Versant Media Prepares for Growth, Despite Decline in Revenue Last Year

By Connor Hart

Versant Media Group said profit and revenue fell in 2025, hurt by lower revenue across its linear distribution, advertising and content-licensing businesses.

Still, Chief Executive Mark Lazarus said the company is well positioned to grow in the year ahead after spending much of the past year strengthening its programming, expanding its audience, growing its platforms businesses and successfully establishing itself as a standalone company.

Shares rose 5.4% to $34.50 in premarket trading Tuesday.

Versant, which was spun off from Comcast earlier this year, before the bell posted a profit of $930 million in 2025, down from a profit of $1.36 billion a year earlier.

The media-and-entertainment company, which houses cable channels including CNBC, USA and Syfy, logged revenue of $6.69 billion last year, down 5.3% from a year prior. Analysts polled by FactSet expected revenue of $6.64 billion.

Linear-distribution revenue fell, as did revenue from advertising and content licensing. The declines were slightly offset by platforms revenue, which climbed 3.9% to $826 million.

Anand Kini, finance and operating chief, said last year's results demonstrate the underlying strength and durability of Versant's business, citing strong profitability, margins and cash flow. "Looking ahead, we are investing in exciting new initiatives across our brands to extend audience reach, grow new revenue streams, and deliver attractive financial returns," he added.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2026 08:06 ET (13:06 GMT)