Versant Raised Outlook as Revenue Decline Deepened
The media company lifted its 2026 revenue forecast to as much as $6.45 billion.
Versant Media Group (VSNT), the cable-network and digital-platform operator, reported a steeper second-quarter revenue decline as lower distribution and content-licensing sales outweighed an advertising recovery.
Revenue fell 3.8% from a year earlier to $1.644 billion, after declining 1.1% in the first quarter. Excluding the divested SportsEngine business, revenue decreased 2.8%, compared with a 1.2% drop in the prior quarter.
Net income attributable to Versant fell 30% to $211 million, while diluted earnings declined to $1.49 a share from $2.09 a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 8.9% to $624 million, though it rose 3% against the comparable year-earlier standalone measure as lower programming and selling, general and administrative costs offset weaker revenue.
Linear-distribution revenue declined 6.3% to $954 million as subscriber losses exceeded contractual rate increases. That decline moderated from 7.3% in the first quarter. Advertising revenue slipped 0.6% to $423 million, an improvement from the prior quarter's 5.2% year-over-year decrease, and rose 15% sequentially.
Platforms growth slowed to 0.8% from 9.1% in the first quarter, reflecting the SportsEngine divestiture. Excluding SportsEngine, platforms revenue rose 9.3% from a year earlier and 33% sequentially to $212 million, driven by higher Fandango ticketing, video-on-demand and cinema-platform sales and increased GolfNow bookings, payments and subscriptions.
Versant raised its full-year revenue outlook to $6.2 billion to $6.45 billion and its adjusted EBITDA forecast to $1.9 billion to $2.05 billion. Its free-cash-flow outlook remains $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion after second-quarter free cash flow fell 37% sequentially to $350 million.
The company completed a $100 million accelerated share repurchase, buying about 2.4 million shares, and announced another planned $100 million repurchase for the third quarter. Roughly $800 million remained under its authorization at the end of June.