Nov 3, 2026 earnings call — Completed carriage deals; platforms growth and Full Swing acquisition
Versant affirmed 2026 revenue guidance of $6.2 billion to $6.45 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.9 billion to $2.05 billion.
Revenue $1.6B (est $1.6B) · EPS $0.34 (est $0.01) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $6.2B–$6.5B
Key quotes
"75% of our network subscribers are now under contract into 2028 and beyond."
"Platforms revenue was $245 million up 10% year over year And excluding the Sports Engine divestiture, and Full Swing acquisition, up 17%."
"Integration efforts are progressing well and we are seeing early success in using Golf Channel and Golf Now as effective sales and marketing tools for full swing."
Analyst Q&A 7
content investments and revenue drivers
Q (Michael Ng · Goldman Sachs): He asked what content investments are planned for 2027–2028 and how DTC products like MS Now and CNBC DTC will play a role. He also asked whether the revenue acceleration was mainly from box office and Fandango and for indie cinema momentum.
A: Management said sports and news are the centerpiece and they will keep investing in both. They focus on disciplined original series with backend monetization (example: Golden Life to Hulu). On DTC, they will work with MVPDs, not create streamers, and will build interactive direct-to-consumer products; they said Fandango was a big contributor to recent growth and other platform pieces also contributed.
"And I think that evidence in fact that we recently announced that the Golden Life will be will be on Hulu a couple of weeks after it is on after we launched it on the E! network." — Mark H. Lazarus (CEO)
news viewership and sports rights
Q (Sean Diffley · Morgan Stanley): He asked whether MS Now is showing any viewership fatigue around the midterms and if viewership will taper after the election. He also asked for high-level thinking on upcoming sports rights and whether out-of-market NFL games (Sunday Ticket) could interest them.
A: They said they are not seeing any fatigue and MS Now audiences are active, vibrant and growing. For sports rights they expect big events like the World Cup and NFL will command high rates, there will be opportunities as portfolios rationalize, and they are unlikely to invest in the NFL business at the current company size though they find the ruling interesting.
"So as it relates to news, I mean, we are not seeing any fatigue with our audiences." — Mark H. Lazarus (CEO)
MS Now pricing and platform distribution
Q (Richard Greenfield · LightShed Partners): He asked why MS Now is priced at $7.99, whether it can offset subscriber declines, and how they view being ingested by other platforms or ingesting others.
A: They said the $7.99 price came from testing and felt right, and people are signing up. MS Now is a membership service not just a streamer; existing video is only part of the value and they expect a multiyear journey. On distribution they are open to conversations and flexible business models and will work with partners to scale services.
"$7.99 through testing and other areas felt and turned out to be the right price." — Mark H. Lazarus (CEO)
additional verticals and M&A strategy
Q (David Karnovsky · JPMorgan): He asked if they would build or buy into other verticals beyond news and golf and how they think about buying cable networks for that purpose.
A: They described four core verticals: business/personal finance news, political news/opinion, golf, and entertainment centered on sports with Fandango as a hub. They said they could enter other verticals if there is a clear rallying point, but they are not focused on buying more cable networks for horizontal scale and prefer to transition toward growth initiatives.
"We think, and we believe you all expect us to transition towards growth initiatives." — Mark H. Lazarus (CEO)
advertising rep deal and Full Swing rationale
Q (Peter Supino · Wolfe): He asked whether the ad partnership (NBC selling their inventory) is meeting expectations and then asked for the strategic thesis and synergies for the Golf Now / Full Swing deal.
A: They said the rep relationship is going exceptionally well; the partner has been collaborative and delivered on what they discussed. On Full Swing, they said the deal lets them use Golf Channel and Golf Now's relationships and salesforce with 9 thousand golf courses to market and sell Full Swing products and create integration opportunities to accelerate revenue.
"They have delivered on everything that we have discussed with them." — Mark H. Lazarus (CEO)
costs, rights spending, and efficiency
Q (David Joyce · Seaport Research Partners): He asked how costs of revenues stay flattish despite adding sports rights and entertainment programming, and how to think about cost trends given D2C launches.
A: They said they manage expenses tied to revenue and fit opportunistic sports deals like Bundesliga into the programming budget while making tradeoffs elsewhere. Programming spend timing will be impacted by NASCAR in Q4; they are pursuing AI and tech efficiency initiatives effective 2027 and beyond, and roughly 70% of the cost base is variable other than sports rights.
"So it is those kind of deals where we can fit them within our programming budget, make trade offs elsewhere, and, again, just kind of looking at how we are programming and different types of content, what is working the best." — Anand Kini (CFO)
Full Swing margins and platform investment criteria
Q (Brent Penter · Raymond James): He asked about Full Swing margins and cost synergies, and more broadly how they define success and returns for platform investments and capital allocation.
A: They said Full Swing was bought as a profitable business and they expect profitability to increase, with most benefits coming from revenue synergies and some modest cost synergies. For platform investments they look for ways to use existing vertical strengths (salesforce, marketing, partnerships), and they apply a disciplined capital allocation framework: maintain a healthy balance sheet, return capital, and invest in growth only when it creates bankable shareholder value.
"We bought it as a profitable enterprise, and we are we are expecting that profitability to obviously increase based on some of the synergies that Mark mentioned as a strategic rationale for buying it that we are already implementing." — Anand Kini (CFO)