As Comcast rolls out Versant, its cable TV spinoff, CFO Jason Armstrong has touted the advantages in investing and building additional scale for SpinCo, to include USA Network, Syfy, MSNBC, and CNBC.

For Versant, their opportunity is going to be a well capitalized company, a very strong management team, a lot of free cash flow, and the ability to do some things in digital that we werent necessarily thinking of, Armstrong told the MoffettNathanson Media, Internet Communications Conference during a session on Thursday. He added the SpinCo initiative, expected to be completed in late 2025, also opens the way for additional consolidation in the TV industry as a possible roll-up vehicle for more cable channels. Not being too prescriptive about that, but if you look at the way theyre going to be set up, with a talented leadership team and a strong balance sheet, theyre going to have a lot of options, Armstrong said.

After Comcast earlier managed its linear TV and streaming business on a combined basis,the media giant has turned to a cable spinoff to reveal underlying shareholder value for misfit NBCU cable channels. The new venture, Versant, will include most of Comcasts cable TV assets, including USA, Syfy, E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen and Golf Channel, as well as some digital businesses like Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.

The NBC broadcast network and Peacock would remain with the core company. Versant will be led by CEO Mark Lazarus, CFO and COO Anand Kini, andchairman David Novak, with senior executives largely plucked from the ranks of NBCUniversal.

Armstrong also talked about Peacock post-SpinCo after the NBCUniversal streamer during the recent first quarter narrowed its loss to $215 million, from $639 million in the year-ago period. Peacock will be well positioned. As a standalone business, were 41 million subscribers in less than five years. Its one of the fastest trajectories, Armstrong said.

Peacock ended March 2025 with 41 million paying subscribers after taking in new Charter Communications subscribers, compared with 36 million for the year-end 2024 quarter and the previous third quarter of 2024. Armstrong added bring the NFL to Peacock, while adding to content costs, would bolster its sports offerings and get the streaming platform closer to ESPN in its consumer appeal.

Its an incredible price value proposition for the consumer, which tells a guy like me weve got monetization opportunities, he argued, as Peacock goes up against ESPNs standalone streaming package priced at $30 per month.

Armstrong also talked up Epic Universe,the new Orlando theme park opening next week for Universal Destinations. Weve got the biggest new park to be launched in the last 30 years, launching in the U.S. next week, Armstrong said, as theme parks remains a key investment target for the media conglomerate as a core asset for growth.

And he argued Universal had seen no fallout so far in the run up to the opening of Epic Universe from recessionary pressures impacting consumer spending on theme parks. We havent yet, Armstrong added about impact on advance booking trends for Epic Universe and other theme parks.

He said that Universal Studios Hollywood, the film studio and theme park at Universal City, will take time to return to strength after the recent Los Angeles wildfires. But outside of that, economic impacts, were not seeing it, Armstrong said.