Comcast 2015 Annual Report Download - page 92

Comcast Corporation
Note 6: Film and Television Costs
December 31 (in millions) 2015 2014
Film Costs:
Released, less amortization $ 1,275 $ 1,371
Completed, not released 226 71
In production and in development 907 1,189
2,408 2,631
Television Costs:
Released, less amortization 1,573 1,273
In production and in development 737 505
2,310 1,778
Programming rights, less amortization 2,350 2,157
7,068 6,566
Less: Current portion of programming rights 1,213 839
Film and television costs $ 5,855 $ 5,727
Based on our current estimates of the total remaining gross revenue from all sources (“ultimate revenue”), in
2016 we expect to amortize approximately $1.5 billion of film and television costs associated with our original
film and television productions that have been released, or completed and not yet released. Through 2018,
we expect to amortize approximately 87% of unamortized film and television costs for our released pro-
ductions, excluding amounts allocated to acquired libraries.
As of December 31, 2015, acquired film and television libraries, which are included within the “released, less
amortization” captions in the table above, had remaining unamortized costs of $449 million. These costs are
generally amortized over a period not to exceed 20 years, and approximately 49% of these costs are
expected to be amortized through 2018.
Capitalization of Film and Television Costs
We capitalize film and television production costs, including direct costs, production overhead, print costs,
development costs and interest. We amortize capitalized film and television production costs, including
acquired libraries, and accrue costs associated with participation and residual payments to programming and
production expenses. We generally record the amortization and the accrued costs using the individual film
forecast computation method, which amortizes such costs in the same ratio as the associated ultimate rev-
enue. Estimates of ultimate revenue and total costs are based on anticipated release patterns, public
acceptance and historical results for similar productions. Unamortized film and television costs, including
acquired film and television libraries, are stated at the lower of unamortized cost or fair value. We do not capi-
talize costs related to the distribution of a film in movie theaters or the licensing or sale of a film or television
production, which are primarily costs associated with the marketing and distribution of film and television
programming.
In determining the estimated lives and method of amortization of acquired film and television libraries, we
generally use the method and the life that most closely follow the undiscounted cash flows over the estimated
life of the asset.
89 Comcast 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K