Fandango's Free Streaming: A New Era?

Versant, recently spun off from Comcast, is strategically expanding its media portfolio with a new focus on free streaming services. Will McIntosh, president of digital platforms and ventures for Versant, revealed plans to establish Fandango as a significant free streaming brand. Previously recognized primarily for movie ticket sales, Fandango quietly became the second-largest transactional VOD platform in the U.S., behind Amazon.

A new partnership with Lionsgate will offer all five "Hunger Games" movies for free streaming on Fandango for two weeks prior to the release of "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" in November. This initiative exemplifies Versant's "entrepreneurial" spirit and risk-taking, aiming to tie established brands with new transactional technologies.

Since its spin-off ten months ago, Versant has completed four acquisitions, including a cloud-based business management software platform and a golf simulator tech company. McIntosh noted that these moves were previously difficult to pursue within Comcast due to the latter's scale and investment priorities in areas like theme parks and broadband infrastructure.

The company's broader goal is to diversify revenue streams beyond traditional cable by leveraging its four verticals: business news, political opinion, sports, and genre entertainment. McIntosh aims for other verticals to mirror the golf division's 50/50 split between media and transactional assets within three to five years.

McIntosh also highlighted the evolving "build vs. buy" equation in acquisitions, particularly influenced by advancements in AI. He suggested that AI's rapid development might lead Versant to prioritize building capabilities internally more frequently in the future.