CNBC anchor David Faber openly acknowledged on air Wednesday that the Wall Street debut of his parent company, Versant Media Group, "hasn't gone well," as shares plunged significantly in the early days of trading following its spin-off from Comcast.
Versant, which houses cable networks including CNBC, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), USA Network, E!, Syfy, Oxygen, and Golf Channel, began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker VSNT on Monday, January 5, 2026. The stock opened at $45.17 per share but closed the day down 13% at around $40.57, marking a rough start amid broader investor skepticism toward legacy cable assets in a streaming-dominated landscape.
By midday Wednesday, January 7, shares had fallen further to $33.30 — representing a cumulative drop of about 26% from the opening price. Faber made his candid remark during a "Squawk on the Street" interview with Warner Bros. Discovery board chair Samuel Di Piazza Jr., noting, "My parent company is now public, Versant. It hasn’t gone well the last two days."
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He referenced the low trading multiple as a potential negative signal for similar media companies, saying global networks would be "not worth much of anything if you assume a Versant multiple.
"Di Piazza pushed back politely, arguing that WBD's networks (including CNN, TNT, and Discovery Channel) have greater scale and differ from Versant's portfolio, though Faber countered by highlighting WBD's higher debt load.
The spin-off, led by Versant CEO Mark Lazarus (former NBCUniversal media group chairman), aimed to separate Comcast's declining cable properties from its core broadband, theme parks, and studios businesses. Comcast shareholders received one Versant share for every 25 Comcast shares held, resulting in an initial market cap of roughly $6.5–8 billion. Executives had pitched low debt and digital growth potential (via assets like Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, and GolfNow), but Wall Street's initial reaction reflected ongoing concerns over cord-cutting and shrinking linear TV revenues.
The debut's weakness has drawn awkward on-air moments for CNBC hosts, including earlier segments where a live ticker showed Versant shares tumbling while anchors like Faber, Jim Cramer, and Carl Quintanilla discussed the company's potential influence on its own stock performance. Analysts note the performance could complicate similar separations, such as Warner Bros. Discovery's planned split of its cable networks later in 2026.