On August 6, Versant Media Group (NASDAQ:VSNT) reported second-quarter 2026 results that capture a company in transition. Revenue slipped 3.8% year over year to $1.64 billion, and net income attributable to Versant tumbled 30.1% to $211 million. Yet the same report included a raised full-year outlook, a third straight quarterly dividend, and a second $100 million stock buyback. For a company barely eight months removed from its separation from Comcast on January 2, the numbers tell two stories at once.
Versant's headline Adjusted EBITDA fell 8.9% to $624 million, but measured against the prior year's Standalone Adjusted EBITDA, the more relevant apples-to-apples baseline, EBITDA actually grew 3.0%. That gap matters because it shows the company trimming programming and overhead costs faster than legacy revenue is shrinking. Management leaned into that momentum by raising full-year revenue guidance to $6.2 billion to $6.45 billion and Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.9 billion to $2.05 billion, while holding free cash flow guidance at $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion.
The growth story lives outside the traditional cable bundle. Platforms revenue, excluding the divested SportsEngine business, climbed 9.3% on the strength of Fandango and GolfNow, and Versant used the quarter to lock in two multi-year distribution renewals with major partners in the US and Canada. Sports rights remain the anchor: PGA TOUR coverage delivered its best second quarter since 2020, USA Network's WNBA broadcasts drew three of the quarter's most watched games across cable and streaming, and a new five-year Bundesliga deal adds more than 300 live matches a year, with at least 30 landing on USA Network. MS NOW backed that up digitally, posting audience growth for a seventh straight month through June and racking up close to 3 billion YouTube and TikTok views so far this year. Layer in the Full Swing acquisition completed after quarter-end, and Versant is placing real bets beyond linear television.
The pressure driving those buybacks and that raised guidance is real. Total revenue fell 3.8% to $1.64 billion, or 2.8% excluding SportsEngine, and linear distribution revenue, still the largest piece of the business, dropped 6.3% as subscribers kept leaving traditional pay TV. Rate increases only partly offset that erosion, and advertising revenue slipped another 0.6% even with better ratings and a boost from a recent acquisition.
The bottom line felt it more than the top line. Net income attributable to Versant fell $91 million to $211 million, and the company pointed to higher costs of running as a standalone public company, new interest expense tied to debt taken on after leaving Comcast, and a bigger tax bill linked to the SportsEngine sale. Those are the direct costs of standing alone rather than sitting inside a larger conglomerate. Versant's prior year financial statements were also built from Comcast's carve out accounting rather than results as a true independent company, so s
Versant's headline Adjusted EBITDA fell 8.9% to $624 million, but measured against the prior year's Standalone Adjusted EBITDA, the more relevant apples-to-apples baseline, EBITDA actually grew 3.0%. That gap matters because it shows the company trimming programming and overhead costs faster than legacy revenue is shrinking. Management leaned into that momentum by raising full-year revenue guidance to $6.2 billion to $6.45 billion and Adjusted EBITDA guidance to $1.9 billion to $2.05 billion, while holding free cash flow guidance at $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion.
The growth story lives outside the traditional cable bundle. Platforms revenue, excluding the divested SportsEngine business, climbed 9.3% on the strength of Fandango and GolfNow, and Versant used the quarter to lock in two multi-year distribution renewals with major partners in the US and Canada. Sports rights remain the anchor: PGA TOUR coverage delivered its best second quarter since 2020, USA Network's WNBA broadcasts drew three of the quarter's most watched games across cable and streaming, and a new five-year Bundesliga deal adds more than 300 live matches a year, with at least 30 landing on USA Network. MS NOW backed that up digitally, posting audience growth for a seventh straight month through June and racking up close to 3 billion YouTube and TikTok views so far this year. Layer in the Full Swing acquisition completed after quarter-end, and Versant is placing real bets beyond linear television.
The pressure driving those buybacks and that raised guidance is real. Total revenue fell 3.8% to $1.64 billion, or 2.8% excluding SportsEngine, and linear distribution revenue, still the largest piece of the business, dropped 6.3% as subscribers kept leaving traditional pay TV. Rate increases only partly offset that erosion, and advertising revenue slipped another 0.6% even with better ratings and a boost from a recent acquisition.
The bottom line felt it more than the top line. Net income attributable to Versant fell $91 million to $211 million, and the company pointed to higher costs of running as a standalone public company, new interest expense tied to debt taken on after leaving Comcast, and a bigger tax bill linked to the SportsEngine sale. Those are the direct costs of standing alone rather than sitting inside a larger conglomerate. Versant's prior year financial statements were also built from Comcast's carve out accounting rather than results as a true independent company, so s
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