Comcast 2015 Annual Report Download - page 85

Comcast Corporation
translation adjustments are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).
Any foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in our consolidated statement of income.
Reclassifications
Reclassifications have been made to our consolidated financial statements for the prior years to conform to
classifications used in 2015.
Note 2: Accounting Policies
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP, which requires us to select
accounting policies, including in certain cases industry-specific policies, and make estimates that affect the
reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and the related disclosure of contingent assets
and contingent liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates. We believe that the judgments and
related estimates for the following items are critical in the preparation of our consolidated financial state-
ments:
• valuation and impairment testing of cable franchise rights (see Note 9)
• film and television costs (see Note 6)
In addition, the following accounting policies are specific to the industries in which we operate:
• capitalization and amortization of film and television costs (see Note 6)
• installation revenue and costs for connecting customers to our cable systems (see
revenue recognition below and Note 8)
Information on our other accounting policies and methods that are used in the preparation of our con-
solidated financial statements are included, where applicable, in their respective footnotes that follow. Below
is a discussion of accounting policies and methods used in our consolidated financial statements that are not
presented within other footnotes.
Revenue Recognition
Cable Communications Segment
Our Cable Communications segment generates revenue primarily from subscriptions to our video, high-speed
Internet and voice services (“cable services”) and from the sale of advertising. We recognize revenue from
cable services as each service is provided. Customers are typically billed in advance on a monthly basis
based on the services and features they receive and the type of equipment they use. Since installation rev-
enue obtained from the connection of customers to our cable systems is less than the related direct selling
costs, we recognize revenue as connections are completed. We manage credit risk by screening applicants
through the use of internal customer information, identification verification tools and credit bureau data. If a
customer’s account is delinquent, various measures are used to collect outstanding amounts, including
termination of the customer’s cable services.
As part of our distribution agreements with cable networks, we generally receive an allocation of scheduled
advertising time on cable networks that our Spotlight business sells to local, regional and national advertisers.
We recognize advertising revenue when the advertising is aired or viewed. In most cases, the available adver-
tising units are sold by our sales force. In some cases, we work with representation firms as an extension of
our sales force to sell a portion of the advertising units allocated to us. We also represent the advertising
sales efforts of other multichannel video providers in some markets. Since we are acting as the principal in
Comcast 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K 82