CMCSA 10-K diff: FY 2023-12-31 → FY 2025-12-31
Paragraph-level diff of Risk Factors (Item 1A) and Management's Discussion & Analysis (Item 7).
Item 1A · Risk Factors
+53 paragraphs −45 paragraphs ~45 changed
FY 2023-12-31 (earlier)
Item 1A: Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business, Industry and Operations
Our businesses operate in highly competitive and dynamic industries, and our businesses and results of operations could be adversely affected if we do not compete effectively.
Our businesses operate in intensely competitive, consumer-driven, rapidly changing environments. We compete with a growing number of companies that provide a broad range of communications products and services and entertainment, sports, news and information content to consumers. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively against our competitors or that competition will not have an adverse effect on our businesses.Below is a summary of our most significant sources of competition. Many of these competitors offer competitive pricing, packaging and/or bundling of services to customers, which further increases competition. In addition, our ability to compete will be negatively affected if we do not provide our customers with a satisfactory customer experience. For a more detailed description of the competition facing our businesses, see Item 1: Business and refer to the “Competition” discussion within that section.
• Connectivity & Platforms’ broadband services compete primarily against wireline telecommunications companies, including many that are increasing deployment of fiber-based networks; wireless telecommunications companies offering internet services (using a variety of technologies, including 5G fixed wireless networks and 4G and 5G wireless broadband services); electric cooperatives and municipalities in the United States that own and operate their own broadband networks; and DBS and newer satellite broadband providers. Broadband-deployment funding initiatives at the federal and state level may result in other service providers deploying new subsidized internet access networks within our footprint, and in cases where we receive subsidies, may impose constraints on how we conduct our businesses. For a more extensive discussion of the significant risks associated with the regulation of our businesses, see “—We are subject to regulation by federal, state, local and foreign authorities, which impose additional costs and restrictions on our businesses” below and Item 1: Business and refer to the “Legislation and Regulation” discussion within that section.
• Competition for video services consists primarily of DTC streaming and other OTT service providers and aggregators, DBS providers and telecommunications companies, and our wireless and voice services compete with both telecommunications and wireless telecommunication providers.• Business Services Connectivity primarily competes with wireline telecommunications companies and wide area network managed service providers.• Our businesses in Content & Experiences, as well as our video business, face substantial and increasing competition from providers of similar types of entertainment, sports, news and information content, as well as from other forms of entertainment, including from social networking and user-generated content, and recreational activities. They must compete to obtain talent, popular content (including sports programming), advertising and other resources required to successfully operate their businesses. This competition has further intensified as certain DTC streaming and other OTT service providers have commissioned, and may continue to commission, high-cost programming and acquire live sports programming rights to attract viewers at significant costs.
Competitors with significant resources, greater efficiencies of scale, fewer regulatory burdens and more competitive pricing and packaging continue to increasingly compete with our businesses in all forms of content distribution and production. Further, consolidation of, or cooperation between, our competitors may increase competition in all of these areas. For example, cooperation between competitors may allow them to offer free or lower cost DTC streaming and other OTT services, potentially on an exclusive basis, through unlimited data-usage plans for internet or wireless phone services or to bundle DTC streaming and other OTT services on their platform.
Our businesses’ ability to compete effectively also depends on our perceived image and reputation among our various constituencies, including our customers, consumers, advertisers, business partners, employees, investors and government authorities. For example, some of these constituencies may have their own, and some have conflicting, environmental, social and governance priorities, which may present risks to our reputation and brands if these constituencies perceive misalignment.
Changes in consumer behavior continue to adversely affect our businesses and challenge existing business models.
Distribution platforms for viewing and purchasing content have been, and will likely continue to be, developed that further challenge existing business models and increase the number of competitors that our businesses face. DTC streaming and other OTT services have driven, and will continue to drive, changes in consumer behavior as consumers seek more control over when, where and how they consume content and access communications services, and how much they pay for such content.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 20Table of ContentsAs consumers increasingly turn to DTC streaming and other OTT services in lieu of our linear video services, which continue to experience accelerated net customer losses, the number of video customers we have, the related video revenues and the amount of subscriber fees we receive for our linear television networks from other video service providers each decrease. The continuing trend of content owners delivering their content directly to consumers, rather than through, or in addition to, traditional video distribution channels, continues to disrupt traditional media distribution business models despite our efforts to adapt our video service offerings and offer new services, such as Peacock and NOW.
The number of entertainment choices available to consumers, such as DTC streaming and other OTT service providers and aggregators, social networking and user-generated content platforms, and gaming and virtual reality products and services, continue to significantly increase, intensify audience fragmentation and disaggregate the way that content traditionally has been distributed and viewed by consumers. This in turn has reduced traditional television viewership, and when coupled with time-shifting technologies, such as DVR and on demand services, has caused, and likely will continue to cause, audience ratings declines for our television networks. In addition, as more content owners offer their content directly to consumers through their own platforms, they may reduce the quantity and quality of the content they license to our linear television networks or Peacock. On the other hand, this practice may also negatively impact our results of operations when we keep our content for our own use, including for Peacock, rather than licensing it to third parties who pay us licensing fees for such content.Our failure to effectively anticipate or adapt to emerging competitors or changes in consumer behavior, including among younger consumers, and shifting business models could have an adverse effect on our competitive position, businesses and results of operations.
A decline in advertisers’ expenditures or changes in advertising markets could negatively impact our businesses.We compete for the sale of advertising time with television networks and stations, digital properties, including an increasing number of ad-supported DTC streaming service providers and a broad array of other online content providers, such as social networking platforms and user-generated content providers, and all other advertising platforms. We derive substantial revenue from the sale of advertising, and we expect that a decline in expenditures by advertisers, including through traditional linear television distribution models or on Peacock, could negatively impact our results of operations. We have experienced, and may continue to experience, declines caused by the economic prospects of specific advertisers or industries, increased competition for the leisure time of viewers, such as from social networking and user-generated content platforms and video games, audience fragmentation, increased viewing of content through DTC streaming and other OTT service providers, increased use of time-shifting and advertising-blocking technologies or regulatory intervention regarding where and when advertising may be placed, and economic conditions generally. In addition, advertisers have shifted, and may continue to shift, a portion of their total expenditures to digital media, including DTC streaming service providers and other online content providers, and this trend may continue or accelerate. Lower audience ratings and reduced viewership, which many of our linear television networks have experienced, and likely will continue to experience, as well as the level of popularity of Peacock, affect advertisers’ willingness to purchase advertising from us and the rates paid. Advertising sales and rates also are dependent on the methodology used for audience measurement and could be negatively affected if methodologies do not accurately reflect actual viewership levels.Our success depends on consumer acceptance of our content, and our businesses may be adversely affected if our content fails to achieve sufficient consumer acceptance.We create and acquire media and entertainment content, the success of which depends substantially on consumer tastes and preferences that often change in unpredictable ways, and to meet the changing preferences of the broad domestic and international consumer markets, we must consistently create, acquire, market and distribute television programming, filmed entertainment, theme park attractions and other content. We have invested, and will continue to invest, substantial amounts in content, such as the production of films and original content for television networks and streaming services, and in the creation of new theme parks and theme park attractions, before learning the extent to which they will earn consumer acceptance. In addition, there can be no assurance that Peacock will continue to grow or sustain its revenue or user base, successfully compete as a standalone DTC streaming service or fully offset decreases to our linear television networks’ results of operations as the media distribution business model continues to change.
We obtain a significant portion of our content from third parties, such as movie studios, television production companies, sports organizations and other suppliers, sometimes on an exclusive basis. Competition for popular content, particularly for sports programming, is intense, and at times, we may increase the price we are willing to pay or be outbid by our competitors for popular content. We also may be unable to license popular third-party content if media companies determine that licensing the content to us is not in their strategic best interests. For example, content creators have launched, and may continue to launch, their own DTC streaming or other OTT services, forgoing license fees from us to provide their content directly to consumers, or they may license their content to our competitors on an exclusive basis.
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Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsEntering into or renewing contracts for such content rights or acquiring additional rights has in the past resulted, and may result in the future, in significantly increased costs. Particularly with respect to contracts for sports rights, our results of operations and cash flows over the term of a contract depend on a number of factors, including the strength of the advertising market, audience size, the timing and amount of rights payments, and the ability to secure distribution from, impose surcharges on, or obtain carriage on multichannel video providers or to grow and retain subscribers to our own DTC services. There can be no assurance that revenue from these contracts will exceed our costs for the rights, as well as the other costs of producing and distributing the programming.If our content does not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance, or if we cannot obtain or retain rights to popular content on acceptable terms, or at all, our businesses may be adversely affected.
Programming expenses for our video services are increasing on a per subscriber basis, which could adversely affect our video businesses.We expect programming expenses for our video services to continue to be the largest single expense item for our Residential Connectivity & Platforms business and to continue to increase on a per subscriber basis. Part of these programming expenses include payments to certain local broadcast television stations in exchange for their required consent for the retransmission of broadcast network programming to video services customers; we expect to continue to be subject to increasing demands for payment and other concessions from local broadcast television stations. These market factors may be exacerbated by consolidation in the media industry, which may further increase our programming expenses. If we are unable to offset programming cost increases through rate increases, the sale of additional services, cost management or other initiatives, the increasing cost of programming could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.Moreover, as our contracts with programming providers expire, there can be no assurance that they will be renewed on acceptable terms, or at all, in which case we may be unable to provide such programming as part of our video services, and our businesses and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The loss of programming distribution agreements, or the renewal of these agreements on less favorable terms, could adversely affect our businesses.Our linear television networks depend on their ability to secure and maintain distribution agreements with traditional and virtual multichannel video providers. The number of subscribers to our television networks has been, and likely will continue to be, reduced as a result of fewer subscribers to multichannel video providers as the media distribution business model changes. Similarly, multichannel video providers may elect not to enter into agreements to distribute some or all of our linear television networks as a result of these changing market dynamics. In addition, our broadcast television networks depend on their ability to secure and maintain network affiliation agreements with third-party local broadcast television stations in the markets where we do not own the affiliated local broadcast television station. Our owned local broadcast television stations must elect, with respect to retransmission by certain multichannel video providers, either “must-carry” status, in which we require the provider to carry the station without paying any compensation to us, or “retransmission consent,” in which we give up our right to mandatory carriage and instead seek to negotiate the terms and conditions of carriage, including the amount of compensation, if any, paid to us by such provider.
