How will Versant approach sports streaming?
How will Versant approach sports streaming?
The company will house most cable channels formerly owned by NBCUniversal, and will have more freedom when it comes to streaming live sports.
Things could be about to get weird between NBCUniversal and Versant, the spun-off company that will soon be in charge of most cable channels owned by Comcast. NBCU decided to spin off its cable networks last November into a new company, which has since been given the name Versant. Now that the process of splitting is getting closer to finishing, Versant officials are discussing a future which might include fewer sports events streaming simultaneously on Peacock.
Key Details:
- Not a divorce: Versant’s Matt Hong said he would like to continue partnering with NBCU and Peacock.
- Opportunities to expand: Hong also said that Versant now has the potential to expand to streamers beyond Peacock.
- Not looking to merge: There is no interest from Versant’s side in merging with Warner Bros. Discovery or another media entity with sports rights.
As a spun-off company, Versant will be under no obligation to team with NBCU on sports deals any longer. Even though Versant will have the freedom to strike out on its own, Versant’s head of sports, Matt Hong told Alex Sherman of CNBC, said that the company would like Peacock to continue being its streaming partner when the situation makes sense for both parties.
“All other things being equal, we’d like to continue to work with and partner with NBCU and Peacock going forward,” Hong said. “I think one of the unique things about being separate public companies here soon is we’ll be able to potentially partner with Peacock, but we’ll also be able to partner with other third-party streamers in situations where a set of rights may or may not work for Peacock, but we want them at Versant. We’ll have the freedom to partner with some streamers that previously we didn’t necessarily have the freedom to partner with.”
As Hong explained, there will be times when it makes more sense for Versant to team up with other streaming services. The recently announced deal between the USGA and Versant will keep the U.S. Open streaming on Peacock, but other sports deals might see the company turn to a service like Apple TV+ or Netflix to distribute events digitally.
There is also the possibility that Versant won’t have a streaming partner for some events. Hong explained to Front Office Sports that Versant doesn’t plan on simul-streaming 100% of the sports it offers on its linear channels, even though it acknowledges how important streaming has become for audiences when determining how to watch an event.
“We’ve got a very robust set of properties that support our linear networks, and I think those are strong properties and strong networks with a lot of reach,” Hong said. “We’re not blind to how sports fans consume media or how leagues would like their content distributed. So, for now, that means partnering with other streaming platforms, if that’s the priority for a league. But that’s something that could potentially evolve for us down the road.”
One of the advantages of spinning off channels into Versant is that the new company could be a tempting target for those looking to merge with or acquire new properties. But Hong told CNBC that Versant isn’t interested in merging with a company like Warner Bros. Discovery’s Discovery Global, the company that will house TNT Sports when WBD completes its own spin-off in the next year.
“I don’t know that we will merge with an entity that has sports rights, only because we have plenty of programming to help drive our linear business,” he said. “I think the future will be inorganic acquisitions, which help diversify our revenue streams. And so it’ll really be, continue to invest in our core linear business, and then looking for inorganic opportunities that complement that business.”
The future for Versant is hard to predict, but the nascent company’s executives have a clear vision at least. Versant is an interesting case study in how a legacy media company is handling the decline of revenue from linear TV channels, and the results of its planning will bear watching.
Peacock
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that includes original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series. Peacock is home to “Yellowstone,” “The Office,” and original hits like “Poker Face” and “Bel-Air.” You can also watch live sports and NBC programming, including the NFL, MLB, WWE, the Olympics, the Premier League, NASCAR, the French Open, college football and basketball, and the PGA Tour. Premium Plus subscribers can stream their local NBC feed in all 210 markets.