Versant is about to test Wall Street’s appetite for cable TV in its first earnings report as a public company

In this article VSNT Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Versant signage on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on July 21, 2025. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Versant Media Group will release its first earnings report as a public company on Tuesday, giving Wall Street its first glimpse inside a company made up primarily of pay-TV networks. The Comcast spinoff — comprised of CNBC, MS Now, USA Network, Golf Channel, Syfy, E! and Oxygen, as well as digital properties including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and Sports Engine — debuted on the Nasdaq in January after one of the media industry's most significant transactions in recent years. The company's first-ever quarterly results will provide more detail into a portfolio of assets that were long embedded in Comcast's NBCUniversal TV results. They will also test Wall Street's appetite for cable TV at a time when the market has faced deep pressures. Ahead of going public, Versant released financials that showed declining revenue in recent years. Versant's assets generated $7.1 billion in revenue in 2024, down from $7.4 billion in 2023 and $7.8 billion in 2022, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Versant's stock has dropped about 25% since its January debut. The company's market capitalization stands at roughly $4.8 billion. Pay-TV pressure It's a rarity these days to see pure-play media stocks going public — especially those made up solely of TV networks. Last year Newsmax , the conservative cable news network, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares initially soared before falling precipitously since its debut. Versant makes more than 80% of its overall revenue from pay-TV distribution. While that business is still profitable, the longtime cash cow for the media industry has been declining as customers flee the bundle for streaming alternatives. "At Versant, 62% of our audience comes from live programming across sports and news," CEO Mark Lazarus s...