For all of these types of arrangements, our ability to renew agreements on favorable terms may be affected by evolving market dynamics and industry consolidation. There can be no assurance that any of these agreements will be entered into or renewed in the future on similar terms. The inability to enter into or renew some or all of these agreements could reduce our revenues and the reach of our programming, which could adversely affect our businesses.
Our businesses depend on using and protecting certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing the intellectual property rights of others.
We rely on our intellectual property, such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other third parties, to use various technologies, conduct our business operations and sell our products and services. Legal challenges to our intellectual property rights and claims of intellectual property infringement by third parties could require that we enter into royalty or licensing agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability, or be enjoined preliminarily or permanently from further use of the intellectual property in question, from importing into the United States or other jurisdictions in which we operate hardware or software that uses such intellectual property or from the continuation of our businesses as currently conducted. We may need to change our business practices if any of these events occur, which may limit our ability to compete effectively and could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Even if we believe any such challenges or claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming, costly to defend and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our businesses. Moreover, if we are unable to obtain or continue to obtain licenses from our vendors and other third parties on reasonable terms, our businesses could be adversely affected.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 22Table of ContentsIn addition, intellectual property constitutes a significant part of the value of our businesses, and our success is highly dependent on protecting the intellectual property rights of the content we create or acquire against third-party misappropriation, reproduction or infringement. The unauthorized reproduction, distribution or display of copyrighted material negatively affects our ability to generate revenue from the legitimate sale of our content, as well as from the sale of advertising in connection with our content, and increases our costs due to our active enforcement of our intellectual property rights. The legal landscape for new technologies, including artificial intelligence (“AI”), remains uncertain, and development of the law in this area could impact our ability to protect against unauthorized third-party use, misappropriation, reproduction or infringement.
Piracy and other unauthorized uses of content are made easier, and the enforcement of intellectual property rights more challenging, by technological advances that allow the conversion of programming, films and other content into digital formats, which facilitates the creation, transmission and sharing of high-quality unauthorized copies. In particular, piracy of programming and films through unauthorized distribution platforms continues to present challenges for our businesses. For example, certain entities may stream our broadcast television content illegally online without our consent and without paying us any compensation, and sporting events on our international networks may be illegally transmitted. While piracy is a challenge in the United States, it is particularly prevalent in many parts of the world that lack developed copyright laws, effective enforcement of copyright laws and technical protective measures like those in effect in the United States. If any U.S. or international laws intended to combat piracy and protect intellectual property rights are repealed or weakened or are not adequately enforced, or if the legal system fails to adapt to new technologies that facilitate piracy, we may be unable to effectively protect our rights, the value of our intellectual property may be negatively impacted and our costs of enforcing our rights may increase.We may be unable to obtain necessary hardware, software and operational support.We depend on third-party vendors to supply us with a significant amount of the hardware, software and operational support necessary to provide certain of our products and services. We also rely on third-party satellite transponder capacity to provide video services in Europe, as well as on third-party wireless networks to offer certain wireless services in the United States and internationally. Some of these vendors represent our primary source of supply or grant us the right to incorporate their intellectual property into some of our hardware and software products. While we monitor the operations and financial condition of key vendors in an attempt to detect any potential difficulties, there can be no assurance that we would timely identify any operating or financial difficulties associated with these vendors or that we could effectively mitigate our risks with respect to any such difficulties. If any of these vendors experience operating or financial difficulties, including as a result of cybersecurity incidents, or any other supply chain compliance-related issues, if our demand exceeds their capacity or if they breach or terminate their agreements with us or are otherwise unable to meet our specifications or provide the equipment, products or services we need in a timely manner (or at all), or at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some products or services may be adversely affected and we may incur additional costs.Our businesses depend on keeping pace with technological developments.Our success is, to a large extent, dependent on our ability to acquire, develop, adopt and leverage new and existing technologies, and our competitors’ use of certain types of technology and equipment may provide them with a competitive advantage. New technologies can materially impact our businesses in a number of ways, including affecting the demand for our products, the distribution methods of our products and content to our customers, how we create our entertainment products, the ways in which our customers can purchase and view our content and the growth of distribution platforms available to advertisers. For example, current and new wireless internet technologies (including 5G fixed wireless networks and 4G and 5G wireless broadband services) continue to evolve rapidly and may allow for greater speed and reliability for those services as compared with prior technologies and create more competitors for our businesses. In addition, some companies and U.S. municipalities are building advanced fiber-based networks that provide very fast internet access speeds, and some providers offer newer satellite broadband services. We expect advances in communications technology to continue to occur in the future.If we choose technology or equipment that is not as effective or attractive to consumers as that employed by our competitors, if we fail to employ technologies desired by consumers or that enhance our business operations, such as through the use of AI, or if we fail to execute effectively on our technology initiatives, our businesses and results of operations could be adversely affected. We also will continue to incur additional costs as we execute our technology initiatives, such as the deployment of multigigabit symmetrical speeds by leveraging our DOCSIS 4.0 technology and the development and enhancement of various streaming platforms. There can be no assurance that we can execute on these and other initiatives in a manner sufficient to grow or maintain our revenue or to successfully compete in the future. We also may generate less revenue or incur increased costs if changes in our competitors’ product offerings require that we offer certain services or enhancements at a lower or no cost to our customers or that we increase our research and development expenditures.23Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsA cyber attack, information or security breach, or technology disruption or failure may negatively impact our ability to conduct our business or result in the misuse of confidential information, all of which could adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.
Network and information systems and other technologies, including those that are related to our network management, customer service operations and programming delivery and are embedded in our products and services, are critical to our business activities. In the ordinary course of our business, there are constant attempts by third parties to cause systems-related events and security incidents and to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in security architecture and system design. These incidents include computer hackings, cyber attacks, computer viruses, worms or other destructive or disruptive software, denial of service attacks, phishing attacks, malicious social engineering and other malicious activities. Incidents can be caused inadvertently by us or our third-party vendors, such as process breakdowns and vulnerabilities in security architecture or system design.
Cyber threats and attacks are constantly evolving and are growing in sophistication and frequency, which increases the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. For example, we expect threat actors will continue to gain sophistication by using tools and techniques (such as AI) that are specifically designed to circumvent security controls. Some cyber attacks have had, and in the future can have, cascading impacts that unfold with increasing speed across networks, information systems and other technologies across the world and create latent vulnerabilities in our and third-party vendors’ systems and other technologies. We also obtain certain confidential, proprietary and personal information about our customers, personnel and vendors, that in many cases is provided or made available to third-party vendors who agree to protect it, which has in the past and may in the future become compromised through a cyber attack or data breach, misappropriation, misuse, leakage, falsification or accidental release or loss of information by us or a third party. Due to the nature of our businesses, we may be at a disproportionately heightened risk of these types of incidents occurring because we maintain certain information necessary to conduct our business in digital form. We also incorporate third-party software (including extensive open-source software), applications, and data hosting and cloud-based services into many aspects of our products, services and operations, as well as rely on service providers to help us perform our business operations, all of which expose us to cyber attacks with respect to such third-party suppliers and service providers and their products and services.
