CANADA – 2025/06/09: In this photo illustration, the Versant logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Shares of Versant Media Group rose around 10% on Thursday, following its first quarter earnings report to investors.
Versant is a spin-off of Comcast which includes all of that media giant’s cable television channels, excluding Bravo. Those channels include MS NOW, CNBC, USA, E!
This earnings report was the second one from Versant since the split from Comcast and the company reported $1.69 billion in revenue, down 1.1% from a year earlier. Net income declined 22% to $286 million. But those revenue and profit numbers beat expectations of analysts, which led to the rise in share prices.
The rise was also helped along by the announcement from Versant executives that the company would repurchase an additional $100 million of shares in the second quarter of 2026. That is in addition to the $100 million worth of stock that was repurchased by the company in the first quarter.
In other numbers, Versant said the revenue it receives from pay-TV distributors fell by 7.3% to $1.01 billion, and advertising revenue decreased by 5.2%, to $368 million. The company said that decline was an improvement from the dip in the first quarter of 2025, when advertising revenue was down 12%.
The company also reiterated its long-term goal to move towards a revenue model that was split equally between traditional linear TV and its digital and subscription businesses.
Along those lines, Versant has already rolled out a standalone streaming service for the business network CNBC and plans to launch one this fall for the cable news network MSNOW.
Versant is also home to what it refers to as its “platform business,” which the ticketing service Fandango, the review site Rotten Tomatoes and tee-time marketplace GolfNow. Revenue from those businesses rose by more than 9%, to $192 million.
On Monday, Versant participated in NBC’s upfront presentation, because ad sales for the company are still being handled by NBC Ad Sales:
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E! will be the home of The People’s Choice Awards, along with the Critics Choice Awards and continued Live from E! red carpet coverage. The network also greenlit the new reality competition series Cocktail Wars hosted by Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. The new unscripted series The Golden Life will premiere this fall.
USA Network has announced that new scripted original series Anna Pigeon will premiere on Friday, August 7th. And season two of The Rainmaker will premiere this fall.
Versant is also leaning heavily into live sports, with the brand of USA Sports. Coverage will include 50-plus WNBA games in 2026 on the USA Network including the WNBA Finals. Other events include the NASCAR Cup Series, WWE Smackdown on Fridays, Premier League, Pac-12 college football and basketball, Atlantic 10 basketball, major championship golf on USA Network, weekly PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour coverage on Golf Channel, and more.
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