Revenue Recognition |
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Dec. 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue Recognition | Revenue Recognition Revenue is recognized when, or as, performance obligations under the terms of a contract are satisfied, which generally occurs when, or as, control of the promised products or services is transferred to customers. Revenue is measured as the amount of consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring products or services to a customer ("transaction price"). To the extent the contract includes variable consideration, the Company estimates the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price utilizing the most likely amount to which the Company expects to be entitled. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price if, in the Company’s judgment, it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue under the contract will not occur. Estimates of variable consideration and determination of whether to include estimated amounts in the transaction price are based largely on an assessment of the Company’s anticipated performance and all information that is reasonably available. Amounts collected on behalf of others (including taxes), where the Company is an agent, are excluded from revenue. When determining the transaction price of a contract, an adjustment is made if payment from a customer occurs either significantly before or significantly after performance, resulting in a significant financing component. Applying a practical expedient in the guidance, the Company does not assess whether a significant financing component exists if the period between when the Company performs its obligations under the contract and when the customer pays is one year or less. Contracts with customers may contain multiple performance obligations. For such arrangements, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on the estimated relative standalone selling prices of the promised products or services underlying each performance obligation. The Company determines relative standalone selling prices based on the price at which the performance obligations are sold separately. If the standalone selling price is not observable through past transactions, the Company estimates the standalone selling price considering available information such as market conditions and internal pricing guidelines related to the performance obligations. The Company’s revenue recognition policies summarizing the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty associated with each major source of revenue from contracts with customers are described below. Subscription Subscription revenues primarily consist of affiliate fees received from distributors for the rights to use the Company's network programming under multi-year contracts, commonly referred to as "affiliation agreements," and subscription fees for our streaming services. Subscription revenues are earned from cable and other multichannel video programming distribution platforms, including direct broadcast satellite ("DBS"), platforms operated by telecommunications providers and virtual multichannel video programming distributors (collectively "distributors"). The Company’s streaming services are also available to subscribers through digital streaming platforms and our direct-to-consumer ("DTC") applications. The majority of the Company’s subscription revenues relate to sales-based and usage-based royalties which are recognized on the later of (i) when the subsequent sale or usage occurs and (ii) satisfaction or partial satisfaction of the performance obligation to which some or all of the sales-based or usage-based royalty has been allocated to. Costs incurred for services provided to us by distributors, such as advertising and marketing, that are in exchange for a distinct service are recorded as expenses. If a distinct service is not received, such costs are recorded as a reduction of revenue. Occasionally, the Company incurs costs to obtain a distribution contract and these costs are amortized over the period of the related distribution contract as a reduction of revenue. The Company's performance obligation under affiliation agreements is a license of functional intellectual property that is satisfied as the Company provides its programming over the term of the agreement. The transaction price is represented by subscription fees that are generally based upon contractual rates applied to the number of the distributor's subscribers who receive or can receive our programming ("rate-per-subscriber"), or, to a lesser extent and primarily in AMCNI affiliation agreements, fixed contractual monthly fees ("fixed fee"). For rate-per-subscriber agreements, the Company applies the sales-based or usage-based royalty guidance, and accordingly, recognizes revenue in the period of the distributor’s usage, based on the subscription fee earned during the period. Fixed fee affiliation agreements are generally billed in monthly installments, and such amounts may vary over the term of the contract. In cases where the invoice amount corresponds directly with the value to the affiliate of the performance to-date, the Company recognizes revenue based on the invoiced amount. In cases where changes in fees during the contract term do not correspond directly to the value of the performance to-date (for example, if the fees vary over the contract term due to a significant financing or credit risk component), the Company recognizes the total amount of fixed transaction price over the contract period using a time-based (e.g., straight-line) measure of progress. The Company’s fixed fee affiliation agreements may contain guaranteed minimum fees that are recoupable during the term of the agreement, and variable fees based on rates-per-subscriber after the guaranteed minimum is recouped. The Company recognizes revenue for the fixed consideration over the minimum guarantee period and recognizes variable fees only when cumulative consideration exceeds the minimum guarantee. The Company's performance obligation in connection with its streaming services is a license of functional intellectual property that is satisfied as the Company provides its programming over the term of the agreement. Subscription fees for the Company's streaming services are typically based on a per subscriber fee and are generally paid by distributors and consumers on a monthly basis. The Company applies the sales-based or usage-based royalty guidance, and accordingly, recognizes revenue in the period of usage, based on the subscription fee earned during the period. In the first quarter of 2025, the Company updated the definitions of "affiliate revenues" and "streaming revenues." These changes have no effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements or results of operations, or operating segment results. The impact of these changes to historical affiliate revenues and streaming revenues is not material. The new definitions are as follows: Affiliate revenues: Represents fees received from distributors for the rights to use the Company's programming under multi-year contracts, commonly referred to as "affiliation agreements." Affiliate revenues also include fees received from distributors who provide access to the Company's streaming services to end users through a video package that also includes access to the Company's programming networks. Affiliate revenues are earned from cable and other