When NBCUniversal holds its upfront presentation next week at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, it will have a new offering to sell: Versant, the forthcoming spinoff of cable TV brands that includes USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Syfy and E!.
The company on Wednesday said that NBCU and Versant had signed a two year deal that will see the media giant continue to sell advertising for the spinoff under its One Platform banner. The deal covers the next two upfront cycles, with NBCU ad sales chief Mark Marshall leading sales for the combined entities.
In addition, Versant says that Tom Winiarski will join as its executive VP of ad sales strategy and monetization. Winiarski had been president of platform monetization for NBCU.
“We’re building Versant as a new, modern media company equipped with industry-leading brands across news, sports and entertainment, and the ability to strike the right partnerships to fuel investment and drive revenue,” said Mark Lazarus, the spinoff’s CEO. “NBCUniversal operates a best-in-class advertising sales and strategy division, and partnering with Mark Marshall and his team, alongside Tom Winiarski in his new role, will enable Versant to operate seamlessly and with agility from the start.”
Versant will likely need to strike other deals with NBCU as well. A source says that the companies are discussing how to divvy up sports rights, with NBCU likely retaining some and sublicensing them to versant, and Versant perhaps retaining others. MSNBC, meanwhile, is building out its own news division with a pending split from NBC News. Versant will also likely share some resources and space with NBCU for a little while, with the company on the lookout for new spaces in New York and Stamford CT.
The deal on the ad sales front means that, at least for a couple of years, Versant will have continuity in sales, giving the team time to build a team and develop their own strategy, either with NBCU as a continued partner, or on their own.
“NBCUniversal first introduced One Platform to make it easy for our clients to access the premium content across our ecosystem in one place,” said Mark Marshall, chairman, global advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal. “By entering into this partnership with Versant, we’re maintaining that simplicity for our partners and ensuring a single, dedicated sales team will represent the companies’ collective inventory and drive revenue for all the iconic IP that our viewers love.”
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