WBD quarterly advertising revenue is down 22% YoY; Kevin Costner will be part of the MLB at Field of Dreams broadcast; and Versant raises its annual revenue, EBITDA guidance. Plus news on Paramount-WBD, Mike Krukow, SEC Network and Notre Dame football.
WBD Q2 advertising revenue plummets 22% YoY with loss of NBA rights
Warner Bros. Discovery advertising revenue fell 22% YoY to $1.72 billion in Q2, a decline largely attributed to the company’s loss of NBA rights, the company said on its earnings call Thursday. During its tenure as an NBA rights partner, which ended after the 2024-25 season, WBD-owned TNT televised in the neighborhood of 40 NBA playoff games during Q2, highlighted by a full conference final.
WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels called the lack of NBA rights “a negative driver on ad revenues” and “a positive driver on profits in the second quarter.” He also touted ‘significant’ gains in WBD news and sports viewership, though no further details were provided.
While WBD registered gains in other categories, most notably achieving more than $3 billion in streaming segment revenue for the first time (+10% YoY), the company suffered a 9% YoY decline in distribution revenue for its global linear networks. That decline corresponded with a 10% decrease in domestic pay linear television subscribers that was offset by a 1% rise in domestic affiliate rates.
If WBD had gone forward with selling its streaming and studio assets to Netflix, it planned to spin out its global linear networks into Discovery Global, which would have been led by Wiedenfels. WBD deemed a subsequent $31/share bid by Paramount to constitute a superior proposal, and its shareholders could stand to gain more capital with a $0.25/share “ticking fee” calculated daily that takes effect at the end of September. “[W]e’re confident this transaction will close, and we’ve been trying to drive the value of the company to deliver to PSKY and to David [Ellison] the best company possible,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said. “The company is performing at a very high level, and we have every expectation that the transaction will close and that the company will be performing even better than the plan that we presented to PSKY when we did our deal.”
Costner to appear on Netflix broadcast of MLB at Field of Dreams
Actor Kevin Costner will be part of the MLB at Field of Dreams broadcast on Netflix next week, the company’s VP/sports Gabe Spitzer said on a conference call Thursday. Costner, who famously starred in the “Field of Dreams” movie, has returned to the site for an MLB game previously when the White Sox and Yankees faced off in 2021 and joined the Fox Sports studio team for an interview. Spitzer declined to say the exact capacity Costner will have in the broadcast or whether he will be present on site.
Netflix will use an analogous talent lineup from its Opening Night broadcast in March, which featured the play-by-play voice Matt Vasgersian alongside analysts Hunter Pence and CC Sabathia in booth, and a studio crew of host Elle Duncan with analysts Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo.
“When you look back to Opening Night, it should be pretty similar,” Spitzer said. “Obviously we had two desks on the field for Home Run Derby because it’s an exhibition, not real gameplay, but I think you can consider looking back to the core talent lineup that we had on Opening Night with that desk and the announce booth.”
The Field of Dreams Game is the final MLB broadcast on Netflix this season, and Spitzer said that the company has had an “incredible partnership” with the league thus far, citing the streamer’s younger-skewing audiences for Opening Night and the Derby. “So that doesn’t mean we’re going to completely change up what we’re doing and try to skew this for something baseball isn’t, but I think it shows that when we put it on Netflix and when it’s a great game and a great location like this will be next week, that we can bring in hopefully a broader audience and more of that casual audience that might not be watching day in and day out.”
Versant raises revenue, EBITDA guidance for FY2026
Versant is projecting slightly higher revenues for 2026 after a better-than-expected quarter for its digital businesses such as Fandango and GolfNow, the company said on its quarterly earnings call this week. The months-old spinoff of NBCUniversal cable assets now forecasts its annual revenue to fall between $6.2 billion and $6.45 billion (up from $6.15 billion to $6.4 billion), and it also revised its EBITDA estimate upwards to between $1.9 billion and $2.05 billion (from $1.85 billion to $2 billion). Linear distribution revenue was down 6.3% YoY to $954 million due to a drop in subscribers.
Versant CFO/COO Anand Kini said that the company expects the cost of its sports rights to “meaningfully increase” in the second half of the year, “further impacted by an increase in NASCAR races this year, our first season with the WNBA, and golf events.” In an interview at Deutsche Bank’s 34th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference earlier this year, Kini said that Versant would only acquire additional sports rights if it can offset the cost.
Since becoming a standalone, publicly-traded company earlier this year, Versant has acquired FAST channel operator Free TV Networks and golf simulator Full Swing and is also expanding its Fandango advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) service to include more free content, including Bundesliga matches under a new five-year media rights deal.
Versant CEO Mark Lazarus has previously stated a goal of diversifying the company’s revenue streams to a 50-50 split between linear television networks and other non-pay television sources.
Plus: Paramount-WBD, Mike Krukow, SEC Network, Notre Dame
- The United Kingdom approved Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday after the company agreed to various assurances to safeguard editorial independence, news plurality and other services. United Kingdom culture secretary Lisa Nandy wrote in June that she was “minded to intervene” in the transaction and cited concerns related to the public interest, plurality “of views in news media” and “persons with control of the media enterprises.” Paramount’s WBD acquisition is facing lawsuits in the United States and is scheduled to stand for a 12-day trial in early March 2027.
- San Francisco Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow said Thursday that he is going to retire after the season, ending his 36-year tenure behind the microphone alongside his colleague and former teammate Duane Kuiper. Throughout his time calling Giants games, the team has won three World Series championships, and he has been nominated numerous times for the Ford C. Frick Award. Kuiper formerly played for the Giants over seven seasons and is a member of the team’s Wall of Fame.
- Marion Crowder, who has worked for ESPN since 2013 across a variety of roles, is joining “SEC Nation” this fall as a reporter, the company revealed on Tuesday. Crowder will work alongside other new personalities on the program, including Matt Barrie and Chase Daniel, along with returning analysts Paul Finebaum, Roman Hraper and Tim Tebow.
- Mike Golic Sr. has been named the new color analyst for Notre Dame football radio broadcasts this season, returning to the university more than four decades after being a student-athlete on the team. Golic, who recently started hosting a new midday ESPN Radio program with his son, will be working with play-by-play announcer Tony Simeone and studio host Johnny Soper on broadcasts this season. Golic moves into the role after analyst Ryan Harris left the broadcasts last year after eight seasons.