While we develop and maintain systems, and operate programs that seek to prevent security incidents from occurring, these efforts are costly and must be constantly monitored and updated in the face of sophisticated and rapidly evolving attempts to overcome our security measures and protections. The occurrence of both intentional and unintentional incidents has caused, and may from time to time in the future cause, a variety of business impacts. These include degradation or disruption of our network, products and services, excessive call volume to call centers, theft or misuse of our intellectual property or other assets, disruption of the security of our internal systems, products, services or satellite transmission signals, power outages, and the compromise or exfiltration of confidential or technical business information and customer or vendor data, and reputational impacts. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from any of the foregoing events likely would not be sufficient to fully cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for disruptions to our business that may result. In addition, any such events have and could continue to lead to litigation or cause regulators in the United States and internationally to impose significant fines or other remedial measures, including with respect to relevant customer privacy rules, or otherwise have an adverse effect on our company. Despite our efforts, we expect that we will continue to experience such incidents in the future, and there can be no assurance that any such incident will not have an adverse effect on our business, reputation or results of operations. Refer to Item 1C: Cybersecurity for additional information.Weak economic conditions may have a negative impact on our businesses.A substantial portion of our revenue comes from customers whose spending patterns may be affected by prevailing economic conditions. Weak economic conditions in the United States, in Europe or globally could adversely affect demand for any of our products and services, including advertising, and have a negative impact on our results of operations. For example, weak economic conditions will likely impact our customers’ discretionary spending and as a result, they may reduce the level of services to which they subscribe or may discontinue subscribing to one or more of our services altogether. This risk may be increased by the expanded availability of free or lower cost competitive services, such as certain DTC streaming and other OTT services, or substitute services for broadband and voice services, such as wireless and public Wi-Fi networks. Weak economic conditions also negatively impact our advertising revenue, the performance of our films and home entertainment releases, and attendance and spending in our theme parks. In particular, the success of our theme parks and theatrical releases largely depends on consumer demand for out-of-home entertainment experiences, which may be limited by weakened economic conditions.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 24
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Weak economic conditions and disruptions in the global financial markets, such as higher interest rates, may impact our ability to obtain financing or to refinance existing debt on acceptable terms, if at all, which could increase the cost of our borrowings over time and may increase our exposure to currency fluctuations in countries where we operate. Further, inflationary pressures in the United States, in Europe and globally may also have negative impacts on our cost structure and pricing models and may impact the ability of third parties (including advertisers, customers, suppliers, wholesale distributors, retailers and content creators, among others) to satisfy their obligations to us.Acquisitions and other strategic initiatives present many risks, and we may not realize the financial and strategic goals that we had contemplated.From time to time, we make acquisitions and investments and may pursue other strategic initiatives, such as Xumo, our consolidated streaming platform joint venture. In connection with such acquisitions and strategic initiatives, we may incur significant or unanticipated expenses, fail to realize anticipated benefits and synergies, have difficulty incorporating an acquired or new line of business, disrupt relationships with current and new employees, customers and vendors, incur significant debt, divert the attention of management from our current operations, or have to delay or not proceed with announced transactions or initiatives. These and other circumstances could also result in the impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets. Additionally, federal regulatory or antitrust agencies such as the FCC or DOJ or international regulators may impose restrictions on the operation of our businesses as a result of our seeking regulatory approvals for any significant acquisitions and strategic initiatives or may dissuade us from pursuing certain transactions. The occurrence of any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.We face risks relating to doing business internationally that could adversely affect our businesses.We operate our businesses worldwide. There are risks inherent in doing business internationally, including global financial market turmoil; economic volatility and global economic slowdown; currency exchange rate fluctuations and inflationary pressures; geopolitical risks, including acts of terror and war; requirements of local laws and customs relating to the publication and distribution of content and the display and sale of advertising; import or export restrictions, tariffs, sanctions and trade regulations; difficulties in developing, staffing and managing foreign operations; issues related to occupational safety and adherence to diverse local labor laws and regulations; and potentially adverse tax developments. Additionally, although we employ foreign currency derivative instruments to hedge certain exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risks, including the British pound, euro and Japanese yen, the use of such derivative instruments may n ot be sufficient to mitigate exchange rate fluctuations. In addition, doing business internationally subjects us to risks relating to political or social unrest, as well as corruption and government regulations, including U.S. laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act, that impose stringent requirements on how we conduct our foreign operations. Moreover, foreign enforcement of laws and contractual rights in certain countries where we do busines s can be inconsistent and unpredictable, which may affect our ability to enforce our rights or make investments that we believe otherwise make strategic sense. If any of these events occur or our conduct does not comply with such laws and regulations, our businesses may be adversely affected.Natural disasters, severe weather and other uncontrollable events could adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.Our services, products and properties are vulnerable to damage from the occurrence of certain events, including natural disasters, severe weather events such as hurricanes and wildfires, and a range of other unforeseeable events such as infectious disease outbreaks, including COVID-19, terrorist attacks or other similar events. Such events have in the past caused, and could in the future cause, a variety of adverse business impacts including degradation or disruption of our network, products and services, excessive call volume to call centers, a reduction in demand for our products, services and theme parks, disruption of our internal systems, products, services or satellite transmission signals, power outages, and damage to our or our customers’ or vendors’ equipment and properties. These events also may result in lost revenue and large expenditures to repair or replace damaged properties, products and services and could lead to litigation and fines, including if we inadvertently contributed to damages suffered by others. For example, COVID-19 and corresponding governmental measures negatively impacted our businesses in the past, including as recently as in 2022 by requiring temporary closures of our theme parks.The amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from these types of events likely would not be sufficient to fully cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for disruptions to our business that may result. We expect that we will continue to experience some or all of these events in the future, and there can be no assurance that any such event will not have an adverse effect on our business, reputation or results of operations.25
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsThe loss of key management personnel or popular on-air and creative talent could have an adverse effect on our businesses.
We rely on certain key management personnel in the operation of our businesses. While we maintain long-term and emergency transition plans for key management personnel and believe we could either identify internal candidates or attract outside candidates to fill any vacancy created by the loss of any key management personnel, the loss of one or more of our key management personnel could have a negative impact on our businesses.In addition, Content & Experiences depend on the abilities and expertise of on-air and creative talent. If we fail to attract or retain on-air or creative talent, if the costs to attract or retain such talent increase materially, or if these individuals cause negative publicity or lose their current appeal, our businesses could be adversely affected.Labor disputes, whether involving employees or sports organizations, may disrupt our operations and adversely affect our businesses.Many of the writers, directors, actors, technical and production personnel, as well as some on-air and creative talent employees in our Content & Experiences business, are covered by collective bargaining agreements or works councils. Many of these collective bargaining agreements are industry-wide agreements, and we may lack practical control over the negotiations and terms of the agreements. If we are unable to reach agreement with a labor union before the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, our employees who were covered by that agreement may have a right to strike or take other actions that could adversely affect us, which could disrupt our operations and reduce our revenue, and the resolution of any disputes may increase our costs. For example, the Writers Guild of America (“Writers Guild”) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (“SAG”) work stoppages from May to September 2023 and July to November 2023, respectively, paused productions, which reduced content licensing revenue at our Studios segment. There can be no assurance that we will renew our collective bargaining agreements as they expire or that we can renew them on favorable terms or without any work stoppages in the future.In addition, labor disputes in sports organizations with which we have programming rights agreements of varying scope and duration could have an adverse effect on our businesses.Risks Related to Legal, Regulatory and Governance Matters
We are subject to regulation by federal, state, local and foreign authorities, which impose additional costs and restrictions on our businesses.Our businesses are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations, with some also subject to international laws and regulations. In particular, the Communications Act and FCC regulations and policies affect significant aspects of our cable communications and broadcast businesses in the United States.
Legislators and regulators at all levels of government frequently consider changing, and sometimes do change, existing statutes, rules or regulations, or interpretations of existing statutes, rules or regulations, or prescribe new ones, any of which may significantly affect our businesses and ability to effectively compete. These legislators and regulators, along with some state attorneys general and foreign governmental authorities, have been active in conducting inquiries and reviews regarding our services. State legislative and regulatory initiatives can create a patchwork of different and/or conflicting state requirements, such as with respect to privacy and Open Internet/net neutrality regulations, that can affect our businesses and ability to effectively compete.
Legislative and regulatory activity has increased under the Biden Administration, particularly with respect to broadband networks. For example, Congress has approved tens of billions of dollars in new funding for broadband deployment and adoption initiatives, and may consider other proposals that address communications issues, including whether it should rewrite the entire Communications Act to account for changes in the communications marketplace and whether it should enact new, permanent Open Internet/net neutrality requirements.
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Federal agencies likewise may consider adopting new regulations for communications services, including broadband. For example, the FCC has proposed reimposing network neutrality requirements that would reclassify our broadband service as a “telecommunications service” under Title II of the Communications Act, which would authorize the FCC to potentially regulate our customer rates, speeds, data usage thresholds or other terms for internet services and prohibit, or seriously restrict, arrangements between us and internet content, applications and service providers. States and localities are also increasingly proposing new regulations impacting communications services, including broader regulation of broadband networks. Any of these regulations could significantly affect our business and our legal and compliance costs. In addition, U.S. and foreign regulators and courts could adopt new interpretations of existing competition or antitrust laws or enact new competition or antitrust laws or regulatory tools that could negatively impact our businesses. Any future legislative, judicial, regulatory or administrative actions may increase our costs or impose additional restrictions on our businesses, some of which may be significant. We are unable to predict the outcome or effects of any of these potential actions or any other legislative or regulatory proposals on our businesses.Failure to comply with the laws and regulations applicable to our businesses could result in administrative enforcement actions, fines, and civil and criminal liability. Any changes to the legal and regulatory framework applicable to any of our services or businesses could have an adverse impact on our businesses and results of operations. For a more extensive discussion of the significant risks associated with the regulation of our businesses, see Item 1: Business and refer to the “Legislation and Regulation” discussion within that section.
Unfavorable litigation or governmental investigation results could require us to pay significant amounts or lead to onerous operating procedures.We are subject from time to time to a number of lawsuits both in the United States and in foreign countries, including claims relating to competition, intellectual property rights (including patents), employment and labor matters, personal injury and property damage, free speech, customer privacy, regulatory requirements, advertising, marketing and selling practices, and credit and collection issues. Greater constraints on the use of arbitration to resolve certain of these disputes could adversely affect our business. We also spend substantial resources complying with various regulatory and government standards, including any related investigations and litigation. We may incur significant expenses defending any such suit or government charge and may be required to pay amounts or otherwise change our operations in ways that could adversely impact our businesses, results of operations or financial condition.
Our Class B common stock has substantial voting rights and separate approval rights over several potentially material transactions, and our Chairman and CEO has considerable influence over our company through his beneficial ownership of our Class B common stock.
