By Harshita Mary Varghese
March 3 (Reuters) – Versant Media on Tuesday reported a smaller-than-expected decline in quarterly revenue and unveiled a $1 billion share buyback, in the first results for the owner of CNBC and MS Now since it was spun out of Comcast.
Shares of the New York-based company were up nearly 4%.
The results indicate Versant’s legacy linear cable business is holding up better than expected, as the industry contends with a steady drop in traditional TV viewership amid the shift toward on-demand streaming that offers more choice and flexibility than scheduled broadcasts.
Versant shares have plunged about 20% since their market debut in January, after Comcast spun off the business to curb its exposure to the assets.
“Linear TV-based companies such as Versant can expect declining revenues for the foreseeable future,” Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes said.
The newly formed company also houses brands including USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, along with digital assets such as Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.
“About 60% of our audience comes from news and sports,” Versant Chief Executive Mark Lazarus said on a post-earnings call.
Versant is planning to roll out several direct-to-consumer initiatives, including a CNBC subscription service tailored towards retail investors.
Fandango, Versant’s movie-ticketing platform, is set to launch an ad-supported streaming service later this year that will include films and television series from Versant’s content library and distribution deals for free.
“Versant did enough to steady nerves, but let’s be clear: this was not a turnaround quarter … Now comes the hard part — proving there is a real future beyond milking decline,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said.
In the fourth quarter, Versant’s revenue fell nearly 7% to $1.61 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $1.57 billion, according to three analysts polled by LSEG.
Versant’s revenue for 2025 fell 5.3% to $6.69 billion.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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