Comcast’s upcoming spinoff of its cable assets has found a name.
The new company, which will house much of NBCUniversal’s current cable portfolio including USA and Golf Channel, will be called Versant, according to a report by Alex Sherman of CNBC. However, the new corporate label will not be “consumer-facing,” and will rather be used simply for business-to-business purposes. Each of the individual networks and brands that will fall under Versant’s umbrella will focus on their own branding.
Per the report, Versant is still “on track” to be spun out from Comcast by year’s end. Notably, the new company will not launch its own streaming service, according to its future CEO Mark Lazarus. Instead, each entity will develop their own strategies when it comes to direct-to-consumer. That could mean any number of possibilities ranging from potential licensing deals with other established streamers, or launching individual streaming platforms if it makes sense for the brand.
One strategy that has been widely speculated about Versant is it will look to acquire other groups of cable networks. According to Lazarus, that’s not the case. “Lazarus said he has little interest in accumulating more debt attached to low-growth assets. If a cable network also had associated businesses that had better growth prospects, that could be more appealing on a case-by-case basis,” CNBC’s report read.
However, “Versant is also unlikely to acquire TV station groups in the current regulatory environment,” Lazarus said. The FCC has been keen to exert control over possible media deals in recent months, including the much-beleaguered Skydance-Paramount tie-up.
For sports fans, the main thing to look out for is what these properties decide to do from a digital standpoint. Fans that access USA or Golf Channel through traditional pay TV bundles will still be able to do that. But those channels don’t have a clear streaming home yet.
And with no “Versant+” or similar service on the horizon, those channels could end up anywhere.
