Net income at newly public Versant fell 31% in 2025, as the company saw revenue from advertising and distribution tumble, underscoring the NBCUniversal spin-off’s new mission to increase business not tied to traditional cable TV. Versant on Tuesday unveiled its business performance from 2025 — its first official disclosure of operating results –using data culled
Net income at newly public Versant fell 31% in 2025, as the company saw revenue from advertising and distribution tumble, underscoring the NBCUniversal spin-off’s new mission to increase business not tied to traditional cable TV.
Versant on Tuesday unveiled its business performance from 2025 — its first official disclosure of operating results –using data culled from its time as part of NBCU. The company, built on MS NOW, CNBC, USA and other one-time NBCU properties, aims to create mix of revenue that is half derived from traditional pay-TV operations and half derived from new businesses that require direct connections with consumers such as subscriptions or commerce. Revenue from such operations came to 19% of the company’s revenue in 2025.
“Versant enters this next chapter as an independent, well-positioned media and entertainment company
with strong momentum and clear strategic focus,” said Mark Lazarus, Versant’s CEO, in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead as we invest in our iconic brands to evolve our business model. We aim to do so with a focus on delivering strong shareholder returns, both in the near and long term.”
The company said revenue in 2025 came to nearly $6.69 billion, off 5.3% from the $7.06 billion it secured in 2024. Ad revenue for the year fell 8.9% to nearly $1.58 billion, while revenue from distribution fell about 5.4% to $4,.09 billion. Revenue from the company’s digital properties, which include Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango, rose 3.9% to $826 million.
As rivals with major cable portfolios struggle with similar dynamics, Versant took pains to portray levels of stability. The company said most of its sports-rights deals have years left on them, and said it was working to augment revenue streaming with an ad-supported streaming platform launched under its Fandango brand, which is best known, perhaps, for facilitating the purchase of movie tickets.
Versant also said Tuesday that its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to $1 billion of outstanding Class A common shares.
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