Comcast 2014 Annual Report Download - page 113

Table of Contents
Comcast Corporation
Postretirement Benefit Plans
We sponsor various benefit plans that provide postretirement benefits to eligible employees based on years of service. The
Comcast Postretirement Healthcare Stipend Program (the “stipend plan”)
provides an annual stipend for reimbursement of
healthcare costs to each eligible employee based on years of service. Under the stipend plan, we are not exposed to the increasing
costs of healthcare because the benefits are fixed at a predetermined amount.
NBCUniversal’
s postretirement medical and life insurance plans provide continuous coverage to employees eligible to receive such
benefits. A small number of eligible employees also participate in legacy plans of acquired companies.
All of our postretirement benefit plans are unfunded and substantially all of our postretirement benefit obligations are recorded to
noncurrent liabilities. The expense we recognize for our postretirement benefit plans is determined using certain assumptions,
including the discount rate.
Pension Plans
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal sponsors various qualified and nonqualified defined benefit plans for domestic employees for which future benefits
have been frozen. We ceased to recognize service costs associated with these defined benefit plans following the date on which
future benefits were frozen. The expense we recognize for our defined benefit plans is determined using certain assumptions,
including the discount rate and the expected long-
term rate of return on plan assets. We recognize the funded or unfunded status of
our defined benefit plans as an asset or liability in our consolidated balance sheet and recognize changes in the funded status in
the year in which the changes occur through accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). In addition to the defined benefit
plans it sponsors, NBCUniversal is also obligated to reimburse GE for future benefit payments to those participants who were
vested in the supplemental pension plan sponsored by GE at the time of the NBCUniversal transaction in 2011.
In October 2013, we provided notice to the plan participants of the qualified pension plan of our intent to terminate the plan effective
December 31, 2013. On June 27, 2014, we filed a Standard Termination Notice with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
(“PBGC”)
and on August 26, 2014, the related PBGC review concluded with no objections. We filed for Internal Revenue Service
(“IRS”)
approval on May 23, 2014 and expect to fully fund and settle the plan within 120 days of receipt of approval. We currently
anticipate the contributions required from us to fully fund and settle the plan to be $16 million.
Other
In August 2013, we settled all of our obligations related to the termination in February 2012 of the qualified pension plan that
provided benefits to former employees of a company we acquired as part of the AT&T Broadband transaction in 2002. In
connection with this final settlement, we fully funded the plan with additional contributions of $55 million and recorded an expense
of $74 million in other operating and administrative expenses, which was previously recorded in accumulated other comprehensive
income (loss).
Other Employee Benefits
Deferred Compensation Plans
We maintain unfunded, nonqualified deferred compensation plans for certain members of management and nonemployee directors
(each, a “participant”).
The amount of compensation deferred by each participant is based on participant elections. Participant
accounts, except for those in the NBCUniversal plan, are credited with income primarily based on a fixed annual rate. Participants
in the NBCUniversal plan designate one or more valuation funds, independently established funds or indices that are used to
determine the amount of
Comcast 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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