with the discussions told TheWrap that the company received initial interest from about 80 parties. That number has been narrowed to about 10 parties in recent weeks. The insider pegged the youth sports technology platform’s valuation at around $400 million to $500 million.
Versant’s financial outlook
In 2024, 83% of Versant’s $7.06 billion in revenue came from its network businesses, while 17% came from digital platforms and other non-pay TV sources.
Over the next several years, half of Versant’s revenue is expected to come from its new growth areas, while the other half will come from the pay TV business. Over half of the company’s pay TV subscriber base are covered by distribution agreements through 2028 and beyond.
In 2025, Versant expects to generate $6.6 billion in revenue, with 62% coming from linear distribution, 23% from advertising, 13% from its digital platforms and 3% from content licensing & other. It also expects $2.2 billion in EBITDA and $1.4 billion in free cash flow in 2025. It will debut with $3 billion in gross debt and $750 million in cash on hand.
Approximately 55% of Versant’s expenses come from content, with 10% related to its digital platform business, while the remainder are for sales, general and administrative costs. Within programming, roughly half are for sports, 30% are for news and 20% are for entertainment. Versant said it will look to generate cost savings through the use of AI in its corporate enterprise system. It also has implemented automation within its video stack and “agentic” AI capabilities — essentially glorified bots — in its GolfNow call centers and course management software.
Looking ahead, the company expects 2026 revenue of $6.15 billion to $6.4 billion, a 3% to 7% decline and EBITDA of $1.85 billion to $2 billion, a 7% to 14% decline. It also plans to allocate 20% of its free cash flow for a dividend payment and seek board authorization for an up to $1 billion share repurchase.
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