Versant announces 2025 results that lean heavily on pre-spinoff numbers

Comcast’s Versant Media Group released its first set of financial results March 3, 2026. 

The results, which cover the full year of 2025, are actually largely a look at the Comcast Media segment’s numbers from 2025. 

Comcast didn’t officially complete the spinoff until January 2026, though multiple units of the business were operating independently prior to that for at least part of 2025.

This included units such as MS NOW and CNBC that had been sharing resources with other parts of the pre-spinoff NBCUniversal until later in 2025, though it’s unclear how much those select periods may have affected the broader yearly figures. Other parts of the company were run more independently. 

The figures are essentially meant to represent what Versant would have reported had the parts of NBCUniversal it acquired been part of a hypothetical independent company throughout all of 2025.

As such, the figures will likely be key to examining future financial reporting from Versant — including any potential losses or gains moving forward. 

Most companies don’t report first-quarter results until April or May of the year in question and Versant’s forthcoming report is likely to be closely watched and compared to the results announced March 3.

Overall, the reports show $6.69 billion in revenue, with $930 million of that attributed to Versant. 

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“Versant enters this next chapter as an independent, well-positioned media and entertainment company with strong momentum and clear strategic focus. In 2025, we strengthened our leadership in premium programming, expanded our audience, grew our platforms businesses, and successfully established ourselves as a standalone company,” said Mark Lazarus, Versant’s CEO, in a statement issued by the company. 

Investors also received a $0.375 per share quarterly dividend and the Versant board approved a repurchase of up to $1 billion of outstanding Class A common stock.

“We believe our 2025 results demonstrate the underlying strength and durability of Versant’s business, with strong profitability, margins and cash flow generation,” said Anand Kini, the company’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, in the statement. 

Versant’s announcement also highlights:

• Spinoff: Completed the work to establish itself as a standalone public company and strengthened its leadership across its four  markets. The statement notes this was drive by key strategic priorities: Win with premium content, extend the reach of its brands and accelerate the growth of its digital platforms.
• Business news and personal finance: Versant spotlights CNBC’s role as a top global business news brand that delivered more than 6,000 hours of live on-air coverage and expanding coverage through a multi-year partnership with Kalshi. CNBC also announced plans to launch a next-generation direct-to-consumer subscription service tailored to retail investors.
• Political news and opinion: Versant billed MS NOW as the most watched network on election night in November 2025. The brand racked up almost 8 billion views across TikTok and YouTube, along with more than 140 million podcast downloads. MS NOW also announced plans to introduce a direct-to-consumer platform in 2026.
• Golf and athletics participation: During 2025, Golf Channel delivered more than 2,000 hours of live coverage across 200-plus events and extended its USGA partnership through 2032. The GolfNow platform powered a record 40 million annual rounds across 9,000 courses worldwide.
• Sports and genre entertainment: USA Network delivered the top scripted cable original premiere of 2025 with “The Rainmaker,” USA Sports expanded its premium sports portfolio through new PAC-12 and women’s sports agreements while  Fandango announced plans to launch an ad-supported streaming service in 2026.
• Acquisitions: Versant completed the acquisitions of Free TV Networks in January 2026, expanding national over-the-air distribution. It also acquired the INDY Cinema Group in the fourth quarter of 2025 with an eye toward strengthening Fandango’s digital and B2B platform capabilities.