Our Class B common stock has a non-dilutable 33 1 / 3 % of the combined voting power of our Class A and Class B common stock. This non-dilutable voting power is subject to proportional decrease to the extent the number of shares of Class B common stock is reduced below 9,444,375, which was the number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding on the date of our 2002 acquisition of AT&T Corp.’s cable business, subject to adjustment in specified situations. Stock dividends payable on the Class B common stock in the form of Class B or Class A common stock do not decrease the non-dilutable voting power of the Class B common stock. The Class B common stock also has separate approval rights over several potentially material transactions, even if they are approved by our Board of Directors or by our other shareholders and even if they might be in the best interests of our other shareholders. These potentially material transactions include mergers or consolidations involving us, transactions (such as a sale of all or substantially all of our assets) or issuances of securities that require shareholder approval, transactions that result in any person or group owning shares representing more than 10% of the combined voting power of the resulting or surviving corporation, issuances of Class B common stock or securities exercisable or convertible into Class B common stock, and amendments to our articles of incorporation or by-laws that would limit the rights of holders of our Class B common stock. Brian L. Roberts, our chairman and CEO, beneficially owns all of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock and, accordingly, has considerable influence over our company and the potential ability to transfer effective control by selling the Class B common stock, which could be at a premium.
FY 2025-12-31 (later)
Item 1A: Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business, Industry and Operations
Our businesses operate in highly competitive and dynamic industries, and our businesses and results of operations could be adversely affected if we do not compete effectively.
Our businesses operate in intensely competitive, consumer-driven, rapidly changing environments. We compete with a growing number of companies that provide a broad range of communications products and services and entertainment, sports, news and information content to consumers. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete effectively against our competitors or that competition will not have an adverse effect on our businesses.Below is a summary of our most significant sources of competition. Many of these competitors offer competitive pricing, packaging and/or bundling of services to customers, which further increases competition. For a more detailed description of the competition facing our businesses, see Item 1: Business and refer to the “Competition” discussions within that section.
• Connectivity & Platforms’ broadband services compete primarily against wireline telecommunications companies, including many that are increasing deployment of fiber-based networks; wireless telecommunications companies offering internet services (using a variety of wireless technologies, including 5G fixed wireless networks and 4G and 5G wireless broadband services); municipalities and power companies in the United States that own and operate their own broadband networks; and satellite broadband providers. Domestic broadband-deployment funding initiatives at the federal and state level may result in other service providers deploying new subsidized internet access networks within our footprint, and in cases where we receive subsidies, may impose constraints on how we conduct our businesses. For a more extensive discussion of the significant risks associated with the regulation of our businesses, see “—We are subject to regulation by federal, state, local and foreign authorities, which impose additional costs and restrictions on our businesses” below and Item 1: Business and refer to the “Legislation and Regulation” discussion within that section.
• Our wireless and voice services compete with both telecommunications and wireless telecommunication providers.
• Competition for video services consists primarily of DTC streaming service providers and aggregators, DBS providers and telecommunications companies.• Business Services Connectivity primarily competes with wireline telecommunications companies and wide area network managed service providers.• Our businesses in Content & Experiences, as well as our video business, face substantial and increasing competition from providers of similar types of entertainment, sports, news and information content, as well as from other forms of entertainment, including from social networking and user-generated content or technologies such as AI that can rapidly produce large volumes of content, as well as tourism, recreational activities and lodging. They must compete to obtain talent, popular content (including sports programming), advertising and other resources required to successfully operate their businesses. This competition has further intensified as certain DTC streaming service providers have commissioned, and may continue to commission, high-cost programming and acquire live sports rights to attract viewers at significant costs.
Competitors with significant resources, greater efficiencies of scale, fewer regulatory burdens and more competitive pricing and packaging continue to increasingly compete with our businesses in all forms. Some of these competitors could also have preferential access to customer data or other competitive information. Further, consolidation of, or cooperation between, our competitors may increase competition in all of these areas. For example, cooperation between competitors may allow them to offer a range of products and services, including aggregating certain content into a stand-alone offering, offering free or lower cost DTC streaming services, potentially on an exclusive basis, through unlimited data-usage plans for broadband and wireless services or bundling DTC streaming services on their platforms.
Our competitive position may be negatively affected if we do not provide our customers with a satisfactory customer experience. In addition, our ability to compete effectively depends on our perceived image and reputation among our various constituencies, including our customers, consumers, advertisers, business partners, employees, investors and government authorities. For example, some of these constituencies may have their own, and some have conflicting environmental and social priorities, which may present risks to our reputation and brands if these constituencies perceive misalignment.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsChanges in consumer behavior continue to adversely affect our businesses and challenge existing business models.
Distribution platforms for viewing and purchasing content continue to challenge existing business models, increase the number of competitors that our businesses face, and have driven, and will continue to drive, changes in consumer behavior as consumers seek control over when, where and how they consume content and access communications services, and how much or for how long they pay for such content.
The number of entertainment choices available to consumers, including DTC streaming service providers and aggregators, social networking and user-generated content platforms, and gaming and virtual reality products and services, continues to increase, intensify audience fragmentation and disaggregate how content traditionally has been distributed to and viewed by consumers. The popularity of many of these content distribution platforms has changed, and we expect will continue to change, consumers’ expectations of video content, video aggregation services and the value of our video services, their willingness to pay for such content and services, their perception of quality entertainment and their tolerance for commercial interruptions.
The continuing trend of content owners, including us with Peacock, delivering their content directly to consumers, rather than through, or in addition to, traditional video distribution channels also disrupts traditional media distribution business models. As consumers increasingly turn to DTC streaming services in lieu of linear video services, which continue to experience accelerated net customer losses, our video customers and video revenues, and linear television network subscriber fees received from video service providers, each decrease.
In addition to reducing traditional television viewership, these trends, when coupled with time-shifting technologies such as DVR and on demand services, have caused, and likely will continue to cause, audience ratings declines for our television networks. Shifting content consumption patterns also may result in lower demand for home entertainment products or theatrical attendance. While we have adapted some of our video and content offerings to compete in the evolving media distribution landscape, such as by offering Peacock and NOW, there also can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully compete or that Peacock will grow or sustain its revenue or user base, successfully compete as a stand-alone DTC streaming service or fully offset decreases to our linear television networks’ results of operations.Our failure to effectively anticipate or adapt to emerging competitors or changes in consumer behavior, including among younger consumers, and shifting business models could have an adverse effect on our competitive position, businesses and results of operations.
A decline in advertisers’ expenditures or changes in advertising markets could negatively impact our businesses.We compete for the sale of advertising time with digital properties, including an increasing number of ad-supported DTC streaming service providers as advertisers have shifted, and may continue to shift, a larger portion of their total expenditures to digital media. We also compete with other online content providers, such as social networking platforms and user-generated content providers, television networks and stations, and all other advertising platforms. Because we derive substantial revenue from the sale of advertising, a decline in expenditures by advertisers, including through traditional linear television distribution models or on Peacock, could negatively impact our results of operations. We have experienced, and may continue to experience, declines caused by the economic prospects of specific advertisers or industries and economic conditions generally; increased competition for the leisure time of viewers, audience fragmentation and viewing content on DTC streaming services; use of time-shifting or advertising-blocking technologies; and regulatory intervention on advertising placement.
In addition, lower audience ratings and reduced viewership, which many of our linear television networks have experienced, and likely will continue to experience, as well as the level of popularity of Peacock, affect advertisers’ willingness to purchase advertising from us and the rates paid. Advertising sales and rates also are dependent on the methodology used for audience measurement and could be negatively affected if methodologies do not accurately reflect actual viewership levels.Our success depends on consumer acceptance of our content, and our businesses may be adversely affected if our content fails to achieve sufficient consumer acceptance.We create and acquire media, sports and entertainment content, the success of which depends substantially on consumer tastes and preferences that often change in unpredictable ways. To meet the changing preferences of our consumer markets, we must consistently create, acquire, market and distribute a broad array of content and theme park attractions. We have invested, and will continue to invest, substantial amounts in content, such as sports rights, the production of films and original content for television networks and streaming services, and in the creation of new theme parks and theme park attractions, before learning the extent to which they will earn consumer acceptance.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
20Table of ContentsWe obtain a significant portion of our content from third parties, such as movie studios, television production companies, sports organizations and other suppliers, sometimes on an exclusive basis. Competition for popular content, particularly for sports rights, is intense. Entering into or renewing contracts for such content rights or acquiring additional rights has in the past resulted, and may result in the future, in significantly increased costs, potentially over an extended contractual term. Particularly with respect to contracts for sports rights, our results of operations and cash flows over the term of a contract depend on a number of factors, including the strength of the advertising market, audience size, the timing and amount of rights payments, and the ability to secure distribution from, impose surcharges on, or obtain carriage on multichannel video providers or to grow and retain subscribers to our own DTC services. There can be no assurance that revenue generated from these contracts will exceed our costs for the rights and of producing and distributing the programming. In addition, media companies may determine not to license popular content to us, and as more content owners offer their content directly to consumers through their own platforms, they may reduce the quantity and quality of the content they license to our linear television networks or Peacock. The inability to enter into or renew some or all of these contracts on acceptable terms could reduce the reach of our programming, which could adversely affect our results of operations and businesses.
We also create content for licensing to third parties and to our linear television networks or Peacock. The inability to license such content on acceptable terms or at all could negatively impact our business. Moreover, we may generate lower revenue when we opt to retain our content for our own use, including for Peacock, rather than licensing it to third parties who pay licensing fees for such content.If our content does not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance, or if we cannot obtain or retain rights to popular content on acceptable terms, or at all, our businesses may be adversely affected.
