Versant faces VPPA mass arbitration over CNBC, USA Network viewing data

Versant's exposure comes at a sensitive moment — the company only completed its separation from Comcast in early 2026, and a mass arbitration campaign targeting its digital platforms could create both financial and operational pressure on the newly independent entity. The case fits a broader pattern: VPPA claims against streaming and video platforms have surged, with firms pursuing similar pixel-tracking theories against companies ranging from Fubo to LinkedIn. Watch whether the Supreme Court's pending ruling in Salazar v. Paramount Global — which will determine who qualifies as a 'consumer' under the VPPA — reshapes the eligibility pool for claims like Versant's.

The Versant investigation is part of a much larger wave of VPPA litigation. Per the American Bar Association (April 2025), approximately 200 VPPA cases were filed annually in recent years, with at least 28 filed by March 1, 2025 alone. The cases typically allege that websites using tracking pixels — particularly the Meta Pixel — transmit users' video-viewing histories and identifying information to third parties without consent. Labaton Keller Sucharow opened its Versant case intake on May 6, 2026, per the firm's Lantern portal.

Settlements have been accumulating across the industry. Fubo agreed to pay $3.4 million to resolve VPPA and CIPA claims in July 2025, per Privado AI. A federal court in the Eastern District of New York approved a $2.72 million class settlement in Carbone v. Limited Run Games in March 2026, per the National Law Review. Willow TV preliminarily settled similar VPPA pixel-tracking claims for $850,000, with a fairness hearing scheduled for February 2027, per court filings in the Northern District of California.

The legal landscape remains in flux. The Second Circuit's 2025 decision in Solomon v. Flipps Media adopted the 'ordinary person' test for personally identifiable information and effectively dismissed pixel-based VPPA claims in that circuit, per WilmerHale (January 2026). Meanwhile, a circuit split on who qualifies as a 'consumer' under the VPPA — pitting the Second and Seventh Circuits' broad reading against the Sixth and D.C. Circuits' narrower interpretation — prompted the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in Salazar v. Paramount Global on January 26, 2026. That ruling could significantly expand or contract the pool of eligible claimants, directly affecting the viability of mass arbitration campaigns like the one targeting Versant.