Versant Media

Versant Media is repositioning Fandango as a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service to compete with Tubi and Roku Channel, supported by a "We love free" marketing push. The company secured a five-year deal to stream over 300 Bundesliga matches on Fandango and USA Network and will leverage existing EPL rights, 3,500 hours of Versant content and properties like Rotten Tomatoes to attract viewers and advertisers. Versant aims to convert Fandango's 50 million monthly visitors into streaming viewers and is seeking additional sports rights while avoiding prohibitively expensive assets like the NFL. » More on forbes.com

Versant announced CNBC will simulcast 11 WNBA games this season, with the matchups also airing on USA Network under an 11-year media rights agreement. The simulcasts begin with Las Vegas Aces vs. Phoenix Mercury and aim to prevent fans from missing overlapping doubleheaders. The move expands CNBC's live-sports coverage, exposes the WNBA to CNBC's affluent audience and supports Versant's push into distribution after its corporate spinout; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham will join studio coverage. » More on cnbc.com

Versant Media Group acquired a minority stake in microdrama app GammaTime as part of its Series A, pairing the investment with agreements to adapt parts of Versant's entertainment library into vertical scripted originals. The deal excludes news brands and reflects a strategy to test legacy TV IP in mobile-native short-form formats while ceding control of discovery, data and conversion to the app. Studios are favoring minority investments to gain optionality and learn microdrama economics, since ownership of content does not equal ownership of the mobile audience funnel. » More on forbes.com