Comcast Cable Spinoff Versant Reports Falling Profit as Linear TV Erosion Continues

Versant Media Group, the collection of cable networks and digital platforms that Comcast separated into an independent public company at the start of this year, reported falling revenue and a sharp decline in net income for the third quarter, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made Tuesday. The company, which owns CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E! and SYFY, reaffirmed its full-year financial targets and said it would launch a second $100 million stock buyback this week.

A Fourth Straight Quarter of Linear Decline

Revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell 4.2 percent from a year earlier, to $1.59 billion, Versant said in the earnings release filed alongside its quarterly report. Net income attributable to the company dropped 41 percent, to $47 million from $80 million a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA fell nearly 21 percent, to $353 million. Measured against the "standalone" adjusted EBITDA the company reports for comparison purposes, the decline was a smaller 7.4 percent.

The weakness was concentrated in the parts of the business tied to traditional pay television. Linear distribution revenue fell 5.8 percent as cable and satellite subscribers continued to cancel their packages, only partly offset by higher per-subscriber rates negotiated with distributors. Advertising revenue fell 5.3 percent, which the company attributed mainly to the absence of last year's Ryder Cup golf coverage rather than a broader pullback in ad spending.

Those declines were partly offset by the company's smaller but faster-growing digital and e-commerce businesses. Revenue from what Versant calls its Platforms segment — which includes the movie-ticketing service Fandango, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and the golf app GolfNow — rose 9.6 percent, to $245 million, or 17.4 percent when adjusted for a divestiture and an acquisition made during the year.

• MS NOW, the network formerly known as MSNBC, finished the quarter as the second-most-watched cable network, with double-digit audience growth and its eleventh straight month of year-over-year viewership gains in September
• CNBC ranked among the 10 most-watched cable networks during market hours for an eighth consecutive month
• Golf Channel recorded its most-watched PGA Tour season since 2018
• USA Network's coverage of the WNBA's season drew viewership 25 percent above the prior year's cable average

Carved Out of Comcast Ten Months Ago

Versant is one of the clearest examples yet of a traditional media conglomerate splitting its shrinking cable-television business away from its faster-growing streaming and studio operations. Comcast completed the separation at the start of this year, distributing one share of the new company for every 25 shares of Comcast stock held as of mid-December 2025. The spinoff moved CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E! and SYFY into Versant, along with Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and GolfPass, while Comcast retained NBC, Telemundo, the Universal film and television studios, its theme parks and the Peacock streaming service. Mark Lazarus, previously chairman of NBCUniversal's television and streaming division, became Versant's chief executive.

Tuesday's results were Versant's third quarterly report as an independent company and arrived amid continued investor skepticism about the long-term trajectory of cable-bundle businesses. Reuters reported in early March, after Versant's first earnings disclosure, that the company's shares had fallen roughly 20 percent since their January debut, a decline the news agency tied to the market's broader wariness toward linear television even as Versant's results modestly beat Wall Street's expectations.

Capital Returns to Shareholders Continue

Versant leaned on buybacks and dividends to reassure investors. The company said it has returned $457 million to shareholders since the spinoff, including a $100 million accelerated share repurchase completed during the third quarter. In the release announcing its results, Versant said a second $100 million accelerated repurchase would begin Wednesday, and its board declared a fourth-quarter dividend of 37.5 cents per share, payable Jan. 25 to shareholders of record on Jan. 4. The company generated $302 million in free cash flow during the quarter and $1.21 billion over the first nine months of the year.

Chief Financial and Operating Officer Anand Kini framed the capital-return program as central to the company's pitch to investors navigating the cable industry's secular decline:

"Our third quarter performance demonstrates the financial discipline and flexibility that underpins Versant's strategy. We delivered strong Platforms revenue, continued operating efficiencies and significant cash flow. ... We believe that our ability to invest in growth, maintain a healthy balance sheet, and return capital to shareholders is a distinct advantage."

Chief Executive Mark Lazarus pointed to the company's efforts to build direct relationships with viewers beyond the cable bundle, citing the quarter's rollout of a subscription product called MS NOW Membership and the integration of the golf-technology company Full Swing, which Versant acquired earlier this year, into its golf properties alongside Golf Channel and GolfNow.

Guidance Holds Steady for Now

Versant reaffirmed its full-year outlook of $6.2 billion to $6.45 billion in revenue and $1.90 billion to $2.05 billion in adjusted EBITDA, and said it now expects free cash flow to exceed its earlier forecast of $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion. The reaffirmed targets suggest management does not expect the subscriber losses that have weighed on linear advertising and distribution revenue to accelerate meaningfully in the fourth quarter, even as the company continues to lean on golf, news and sports programming and its Fandango and GolfNow platforms to offset the decline. CNBC has separately signaled plans to expand its own digital subscription offering in the coming months, part of a broader push by Versant's networks to build revenue streams that do not depend on the traditional cable bundle. The company's next quarterly report, covering the final three months of the year, is expected in early 2027.