By Harshita Mary Varghese

March 3 (Reuters) - Versant Media on Tuesday reported a smaller-than-expected decline in quarterly revenue and unveiled a $1 billion share ‌buyback, in the first results for the owner of CNBC and ‌MS Now since it was spun out of Comcast.

Shares of the New York-based company were ​up nearly 4%.

The results indicate Versant's legacy linear cable business is holding up better than expected, as the industry contends with a steady drop in traditional TV viewership amid the shift toward on-demand streaming that offers more choice and flexibility ‌than scheduled broadcasts.

Versant shares ⁠have plunged about 20% since their market debut in January, after Comcast spun off the business to curb its exposure ⁠to the assets.

"Linear TV-based companies such as Versant can expect declining revenues for the foreseeable future," Emarketer senior analyst Ross Benes said.

The newly formed company also houses brands ​including USA ​Network, Golf Channel, Oxygen, E!, SYFY, ​along with digital assets such as ‌Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes.

"About 60% of our audience comes from news and sports," Versant Chief Executive Mark Lazarus said on a post-earnings call.

Versant is planning to roll out several direct-to-consumer initiatives, including a CNBC subscription service tailored towards retail investors.

Fandango, Versant's movie-ticketing platform, is set to launch an ad-supported streaming ‌service later this year that will include films ​and television series from Versant's content library ​and distribution deals for free.

"Versant ​did enough to steady nerves, but let's be clear: this ‌was not a turnaround quarter ... Now ​comes the hard part — ​proving there is a real future beyond milking decline," PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said.

In the fourth quarter, Versant's revenue fell nearly 7% ​to $1.61 billion, compared with ‌analysts' estimates of $1.57 billion, according to three analysts polled by LSEG.

Versant's ​revenue for 2025 fell 5.3% to $6.69 billion.

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese ​in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)