Programming expenses for our video services are increasing on a per subscriber basis, which could adversely affect our video businesses.We expect programming expenses for our video services to continue to be the largest single expense item for our Residential Connectivity & Platforms business and to continue to increase on a per subscriber basis. Part of these programming expenses include payments to certain local broadcast television stations in exchange for their required consent for the retransmission of broadcast network programming to video services customers; we expect to continue to be subject to demands for payment and other concessions from local broadcast television stations. These market factors may be exacerbated by consolidation in the media industry, which may further increase our programming expenses. If we are unable to offset programming cost increases through rate increases, the sale of additional services, cost management or other initiatives, the increasing cost of programming could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.Moreover, as our contracts with programming providers expire, there can be no assurance that they will be renewed on acceptable terms, or at all, in which case we may be unable to provide such programming as part of our video services, and our businesses and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The loss of programming distribution agreements, or the renewal of these agreements on less favorable terms, could adversely affect our businesses.Our linear television networks depend on their ability to secure and maintain distribution agreements with traditional and virtual multichannel video providers. The number of subscribers to our television networks has decreased, and likely will continue to decrease, as a result of reduced viewing of linear television. If our networks do not attract sufficient viewers, both new and existing multichannel video providers may be reluctant to distribute our networks or may decide to distribute our networks with significantly less favorable terms. Similarly, multichannel video providers may elect not to enter into agreements to distribute some or all of our linear television networks as a result of these changing market dynamics.
In addition, our broadcast television stations depend on their ability to secure and maintain network affiliation agreements with third-party local broadcast television stations in the markets where we do not own the affiliated local broadcast television station. Our owned local broadcast television stations must elect, with respect to retransmission by certain multichannel video providers, either “must-carry” status, in which we require the provider to carry the station without paying any compensation to us, or “retransmission consent,” in which we give up our right to mandatory carriage and instead seek to negotiate the terms and conditions of carriage, including the amount of compensation, if any, paid to us by such provider.
For all of these types of arrangements, our ability to renew agreements on acceptable terms and/or in a timely manner may be affected by evolving market dynamics, government regulations and industry consolidation. There can be no assurance that any of these agreements will be entered into or renewed in the future on similar terms. The inability to enter into or renew some or all of these agreements could reduce our revenues and the reach of our programming, which could adversely affect our businesses.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsOur businesses depend on using and protecting certain intellectual property rights and on not infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of others.
We rely on our intellectual property, such as patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as licenses and other agreements with our vendors and other third parties, to use various technologies, conduct our business operations and sell our products and services. Legal challenges to our intellectual property rights and claims of intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation by third parties could require that we enter into royalty or licensing agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability, or be enjoined preliminarily or permanently from further use of the intellectual property in question, from importing into the United States or other jurisdictions in which we operate hardware or software that uses such intellectual property or from the continuation of our businesses as currently conducted. We may need to change our business practices if any of these events occur, which may limit our ability to compete effectively and could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Even if we believe any such challenges or claims are without merit, they can be time-consuming, costly to defend and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our businesses. Moreover, if we are unable to obtain, or continue to obtain, licenses from our vendors and other third parties on reasonable terms, or at all, our businesses could be adversely affected.
In addition, intellectual property constitutes a significant part of the value of our businesses, and our success is highly dependent on protecting the intellectual property rights of the content we create or acquire against third-party misappropriation, reproduction or infringement. The unauthorized reproduction, distribution or display of copyrighted material negatively affects our ability to generate revenue from the legitimate sale of our content, as well as from the sale of advertising in connection with our content, and increases our costs due to our active enforcement of our intellectual property rights. The legal landscape for new technologies, including AI, remains uncertain, and legal developments could impact our ability to protect our intellectual property against uses by unauthorized third parties, including generative AI developers, misappropriation, reproduction or infringement or impact our ability to deploy new technologies. Our use or adoption of new and emerging technologies may also increase our exposure to intellectual property claims.
Piracy and other unauthorized uses of content are made easier, and the enforcement of intellectual property rights more challenging, by technological advances that allow the conversion of programming, films and other content into digital formats, which facilitates the creation, transmission and sharing of high-quality unauthorized copies. In particular, piracy of programming and films through unauthorized distribution platforms continues to present challenges for our businesses. For example, certain entities may stream our broadcast television content illegally online without our consent and without paying us any compensation, and sporting events on our international networks may be illegally transmitted. While piracy is a challenge in the United States, it is particularly prevalent in many parts of the world that lack developed copyright laws, effective enforcement of copyright laws and technical protective measures like those in effect in the United States. If any U.S. or foreign laws intended to combat piracy and protect intellectual property rights are repealed or weakened or are not adequately enforced, or if the legal system fails to adapt to new technologies that facilitate piracy, we may be unable to effectively protect our rights, the value of our intellectual property may be negatively impacted and our costs of enforcing our rights may increase.We may be unable to obtain necessary hardware, software and operational support.We depend on third-party vendors to supply us with a significant amount of the hardware, software and operational support necessary to provide certain of our products and services. We also rely on third-party satellite transponder capacity to provide video services in Europe, as well as on third-party wireless networks to offer certain wireless services in the United States and internationally. Some of these vendors represent our primary source of supply or grant us the right to incorporate their intellectual property into some of our hardware and software products. While we monitor the operations and financial condition of key vendors in an attempt to detect any potential difficulties, there can be no assurance that we would timely identify any operating or financial difficulties associated with these vendors or that we could effectively mitigate our risks with respect to any such difficulties. If any of these vendors experience operating or financial difficulties, including as a result of cybersecurity vulnerabilities or incidents, faulty software updates, or any other supply chain compliance-related issues, if our demand exceeds their capacity or if they breach or terminate their agreements with us or are otherwise unable to meet our specifications or provide the equipment, products or services we need in a timely manner (or at all), or at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some products or services may be adversely affected and we may incur additional costs.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Table of ContentsOur businesses depend on keeping pace with technological developments.Our success is, to a large extent, dependent on our ability to acquire, develop, adopt and leverage new and existing technologies, such as AI, and our competitors’ use of certain types of technology and equipment may provide them with a competitive advantage. New technologies can materially impact our businesses in a number of ways, including affecting the demand for our products, the distribution methods of our products and content to our customers, how we create our entertainment products, the ways in which our customers can purchase and view our content and the growth of distribution platforms available to advertisers. For example, current and new wireless internet technologies (including 5G fixed wireless networks and 4G and 5G wireless broadband services) continue to evolve rapidly and may allow for greater speed and reliability for those services as compared with prior technologies and create further competition for our businesses. In addition, some companies and U.S. municipalities are building advanced fiber-based networks that provide very fast internet access speeds, and some providers offer newer satellite broadband services. We expect advances in communications technology to continue to occur in the future.If we choose technology or equipment that is not as effective or attractive to consumers as that employed by our competitors, if we fail to employ technologies desired by consumers or that enhance our business operations, such as through the use of AI, or if we fail to execute effectively on our technology initiatives, our businesses and results of operations could be adversely affected. We also will continue to incur additional costs as we execute our technology initiatives, such as the deployment of multigigabit symmetrical speeds by leveraging our DOCSIS 4.0 technology and the development and enhancement of various streaming platforms. There can be no assurance that we can execute on these and other initiatives in a manner sufficient to grow or maintain our revenue or to successfully compete in the future. We also may generate less revenue or incur increased costs if changes in our competitors’ product offerings require that we offer certain services or enhancements at a lower or no cost to our customers or that we increase our research and development expenditures.A cyber attack, information or security breach, or technology disruption or failure may negatively impact our ability to conduct our business or result in the misuse of confidential information, all of which could adversely affect our business, reputation or results of operations.
Network and information systems and other technologies, including those that are related to our network management, customer service operations and programming delivery and are embedded in our products and services, are critical to our business activities. In the ordinary course of our business, there are constant attempts by unauthorized parties to cause systems-related events and security incidents and to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in security architecture and system design. These incidents include computer hacking, cyber attacks, computer viruses, worms or other destructive or disruptive software, denial of service attacks, phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, malicious social engineering, theft, misconduct, fraud and other malicious activities. Incidents can be caused inadvertently by us or our third-party vendors due to factors such as process breakdowns, human error, software or hardware failures or vulnerabilities in security architecture or system design.
