Characters are welcome again at USA Network, entertainment stays on the menu at E! and Oxygen still lives and breathes true crime. That’s the message Versant entertainment president Val Boreland plans to share Thursday at Versant’s first investor day, as Comcast gets ready to spin off USA, E!, Oxygen, Syfy and other networks into a new independently run and publicly traded company.
“When we look at the reach of our networks, it’s greater than some of the bigger streamers,” says Boreland of Versant, which besides USA, Syfy, Oxygen and E!, includes CNBC, the newly renamed news channel MS NOW and digital assets like Fandango. “It’s not about competing with streamers, but just really leaning into the brands. We still have billions of hours watched every year, and that’s still a big business. It is definitely a declining business — I won’t deny that — but it’s still big. It’s a revenue driver for NBCUniversal, and now all that profit is going to come back and be reinvested into these networks across the board.”
It’s a bit of a second act for those cablers, which were put on the backburner over the past five years while NBCUniversal focused its attention on building the Peacock streamer. (The NBCU network with the most active original series pipeline, Bravo, isn’t moving to Versant.) Now, Versant CEO Mark Lazarus has tasked Boreland with kickstarting some of those neglected channels.
“I wouldn’t say neglected,” Boreland retorts. “I would say ‘de-prioritized.’ I’ve been part of these networks for 9 1/2 years, and I’ve also been part of Peacock for the last five years. I’ve been able to see it from both sides, and how we leveraged both to build the company. But now the networks are the star of the show, and we need to focus on that.”
Says Lazarus: “Val’s experience is helping lead the way.”
Boreland says a priority is adding more hour-long procedurals to USA — which also has seen its sports output grow under the new USA Sports division led by Matt Hong. USA launched its first new scripted series in five years this fall with “The Rainmaker,” an adaptation of the John Grisham novel that has already been renewed for a second season. Another new drama, “Anna Pigeon,” based on the books by Nevada Barr, will premiere in 2026.
Both shows are close-ended, blue-sky dramas that harken back to USA’s “Characters Welcome” era (“Burn Notice,” “Psych,” “Suits”). Under scripted head Michael Sluchan, USA also has projects in development with writers including Matt Corman and Chris Ord (“Covert Affairs”), Michael Rauch (“Royal Pains”) and Donald Todd (“Resident Alien”).
“It’s a little bit of the origins of USA that we didn’t depart from completely, we just haven’t leaned in in that way in a long time,” Boreland says. “Close-ended, episodic programming has always worked. I think what has made it hard for linear networks to continue to thrive in that area is the price point. It’s very expensive to do scripted shows. So what we’re trying to do is be very creative with our partners, like Lionsgate with ‘Rainmaker’ in creating quality scripted shows that don’t have to be extremely expensive.”
Boreland isn’t ready to share her programming budget for scripted fare, but says having two on USA (and currently, just one on Syfy — “The Ark”) doesn’t preclude them from doing more in the future.
“It’s an unexpected pleasure to have two scripted series in a year on USA,” she says. “It’s been a while, but I wouldn’t say that we’re capping anything in terms of number. We will probably have a few less in development, but people are pitching us all the time. If we get something that we like, we’ll figure out how to make it work.”
At E!, she’s looking to amp up the channel’s live awards red carpet coverage, which this winter will include the Critics Choice Awards (which E! televises), the Golden Globes, the Grammys, the Oscars and a return to the Actor (formerly SAG) Awards.
Last year, E! canceled its “E! News” telecast, but Boreland says the brand still exists. Shorter-form E! News capsules may wind up running through the day on the channel and online; E! has already produced a few pilots for what the rebooted E! News might look like.
“It’s really about being current in how people get pop culture news,” Boreland says. “And that’s not waiting until 11 o’clock at night to turn on the TV.”
E!’s digital team may also play more of a role in program development: One recent hit is the online talker, “Hot Goss,” which follows two hosts dressed in towels, talking about pop culture in a sauna.
“It’s so successful that we’re now going to develop a longer form franchise from it, and we’re working with YouTube on that,” she says.
Another unscripted show in the works is “Dirty, Rotten Scandals,” which is a twist on the channel’s once-signature “E! True Hollywood Story” docuseries franchise. The new show’s early subjects include “America’s Next Top Model,” “Dr. Phil” and “The Price Is Right.”
“You said that we took the attention off the networks,” Boreland says. “I think maybe, especially with E!, we took a little bit of a right turn where we should have just been going straight ahead. Now we’re getting back to that.”
As for Oxygen, which has rode the wave of increased interest in true crime fare, the network last week launched a new series, “Killer Grannies,” hosted by June Squibb. Also, Variety has learned that Oxygen just ordered the doc “Love, Ted Bundy,” set for 2026. Meanwhile, the network will continue to have a relationship with NBC News’ “Dateline” — but now as a buyer, not as a synergistic sibling.
“There’ll be places where it’s going to be a little bit harder for us,” Boreland says of severing ties with NBCU. “But it’s going to be very exciting to be independent. There are places where it’s going to be a complete advantage for us. We’ll continue to have ‘Dateline,’ we’ll just license it. And there are a lot of Versant shows that Peacock was streaming that they can now license from us, and we get paid for. The spin-off gives us the freedom to pursue content opportunities that maybe we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to pursue and partnerships that we weren’t able to explore because we were part of NBCUniversal.”
Viewers outside of the media bubble might not even be aware of an ownership change, as marketing plans will remain stable for the channels (no new logos or taglines in the offing). Also, Versant has no plans to launch a production studio, Boreland says, but will hold more ownership stakes in its shows. And it can start selling its library of content, particularly shows from Oxygen and E! that used to automatically end up on Peacock but can now be distributed anywhere — and that could be a financial boon for the company.
Meanwhile, Versant’s secret weapon may be programming the digital properties it’s inheriting, the exec says, including a collection of FAST channels and the Fandango At Home (formerly Vudu) AVOD service, run by digital platforms and ventures president Will McIntosh.
“It’s a key focus area for us, and we’re working on transforming the platform,” Boreland says. “My team is working on developing a content strategy using our strong library asset. We’ll make strategic acquisitions for the platform from other studios, and eventually we will have original production on Fandango… in order for Versant to grow, we’re going to have to focus on those other areas, whether it be digital or FAST or AVOD or, other companies that we can acquire.”
That’s exactly the kind of information that David Joyce, a senior media analyst at Seaport Research Partners, is hoping to hear at the investor day. Joyce says he’s unclear why Comcast separated its networks in this manner.
“It still feels really awkward how they divided up the assets,” he says. “They left the most watched networks, like Bravo stays with Comcast, and Peacock and NBC stay with Comcast. [Versant will have to] drive engagement and viewership, and that will require investment in programming and perhaps more sports rights.”
Boreland is frank about her mandate: “No one was suggesting that by doing this, we’re going to turn the linear business around,” she says. “But rather, we can take the strong assets that we have and maintain the linear business, but also go beyond linear and build from there.”
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