NBCUniversal Has Reached a Two-Year Agreement to Sell VERSANT Advertising Inventory Under One Platform Banner
NBCUniversal’s Mark Marshall to Manage All Sales Strategy and Revenue; Industry Veteran Tom Winiarski Moves to VERSANT to Lead the Sales Partnership Between Entities
May 07, 2025
NEW YORK, NY – MAY 7, 2025 – NBCUniversal and VERSANT, Comcast's planned spin-off of premium news, sports and entertainment assets, have reached a new commercial service agreement to sell domestic VERSANT advertising inventory under its One Platform banner, including CNBC, E!, Golf Channel, MSNBC, Oxygen, Syfy, USA, and digital platforms. As part of the agreement, VERSANT properties will benefit from NBCUniversal’s cutting-edge advertising tech stack, advanced targeting tools, and real-time measurement capabilities. This partnership will cover the next two Upfront cycles.
NBCUniversal’s Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships, Mark Marshall will continue to manage the sales strategy and revenue for NBCUniversal and VERSANT’s key premium properties, working in close partnership with industry veteran Tom Winiarski, who will transition to VERSANT in the newly created role of Executive Vice President, Ad Sales Strategy and Monetization. Winiarski has served as NBCUniversal’s President of Platform Monetization for the last five years and brings nearly 30 years of expertise in linear and digital sales, planning and inventory management.
“NBCUniversal first introduced One Platform to make it easy for our clients to access the premium content across our ecosystem in one place,” said Mark Marshall, Chairman, Global Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal. “By entering into this partnership with VERSANT, we’re maintaining that simplicity for our partners and ensuring a single, dedicated sales team will represent the companies’ collective inventory and drive revenue for all the iconic IP that our viewers love.”
"We’re building VERSANT as a new, modern media company equipped with industry-leading brands across news, sports and entertainment, and the ability to strike the right partnerships to fuel investment and drive revenue,” said Mark Lazarus, CEO, VERSANT. “NBCUniversal operates a best-in-class advertising sales and strategy division, and partnering with Mark Marshall and his team, alongside Tom Winiarski in his new role, will enable VERSANT to operate seamlessly and with agility from the start.”
NBCUniversal will deliver its annual Upfront presentation on Monday, May 12 at 10:30 AM ET at Radio City Music Hall, spotlighting a monumental year of content across NBCUniversal and VERSANT, including Super Bowl LX, NBA, WNBA, FIFA World Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Live from the Red Carpet, PGA Tour, U.S. Open, Big Ten Championship, Premier League, NASCAR and more.