Cyber threats and attacks are constantly evolving and are growing in sophistication and frequency, which increases the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. For example, we expect threat actors will continue to gain sophistication by using tools and techniques, such as AI, that are specifically designed to circumvent security controls. Some cyber attacks have had, and in the future can have, cascading impacts that unfold with increasing speed across networks, information systems and other technologies across the world and create latent vulnerabilities in our and third-party vendors’ systems and other technologies. We also obtain certain confidential, proprietary and personal information about our customers, personnel and vendors, that in many cases is provided or made available to third-party vendors who agree to protect it, which has in the past, and may in the future, become compromised through a cyber attack or data breach, misappropriation, misuse, leakage, falsification or accidental release or loss of information by us or a third party. Due to the nature of our businesses, we may be at a disproportionately heightened risk of these types of incidents occurring because we maintain certain information necessary to conduct our business in digital form. We also incorporate third-party software (including extensive open-source software), applications, and data hosting and cloud-based services into many aspects of our products, services and operations, as well as rely on service providers to help us perform our business operations, all of which expose us to cyber attacks with respect to such third-party suppliers and service providers and their products and services. Due to applicable laws, regulations and contractual obligations, we may be held responsible for cybersecurity breaches or incidents experienced by such third parties in relation to the information we share with them. Due to the complexity and interconnectedness of our systems and those of our third-party vendors, the process of enhancing our protective measures can itself create a risk of systems disruptions and security issues.23Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsWhile we develop and maintain systems, and operate programs that seek to prevent security incidents from occurring, these efforts are costly and must be constantly monitored and updated in the face of sophisticated and rapidly evolving attempts to overcome our security measures and protections. The occurrence of both intentional and unintentional incidents has caused, and may from time to time in the future cause, a variety of business impacts. These include degradation or disruption of our network, products and services, excessive call volume to call centers, theft or misuse of our intellectual property or other assets, disruption of the security of our internal systems, products, services or satellite transmission signals, power outages, and the compromise or exfiltration of sensitive, personal, proprietary, confidential or technical business information and customer or vendor data, and reputational impacts. In addition, despite efforts to detect unlawful intrusions, attacks can persist for an extended period of time before being detected, and following detection, it may take considerable time to understand the nature, scope, impact and timing of the incident. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from any of the foregoing events likely would not be sufficient to fully cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for disruptions to our business that may result. Repercussions of these incidents have in the past included and may in the future include legal proceedings or significant regulatory fines, oversight or other remedial measures, including with respect to relevant consumer privacy rules, or otherwise have an adverse effect on our company. Despite our efforts, we expect that we will continue to experience such incidents in the future, and there can be no assurance that any such incident will not have an adverse effect on our business, reputation or results of operations. Refer to Item 1C: Cybersecurity for additional information.Weak economic conditions may have a negative impact on our businesses.A substantial portion of our revenue comes from customers whose spending patterns may be affected by prevailing economic conditions. Weak economic conditions in the United States, in Europe or globally could adversely affect demand for any of our products and services and have a negative impact on our results of operations. For example, weak economic conditions will likely impact our customers’ discretionary spending and as a result, they may reduce the level of services to which they subscribe or may discontinue subscribing to one or more of our services altogether. This risk may be increased by the expanded availability of free or lower cost competitive services, such as certain DTC streaming services, or substitute services for broadband and voice services, such as wireless and public Wi-Fi networks. Weak economic conditions also negatively impact our advertising revenue, the performance of our films and home entertainment releases, and attendance and spending in our theme parks. In particular, the success of our theme parks and theatrical releases largely depends on consumer demand for out-of-home entertainment experiences, which may be limited by weakened economic conditions. Weak economic conditions may also cause governments and regulators to impose additional tax or product affordability regulations, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations.
Weak economic conditions and disruptions in the global financial markets, such as high interest rates, may impact our ability to obtain financing or to refinance existing debt on acceptable terms, if at all, which could increase the cost of our borrowings over time and may increase our exposure to currency fluctuations in countries where we operate. Further, inflationary pressures in the United States, in Europe and globally may also have negative impacts on our cost structure and pricing models and may impact the ability of third parties (including advertisers, customers, suppliers, wholesale distributors, retailers and content creators, among others) to satisfy their obligations to us.Acquisitions and other strategic initiatives present many risks, and we may not realize the financial and strategic goals that we had contemplated.From time to time, we make acquisitions and investments and may pursue other strategic initiatives, such as the Separation of Versant. In connection with such acquisitions and strategic initiatives, we may incur significant or unanticipated expenses and dyssynergies, fail to realize anticipated benefits and synergies, have difficulty incorporating an acquired or new line of business, disrupt relationships with current and new employees, customers and vendors, incur significant debt, divert the attention of management from our current operations, or have to delay or not proceed with announced transactions or initiatives. These and other circumstances could also result in the impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets. Additionally, federal regulatory or antitrust agencies such as the FCC or DOJ or international regulators may impose restrictions on the operation of our businesses as a result of our seeking regulatory approvals for any significant acquisitions and strategic initiatives or may dissuade us from pursuing certain transactions. The occurrence of any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Table of ContentsWe face risks relating to doing business internationally that could adversely affect our businesses.We operate our businesses worldwide. There are risks inherent in doing business internationally, including global financial market turmoil; economic volatility and global economic slowdown; currency exchange rate fluctuations and inflationary pressures; geopolitical risks, including acts of terror and war; requirements of local laws and customs relating to the publication and distribution of content and the display and sale of advertising; changes in import or export restrictions, tariffs, sanctions and trade policies and regulations; difficulties in developing, staffing and managing foreign operations; issues related to occupational safety and adherence to diverse local labor laws and regulations; and potentially adverse tax developments. Additionally, although we employ foreign currency derivative instruments to hedge certain exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risks, including the British pound, euro and Japanese yen, the use of such derivative instruments may n ot be sufficient to mitigate exchange rate fluctuations. In addition, doing business internationally subjects us to risks relating to political or social unrest, as well as corruption and government regulations, including U.S. laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act, that impose stringent requirements on how we conduct our foreign operations. Moreover, foreign enforcement of laws and contractual rights in certain countries where we do busines s can be inconsistent and unpredictable, which may affect our ability to enforce our rights or make investments that we believe otherwise make strategic sense. If any of these events occur or our conduct does not comply with such laws and regulations, our businesses may be adversely affected.Natural disasters, severe weather and other uncontrollable events could adversely affect our business, reputation and results of operations.Our services, products and properties are vulnerable to damage from the occurrence of certain events, including natural disasters, severe weather events such as hurricanes and wildfires, and a range of other unforeseeable events such as infectious disease outbreaks, terrorist attacks or other similar events. Such events have in the past caused, and could in the future cause, a variety of adverse business impacts including degradation or disruption of our network, products and services, excessive call volume to call centers, a reduction in demand for our products, services and theme parks, disruption of our internal systems, products, services or satellite transmission signals, power outages, and damage to our or our customers’ or vendors’ equipment and properties. These events also may result in lost revenue and large expenditures to repair or replace damaged properties, products and services and could lead to litigation and regulatory fines or remedial measures, including if we inadvertently contributed to damages suffered by others.The amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from these types of events likely would not be sufficient to fully cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for disruptions to our business that may result. We expect that we will continue to experience some or all of these events in the future, and there can be no assurance that any such event will not have an adverse effect on our business, reputation or results of operations.The loss of key management personnel or popular on-air and creative talent could have an adverse effect on our businesses.
We rely on certain key management personnel in the operation of our businesses. While we maintain long-term and emergency transition plans for key management personnel and believe we could either identify internal candidates or attract outside candidates to fill any vacancy created by the loss of any key management personnel, the loss of one or more of our key management personnel could have a negative impact on our businesses.In addition, our Content & Experiences business depends on the abilities and expertise of on-air and creative talent. If we fail to attract or retain on-air or creative talent, if the costs to attract or retain such talent increase materially, or if these individuals cause negative publicity or lose their current appeal, our businesses could be adversely affected.Labor disputes, whether involving employees or sports organizations, may disrupt our operations and adversely affect our businesses.Many of the writers, directors, actors, technical and production personnel, as well as some on-air and creative talent employees in our Content & Experiences business, are covered by collective bargaining agreements or works councils. Many of these collective bargaining agreements are industry-wide agreements, and we may lack practical control over the negotiations and terms of the agreements. If we are unable to reach agreement with a labor union before the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, our employees who were covered by that agreement may have a right to strike or take other actions that could adversely affect us, which could disrupt our operations and reduce our revenue, and the resolution of any disputes may increase our costs. For example, the Writers Guild of America (“Writers Guild”) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (“SAG”) work stoppages in 2023 paused productions, which reduced content licensing revenue at our Studios segment. There can be no assurance that we will renew our collective bargaining agreements as they expire or that we can renew them on favorable terms or without any work stoppages in the future.In addition, labor disputes in sports organizations with which we have programming rights agreements of varying scope and duration could have an adverse effect on our businesses.25
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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If the Separation does not qualify as non-taxable, we and/or holders of our common stock could be subject to significant tax liability.
We have received an opinion of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP that the Separation qualified as non-taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Notwithstanding the opinion, the IRS or a court could determine that the Separation should be treated as taxable.
If the Separation does not qualify as non-taxable, we and/or holders of our common stock could be subject to substantial U.S. and/or applicable non-U.S. taxes as a result, and we could incur significant liabilities under applicable law. If the failure to qualify is caused by any action taken by Versant, Versant is required to indemnify us for any resulting tax liabilities.Risks Related to Legal, Regulatory and Governance Matters
We are subject to regulation by federal, state, local and foreign authorities, which impose additional costs and restrictions on our businesses.Our businesses are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations. In the United States in particular, the Communications Act and FCC regulations and policies affect significant aspects of our communications businesses.
Legislators and regulators at all levels of government frequently consider changing, and sometimes do change, existing statutes, rules or regulations, or interpretations of existing statutes, rules or regulations, or prescribe new ones, any of which may significantly affect our businesses and ability to effectively compete. Applying existing laws in novel ways to new technologies, including streaming services and AI, may also affect our business. These legislators and regulators, along with some state attorneys general and foreign governmental authorities, have been active in conducting inquiries and reviews regarding our services. State legislative and regulatory initiatives can create a patchwork of different and/or conflicting state requirements, such as with respect to privacy and Open Internet/net neutrality regulations, that can affect our businesses and ability to effectively compete.
Legislative and regulatory activity has increased in recent years, particularly with respect to broadband networks. For example, Congress has approved tens of billions of dollars in funding for broadband deployment and adoption initiatives, and it may from time to time consider other proposals that address communications issues, including whether it should rewrite the Communications Act to account for changes in the communications marketplace. Federal agencies have considered adopting new regulations for communications services, including broadband, from time to time. States and localities are increasingly proposing new regulations impacting communications services, including broader regulation of broadband networks. Regulators in various international jurisdictions are similarly considering changes to telecommunications and media requirements. Any of these regulations could significantly affect our business and our legal and compliance costs.
