Versant Media Group raised its full-year revenue and profit outlook on Thursday, as growth in its digital platforms helped cushion a continued decline in pay TV revenue. For full-year 2026, Versant is guiding to total revenue between $6.2 billion and $6.45 billion, with adjusted EBITDA in the range of $1.9 billion to $2.05 billion. It maintained its free cash flow outlook of $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion.
Versant posted second-quarter revenue of $1.64 billion, down 3.8% from $1.71 billion a year earlier. Net income attributable to Versant came in at $211 million, or $1.49 per diluted share, a 30% drop from $302 million, or $2.09 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Versant pointed to a combination of weaker revenue, costs from operating as a standalone public company, interest obligations stemming from the Comcast split, and a larger tax bill driven by the SportsEngine divestiture as factors weighing on the bottom line. Adjusted EBITDA declined 8.9% to $624 million.
The results beat Wall Street expectations, according to CNBC . Analysts had expected earnings of $1.35 per share on revenue of $1.62 billion.
Revenue from Versant's linear distribution segment, encompassing pay TV networks including CNBC, MS Now, USA Network and Golf Channel, dropped 6.3% to $954 million, as subscriber erosion more than countered modest contractual rate increases. Advertising revenue slipped 0.6% to $423 million. The platforms segment, home to Fandango and GolfNow, grew 0.8% to $225 million; stripping out the SportsEngine sale, the gain was 9.3%, with Fandango benefiting from stronger ticket and video-on-demand sales and GolfNow seeing increased booking activity.
CEO Mark Lazarus said in a statement that Versant's brands reached more than 120 million viewers each month during the quarter, with PGA TOUR golf coverage delivering its most-watched second quarter since 2020.
On a standalone adjusted EBITDA basis — a measure designed to put pre-spin and post-spin results on a comparable footing — the figure was 3% higher than a year ago, the company said. Versant credited the gain to savings on programming and other operating costs, which were enough to absorb the pressure from declining revenue.
Versant finished its previously announced $100 million accelerated buyback program during the quarter and intends to launch a new $100 million class A share repurchase on Aug. 7, which it expects to wrap up before year-end. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share for the third consecutive quarter, payable Oct. 22 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 1.
The results mark Versant's third quarterly report as an independent, publicly traded company since its separation from Comcast's NBCUniversal earlier this year.
