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Laz and Zaz Ponder Life After Cable

To survive as solo companies, Versant and the seemingly inevitable WBD spinco will need to transform their news media brands—MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, etcetera—into something more than mere cable channels. Is the New York Times playbook already obsolete?

mark lazarus
It’s telling that whenever Mark Lazarus, the C.E.O. of the company formerly known as SpinCo, is asked about Versant’s ambitions, he turns the conversation to golf. Photo: Desiree Navarro/WireImage
Julia Alexander
May 16, 2025

On Thursday, while fielding softballs at MoffettNathanson’s annual media conference in New York, Comcast C.F.O. Jason Armstrong made a notable, if offhand, remark. He had arrived well prepared with answers for the audience of media analysts and investor types who filled the Gershwin Ballroom at the Westin Times Square, who asked about everything from residential broadband to Peacock’s new NBA deal. (Indeed, Armstrong talked endlessly about Comcast’s broadband business.) But when it came to the topic of Versant, the new spinco comprising NBCU’s cast-off TV assets—USA, MSNBC, E!, the Golf Channel, CNBC, etcetera, plus digital properties like Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and GolfNow—Armstrong had a lot less to say.