In addition, United States and foreign regulators and courts could adopt new interpretations of existing competition or antitrust laws or enact new competition or antitrust laws or regulatory tools that could negatively impact our businesses. Any future legislative, judicial, regulatory or administrative actions may increase our costs or impose additional restrictions on our businesses, some of which may be significant. We are unable to predict the outcome or effects of any of these potential actions or any other legislative or regulatory proposals on our businesses.Failure to comply with the laws and regulations applicable to our businesses could result in administrative enforcement actions, fines, and civil and criminal liability. Any changes to the legal and regulatory framework applicable to any of our services or businesses could have an adverse impact on our businesses and results of operations. For a more extensive discussion of the significant risks associated with the regulation of our businesses, see Item 1: Business and refer to the “Legislation and Regulation” discussion within that section.
Unfavorable litigation or governmental investigation results could require us to pay significant amounts or lead to onerous operating procedures.We are subject from time to time to a number of lawsuits both in the United States and in foreign countries, including claims relating to competition, intellectual property rights (including copyrights, trademarks and patents), employment and labor matters, personal injury and property damage, defamation, disparagement, libel, free speech, negligence, customer privacy, regulatory requirements, advertising, marketing and selling practices, and credit and collection issues. We also spend substantial resources complying with various regulatory and government standards, including any related investigations and litigation. Greater constraints on the use of arbitration to resolve certain of these disputes also could adversely affect our business. Adverse outcomes in any lawsuits or investigations could result in significant monetary damages or injunctive relief that could adversely affect our businesses, results of operations or financial condition. In addition, regardless of the ultimate merit or outcome of such lawsuits, investigations or claims, these proceedings may have an adverse impact on our business as a result of legal costs, diversion of the attention of management and other personnel, harm to our reputation and other factors.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Table of Contents
Our Class B common stock has substantial voting rights and separate approval rights over several potentially material transactions, and our Chairman and Co-CEO has considerable influence over our company through his beneficial ownership of our Class B common stock.
Our Class B common stock has a non-dilutable 33 1 / 3 % of the combined voting power of our Class A and Class B common stock. This non-dilutable voting power is subject to proportional decrease to the extent the number of shares of Class B common stock is reduced below 9,444,375, which was the number of shares of Class B common stock outstanding on the date of our 2002 acquisition of AT&T Corp.’s cable business, subject to adjustment in specified situations. Stock dividends payable on the Class B common stock in the form of Class B or Class A common stock do not decrease the non-dilutable voting power of the Class B common stock. The Class B common stock also has separate approval rights over several potentially material transactions, even if they are approved by our Board of Directors or by our other shareholders and even if they might be in the best interests of our other shareholders. These potentially material transactions include mergers or consolidations involving us, transactions (such as a sale of all or substantially all of our assets) or issuances of securities that require shareholder approval, transactions that result in any person or group owning shares representing more than 10% of the combined voting power of the resulting or surviving corporation, issuances of Class B common stock or securities exercisable or convertible into Class B common stock, and amendments to our articles of incorporation or bylaws that would limit the rights of holders of our Class B common stock. Brian L. Roberts, our chairman and Co-CEO, beneficially owns all of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock and, accordingly, has considerable influence over our company and the potential ability to transfer effective control by selling the Class B common stock, which could be at a premium.
Item 7 · Management's Discussion & Analysis
+394 paragraphs −393 paragraphs ~393 changed
FY 2023-12-31 (earlier)
Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsManagement’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, the consolidated financial statements and related notes (“Notes”) to enhance the understanding of our operations and our present business environment. For more information about our company’s operations and the risks facing our businesses, see Item 1: Business and Item 1A: Risk Factors, respectively. As discussed in Note 2, we changed the presentation of our segment operating results in 2023, and all amounts are presented under the new segment structure. Refer to Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K for management’s discussion and analysis of our consolidated financial condition and results of operations for fiscal year 2022 compared to fiscal year 2021. The discussion and analysis related to our segment operating results and Corporate, Other and Eliminations are included below for all periods based on the new segment structure.OverviewWe are a global media and technology company with two primary businesses: Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences. We present the operations of (1) our Connectivity & Platforms business in two reportable business segments: Residential Connectivity & Platforms and Business Services Connectivity and (2) our Content & Experiences business in three reportable business segments: Media, Studios and Theme Parks.Consolidated Revenue, Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation and Adjusted EBITDA (a)
(in billions)
Revenue Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation Adjusted EBITDA(a) Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure that is not defined by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 47 for additional information, including our definition and our use of Adjusted EBITDA, and for a reconciliat ion from net income attributable to Comcast Corporation to Adjusted EBITDA. Revenue, Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation and Adjusted EBITDA charts are not presented on the same scale.
2023 Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA Segment Contribution (a)Revenue Adjusted EBITDA
(a) Charts exclude the results of Content & Experiences Headquarters and Other, Corporate and Other, and eliminations. Refer to our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional information.Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 32Table of Contents2023 DevelopmentsConnectivity & Platforms (a)
Content & Experiences (a)(b)
(a) Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA charts are not presented on the same scale.
(b) Segment details in the charts exclude the results of Content & Experiences Headquarters and Other and Eliminations and therefore the amounts do not equal the total.
Residential Connectivity & Platforms Media• Revenue remained consistent with the prior year due to decreases in video, advertising and other revenue, offset by increases in domestic broadband, international connectivity and domestic wireless revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased primarily due to decreases in other expenses and programming expenses.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin increased from 36.1% to 37.5%.Business Services Connectivity• Revenue increased due to increases in revenue from small business, medium-sized and enterprise customers.• Adjusted EBITDA increased due to an increase in revenue, partially offset by increased costs and expenses.• Adjusted EBITDA margin was consistent at 57.2%.Customer Metrics• Total customer relationships decreased by 288,000 to 52.1 million.
• Domestic broadband customers decreased by 66,000 to 32.3 million.
• Domestic wireless lines increased by 1.3 million to 6.6 million.
• Domestic video customers decreased by 2.0 million to 14.1 million.
• Revenue decreased primarily due to the impact of our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022 . Excluding $1.7 billion of revenue associated with these events, revenue increased due to increases in domestic distribution and international networks revenue, partially offset by decreases in domestic advertising and other revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased primarily due to a decrease in revenue, which was partially offset by a decrease in programming and production costs driven by events in 2022 and higher Peacock programming costs in 2023.
• Peacock generated revenue and costs and expenses of $3.4 billion and $6.1 billion in 2023 , respectively, compared to $2.1 billion and $4.6 billion in 2022, respectively. Paid subscribers increased by 10 million to 31 million in 2023 .Studios• Revenue decreased due to a decrease in content licensing revenue primarily driven by the Writers Guild and SAG work stoppages in 2023, partially offset by an increase in theatrical revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased due to decreases in programming and production and marketing and promotion expenses, partially offset by a decrease in revenue.33Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsCapital Expenditures
• Total Connectivity & Platforms capital expenditures increased 1.5% to $8.2 billion, reflecting increased spending on line extensions and scalable infrastructure, partially offset by decreased spending on customer premise equipment and support capital.
Theme Parks
• Revenue increased due to increases in revenue at our international theme parks and our theme park in Hollywood, partially offset by a decrease in revenue at our theme park in Orlando.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased due to an increase in revenue, partially offset by an increase in costs and expenses driven by increased guest attendance.
• Capital expenditures increased related to the development of Epic Universe in Orlando.Other• Repurchased a total of 262 million shares of our Class A common stock for $11.0 billion in 2023 compared to a total of 332 million shares of our Class A common stock for $13.0 billion in 2022. Raised our dividend by $0.08 to $1.16 per share on an annualized basis in January 2023 and paid $4.8 billion of dividends in 2023.
• Exercised the put right to sell our 33% interest in Hulu in the fourth quarter of 2023 and received $8.6 billion of net pre-tax proceeds relating to the minimum equity value, net of capital calls. A portion of these proceeds was used to repay our $5.2 billion collateralized obligation. Additional proceeds for any excess of the fair value of our interest over the minimum equity value will be due following the final determination of Hulu’s fair value pursuant to a third-party appraisal process. See Note 8.Consolidated Operating ResultsYear ended December 31 (in millions, except per share data) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ 121,572 $ 121,427 $ 116,385 0.1 % 4.3 %Costs and Expenses:Programming and production 36,762 38,213 38,450 (3.8) (0.6)
Marketing and promotion 7,971 8,506 7,695 (6.3) 10.5
Other operating and administrative 39,190 38,263 35,619 2.4 7.4
Depreciation 8,854 8,724 8,628 1.5 1.1
Amortization 5,482 5,097 5,176 7.5 (1.5)
Goodwill and long-lived assets impairments — 8,583 — NM NM
Total costs and expenses 98,258 107,385 95,568 (8.5) 12.4
Operating income 23,314 14,041 20,817 66.0 (32.5)
Interest expense (4,087) (3,896) (4,281) 4.9 (9.0)
Investment and other income (loss), net 1,252 (861) 2,557 NM NM
Income before income taxes 20,478 9,284 19,093 120.6 (51.4)
Income tax expense (5,371) (4,359) (5,259) 23.2 (17.1)
Net income 15,107 4,925 13,833 NM (64.4)
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (282) (445) (325) (36.8) 36.9
Net income attributable to Comcast Corporation $ 15,388 $ 5,370 $ 14,159 186.5 % (62.1) %
Basic earnings per common share attributable to Comcast Corporation shareholders $ 3.73 $ 1.22 $ 3.09 NM (60.5) %Diluted earnings per common share attributable to Comcast Corporation shareholders$ 3.71 $ 1.21 $ 3.04 NM (60.2) %Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding - basic4,122 4,406 4,584 (6.4) % (3.9) %Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - diluted4,148 4,430 4,654 (6.4) % (4.8) %Adjusted EBITDA (a)$ 37,633 $ 36,459 $ 34,708 3.2 % 5.0 %Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.(a) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 47 for additional information, including our definition and our use of Adjusted EBITDA, and for a reconciliation from net income attributable to Comcast Corporation to Adjusted EBITDA.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 34Table of Contents
Consolidated Revenue
The following graph illustrates the contributions to the change in consolidated revenue made by our Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences businesses, as well as by Corporate and Other activities, including eliminations.
