Comcast 2011 Annual Report Download - page 69

versal businesses and are based upon a percentage of future revenue of the specified businesses. One of these contractual obligations
provides the third party with the option, beginning in 2017, to require NBCUniversal to purchase the interest for cash in an amount equal
to the fair value of the estimated future payments. Reserves for uncertain tax positions of $1.4 billion are not included in the table above
because we cannot make a reliable estimate of the period in which the unrecognized tax benefits will be recognized. Payments of $1.7
billion of participations and residuals and a $482 million liability that represents the fair value, as of the date of the acquisition, of certain
assets we consolidate that serve as collateral for a debt obligation of an equity method investee are also not included in the table above
because we cannot make a reliable estimate of the period in which these obligations will become payable.
(d) Total contractual obligations are made up of the following components.
(in millions)
Liabilities recorded on the balance sheet $ 49,078
Commitments not recorded on the balance sheet 42,120
Total $ 91,198
GE Redemption Rights
Under the terms of the operating agreement of NBCUniversal Holdings, during the six month period begin-
ning July 28, 2014, GE has the right to cause NBCUniversal Holdings to redeem, in cash, half of GE’s interest
in NBCUniversal Holdings, and during the six month period beginning January 28, 2018, GE has the right to
cause NBCUniversal Holdings to redeem GE’s remaining interest, if any. Subject to various limitations, we are
committed to fund up to $2.875 billion in cash or our common stock for each of the two redemptions (up to
an aggregate of $5.75 billion) to the extent NBCUniversal Holdings cannot fund the redemptions, with
amounts not used in the first redemption to be available for the second redemption. None of these amounts
are included in the table above. See “NBCUniversal Transaction” under “Introduction and Overview” for addi-
tional details.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2011, we did not have any material off-balance sheet arrangements that are reasonably
likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital
expenditures or capital resources.
Critical Accounting Judgments and Estimates
The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates that affect the
reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and the related disclosure of contingent assets
and contingent liabilities. We base our judgments on our historical experience and on various other assump-
tions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making
estimates about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.
Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
We believe our judgments and related estimates associated with the valuation and impairment testing of our
cable franchise rights and the accounting for income taxes are critical in the preparation of our consolidated
financial statements. As a result of the NBCUniversal transaction, two additional areas have been identified as
critical in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. The two critical accounting judgments and
estimates are associated with the accounting for film and television costs and the valuation of acquisition-
related assets and liabilities. Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical
accounting judgments and estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, and the Audit
Committee has reviewed our disclosures relating to them, which are presented below.
See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for a discussion of our accounting policies with respect
to these and other items.
67 Comcast 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K