multichannel video programming distribution platforms, including direct broadcast satellite and platforms operated by telecommunications providers and virtual multichannel video programming distributors. Streaming revenues: Represents fees for the Company's streaming services earned from the Company's direct-to-consumer platforms as well as through streaming platform arrangements with companies that sell the Company's streaming services on the Company's behalf. Advertising The Company generates revenues from the sale of advertising time on its networks. In such arrangements, the Company generally promises to air a certain number of commercials (spots) and to generate guaranteed viewer ratings for an audience demographic (impressions) over a period that generally does not exceed one year. The promise to deliver impressions by airing spots represents the Company’s performance obligation. Advertising revenues are recognized as commercials are aired, to the extent that guaranteed viewer ratings are achieved. A contract liability is recognized to the extent the guaranteed viewer ratings are not met, and is subsequently recognized as revenue either when the Company provides the required additional advertising or the guarantee obligation contractually expires. Generally, payment terms are 30 days after revenue is earned. Content Licensing and Other The Company licenses its original programming content to certain distributors, including under streaming and electronic sell-through ("EST") arrangements. For streaming licensing arrangements, our performance obligation is a license to functional intellectual property that provides the distributor the right to use our programming as it exists at a point in time. The satisfaction of the Company’s performance obligation, and related recognition of revenue, occurs at the later of the beginning of the license period, or when we provide the programming to the distributor. The Company’s performance obligation in a content license arrangement pertains to each distinct unit of content, which is generally each season of an episodic series or a film. The Company typically delivers all episodes of a season for a series concurrently and the licensee’s rights to exploit the content is the same across all of the episodes. The Company adjusts the transaction price for the time value of money in cases where license fees are paid over several years. A contract asset is recognized for the difference between the revenue recognized and the amount we are permitted to invoice. For EST license fee arrangements, the Company applies the sales-based or usage-based royalty guidance and recognizes revenue in the period of end-customer purchases, based on the fees earned during the period. The Company also licenses trademarks, logos, brands, derivative character copyrights, etc. under multi-year arrangements. Under these arrangements, the Company may receive a non-refundable minimum guarantee that is recoupable against a volume-based royalty throughout the term of the agreement. The performance obligation is a license of symbolic intellectual property that provides the customer with a right to access the intellectual property. The Company adjusts the transaction price for the time value of money in cases where license fees are paid over several years. The Company recognizes revenue for the minimum guarantee on a straight-line basis over the term of the agreement, and recognizes variable fees only when cumulative consideration exceeds the minimum guarantee. The Company’s payment terms vary by the type and location of customer. Generally, payment terms mirror the term of the license agreement and may be in excess of one-year after satisfaction of the performance obligation. The Company also earns revenue from production and transmission services. Such services are recognized as revenue as the services are performed. Transaction Price Allocated to Future Performance Obligations The guidance requires disclosure of the aggregate amount of transaction price that is allocated to performance obligations that have not yet been satisfied as of December 31, 2025. However, the guidance does not apply to sales-based or usage-based royalty arrangements and also provides certain practical expedients that allow companies to omit this disclosure requirement for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less, (ii) contracts for which revenue is recognized at the amount to which the Company has the right to invoice for services performed and (iii) variable consideration related to a wholly unsatisfied performance obligation. As of December 31, 2025, other than contracts for which the Company has applied the practical expedients, the aggregate amount of transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was not material to our consolidated revenues. Contract Balances from Contracts with Customers The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in billed receivables, contract assets and contract liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets. For certain types of contracts with customers, the Company may recognize revenue in advance of the contractual right to invoice the customer, and that right is conditional upon something other than the passage of time, resulting in an amount recorded to contract assets. Once the Company has an unconditional right to consideration under a contract, the contract assets are reclassified to accounts receivable. The Company had no contract assets as of December 31, 2025 or 2024. When consideration is received, or such consideration is unconditionally due, from a customer prior to transferring goods or services to the customer under the terms of a contract, a contract liability is recorded. Contract liabilities are recognized as revenue when, or as, control of the products or services is transferred to the customer and all revenue recognition criteria have been met. The primary source of the Company’s contract liabilities relates to advertising sales arrangements where the guaranteed viewer ratings are not met, and for advanced payments related to our streaming services subscriptions. The following table provides information about receivables and contract liabilities from contracts with customers.
Revenue recognized for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, relating to the contract liabilities at the beginning of the respective periods was $47.2 million, $50.5 million and $111.4 million, respectively. During 2024, we recognized revenues of $20.8 million for retroactive adjustments reported by a third party, for which our performance obligation was satisfied in a prior period. In October 2023, the Company entered into an agreement enabling it to sell certain customer receivables to a financial institution on a recurring basis for cash. The transferred receivables will be fully guaranteed by a bankruptcy-remote entity and the financial institution that purchases the receivables will have no recourse to the Company's other assets in the event of non-payment by the customers. The Company can sell an indefinite amount of customer receivables under the agreement on a revolving basis, but the outstanding balance of unpaid customer receivables to the financial institution cannot exceed the initial program limit of $125.0 million at any given time. As of December 31, 2025, the Company had not yet sold any customer receivables under this agreement.
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