Versant, the newly independent media portfolio encompassing networks like CNBC and MS NOW, unveiled its first-quarter earnings report, marking its debut as a stand-alone company after its separation from Comcast’s NBCUniversal. Despite a modest 1% dip in overall revenue for the quarter, the company’s stock experienced a significant premarket surge of approximately 10%, driven by promising performance in its content licensing and digital platform segments.

The earnings report highlighted ongoing challenges within the traditional pay TV landscape, with linear distribution revenue for its suite of networks – which also includes the Golf Channel, USA, E!, Syfy, and Oxygen – declining by roughly 7% to $1.01 billion, primarily due to subscriber attrition. Advertising revenue also saw a 5% decrease to $368 million, though this marked an improvement compared to a steeper decline in the prior year. However, these pressures were significantly offset by a remarkable 113.5% increase in content licensing revenue, reaching $121 million. This boost was largely attributed to the successful licensing of the popular reality series “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and related content to Disney’s Hulu. Furthermore, revenue from Versant’s platforms business, which includes Fandango and GolfNow, climbed 9.5% to $192 million, underscoring the company’s strategic pivot towards digital growth.

While over 80% of Versant’s current revenue still originates from its traditional pay TV operations, executives have articulated a long-term goal to rebalance this mix, aiming for 50% of revenue to stem from digital, platform, subscription, ad-supported, and transactional ventures. Despite the overall revenue decline to $1.69 billion, which still surpassed Wall Street’s expectations of $1.62 billion, net income attributable to Versant decreased by 22% to $286 million, or $1.99 per share. This reduction was linked to increased public company costs and interest expenses following the spinout from Comcast. Nonetheless, the company reported a 5% increase in stand-alone adjusted EBITDA, benefiting from reduced entertainment programming and administrative costs. Versant also reinforced its commitment to shareholder returns, declaring a quarterly cash dividend of 37.5 cents per share and announcing plans for a $100 million accelerated share repurchase agreement.