The shedding of nearly all of Comcast’s cable television networks housed under its NBCUniversal will see the properties end up in a spin-off company that is taking the name Versant.
Speaking with CNBC, Chief Executive Officer Mark Lazarus explained the company, with a name pronounced as “ver-sant,” was selected to emphasize its versatility and its familiarity with multiple subjects.
It’s an interesting choice, as Versant Health is a brand under Met Life.
This Versant will house cable networks including USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel. It will also house digital assets Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, GolfPass and SportsEngine.
And, Lazarus is hardly concerned about consumer confusion with the Met Life unit. “We’re going to focus on the individual brands that we have, not the corporate name,” Lazarus said. “This is a holding company name. It’s going to be used for business-to-business purposes.”