(a) Graph is presented using a truncated scale.
Revenue for our segments and other businesses is discussed separately below under the heading “Segment Operating Results.”
Consolidated Costs and ExpensesThe following graph illustrates the contributions to the change in consolidated costs and expenses, excluding depreciation expense, amortization expense, and goodwill and long-lived asset impairments, made by our Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences businesses, as well as by Corporate and Other activities, including adjustments and eliminations.(a) Graph is presented using a truncated scale.
Costs and expenses for our segments and our corporate operations and other businesses are discussed separately below under the heading “Segment Operating Results.”Consolidated depreciation and amortization expense increased in 2023 compared to 2022 primarily due to increases in the amortization of software and theme park depreciation.
Amortization expense from acquisition-related intangible assets totaled $2.3 billion and $2.2 billion in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Amounts primarily relate to customer relationship intangible assets recorded in connection with the Sky transaction in 2018 and the NBCUniversal transaction in 2011.35Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsConsolidated goodwill and long-lived asset impairments included charges related to Sky totaling $8.6 billion in 2022 recognized in connection with our annual impairment assessment. The impairments primarily reflected an increased discount rate and reduced estimated future cash flows as a result of macroeconomic conditions. See “Critical Accounting Estimates” and Note 10 for further discussion.
Consolidated interest expense increased in 2023 compared to 2022 primarily due to an increase in average debt outstanding and higher weighted-average interest rates, partially offset by increased capitalized interest.
Consolidated investment and other income (loss), net increased in 2023 compared to 2022 .
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021
Equity in net income (losses) of investees, net $ 789 $ (537) $ 2,006
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on equity securities, net (130) (320) 339
Other income (loss), net 592 (3) 211
Total investment and other income (loss), net $ 1,252 $ (861) $ 2,557
The change in equity in net income (losses) of investees, net in 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to our investment in Atairos. The income (losses) at Atairos were driven by fair value adjustments on its underlying investments with income (loss) of $1.1 billion and $(434) million in 2023 and 2022, respectively. The change in realized and unrealized gains (losses) on equity securities, net in 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to losses on marketable securities in the prior year, partially offset by losses on nonmarketable securities in the current year. The change in other income (loss), net in 2023 compared to 2022 primarily resulted from gains on foreign exchange remeasurement compared to losses in the prior year, gains on insurance contracts compared to losses in the prior year, and increased interest income.Consolidated Income Tax ExpenseOur effective income tax rate in 2023 and 2022 was 26.2% and 47.0%, respectively. Our effective income tax rate for 2022 was impacted by the goodwill impairment, which was primarily not deductible for tax purposes. See Note 5 for additional information on our effective income tax rate.
The increase in income tax expense in 2023 was primarily driven by higher income before income taxes and the effect of a change in our net deferred tax liabilities as a result of the enactment of state tax law changes, which resulted in a $286 million benefit in the prior year.Consolidated Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling InterestsThe changes in net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests in 2023 compared to 2022 was primarily due to decreases in losses at Universal Beijing Resort (see Note 8), partially offset by increases in losses in our Xumo streaming platform joint venture in the current year.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 36Table of Contents
Segment Operating Results
Our segment operating results are presented based on how we assess operating performance and internally report financial information. See Note 2 for additional information on our segments.
Connectivity & Platforms Overview2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change Constant Currency Change (b)
Change Constant Currency Change (b)RevenueResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 71,946 $ 72,386 $ 72,694 (0.6) % (0.7) % (0.4) % 2.0 %
Business Services Connectivity 9,255 8,819 8,056 4.9 4.9 9.5 9.5
Total Connectivity & Platforms revenue $ 81,201 $ 81,205 $ 80,750 — % (0.1) % 0.6 % 2.7 %Adjusted EBITDAResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 26,948 $ 26,111 $ 25,188 3.2 % 3.3 % 3.7 % 4.4 %
Business Services Connectivity 5,291 5,060 4,682 4.6 4.6 8.1 8.0
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA $ 32,239 $ 31,171 $ 29,871 3.4 % 3.5 % 4.4 % 5.0 %Adjusted EBITDA Margin (a)Residential Connectivity & Platforms 37.5 % 36.1 % 34.6 % 140 bps 150 bps 150 bps 90 bps
Business Services Connectivity 57.2 57.4 58.1 (20) bps (20) bps (70) bps (80) bps
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA margin 39.7 % 38.4 % 37.0 % 130 bps 140 bps 140 bps 80 bps
(a) Our Adjusted EBITDA margin is Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. We believe this metric is useful particularly as we continue to focus on growing our higher-margin businesses and improving overall operating cost management. Change in Adjusted EBITDA margin reflects the year-over-year basis point change.
(b) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 47 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.
We continue to focus on growing our higher-margin connectivity businesses while managing overall operating costs. We also continue to invest in our network to support higher-speed broadband offerings and to expand the number of homes and businesses passed. An increasingly competitive environment and continued low domestic household move levels have had negative impacts on our customer relationships additions/(losses). We believe our residential connectivity revenue will increase as a result of growth in average domestic broadband revenue per customer, as well as increases in domestic wireless and international connectivity revenue. At the same time, we expect continued declines in video revenue as a result of domestic customer net losses due to shifting video consumption patterns and the competitive environment, although customer net losses typically mitigate the impact of continued rate increases on programming expenses. We also expect continued declines in other revenue related to declines in wireline voice revenue. We believe our Business Services Connectivity segment will continue to grow by offering competitive services, including to medium-sized and enterprise customers. Global economic conditions and consumer sentiment have in the past, and may continue to, adversely impact demand for our products and services and our results of operations.37Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of Contents
Connectivity & Platforms Customer Metri cs
Net Additions / (Losses)(in thousands) 2023 2022 (d)
2021 (d)
2023 2022 (d)
2021 (d)Customer Relationships
Domestic Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships (a)31,648 31,860 31,809 (212) 52 1,028International Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships (a)17,847 17,939 18,030 (93) (91) (303)
Business Services Connectivity customer relationships (b)
2,641 2,625 2,573 17 52 103
Total Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships 52,136 52,425 52,412 (288) 12 828Domestic BroadbandResidential customers 29,748 29,812 29,583 (64) 230 1,257
Business customers 2,505 2,507 2,473 (2) 34 93
Total domestic broadband customers 32,253 32,319 32,056 (66) 263 1,350Domestic WirelessTotal domestic wireless lines (c)
6,588 5,313 3,980 1,275 1,334 1,154Domestic VideoTotal domestic video customers 14,106 16,142 18,176 (2,037) (2,034) (1,669)Domestic homes and businesses passed (e)62,457 61,367 60,527Domestic broadband penetration of homes and businesses passed (f)51.5 % 52.5 % 52.8 %
(a) Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships generally represent the number of residential customer locations that subscribe to at least one of our services. International Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships represent customers receiving Sky services in the United Kingdom and Italy. Previously reported total Sky customer relationships of approximately 23 million as of December 31, 2022 also included approximately 5 million customer relationships receiving Sky services in Germany now included in Corporate and Other. Because each of our services includes a variety of product tiers, which may change from time to time, net additions or losses in any one period will reflect a mix of customers at various tiers.
(b) Business Services Connectivity customer metrics are gener ally counted based on the number of locations receiving services, including locations within our network in the United States, as well as locations outside of our network both in the United States and internationally. Certain arrangements whereby third parties provide connectivity services leveraging our network are also generally counted based on the number of locations served.
(c) Domestic wireless lines represent the number of residential and business customers ’ wireless devices. An individual customer relationship may have multiple wireless lines.
(d) Customer metrics for 2022 and 2021 have been updated to reflect the new segment presentation, and to align methodologies for counting business customer metrics to: (1) include locations receiving our services outside of our distribution system and (2) now count certain customers based on the number of locations receiving services, including arrangements whereby third parties provide connectivity services leveraging our distribution system. These changes in methodology resulted in increases of 161,000 and 175,000 relationships as of December 31, 2021 and 2022, respectively. These changes in methodology were not material to any period presented.(e) Connectivity & Platforms domestic homes and businesses are considered passed if we can connect them to our network in the United States without further extending the transmission lines. Homes and businesses passed is an estimate based on the best available information.
(f) Penetration is calculated by dividing the number of domestic customers located within our network by the number of domestic homes and businesses passed.2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
2023 2022 2021 Change Constant Currency Change (a)
Change Constant Currency Change (a)
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms revenue per customer relationship $ 129.43 $ 129.10 $ 129.41 0.3 % 0.2 % (0.2) % 1.9 %
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship $ 51.39 $ 49.55 $ 47.87 3.7 % 3.8 % 3.5 % 4.1 %
(a) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measure’ section on page 47 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.Average monthly total revenue per customer relationship is impacted by rate adjustments and changes in the types and levels of services received by our residential and business customers, as well as changes in advertising and other revenue and in foreign currency exchange rates. While revenue from our individual service offerings is also impacted by changes in the allocation of revenue among services sold in a bundle, the allocation does not impact average monthly total revenue per customer relationship. Each of our services has a different contribution to Adjusted EBITDA margin. We use average monthly Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship to evaluate the profitability of our customer base across our service offerings. We believe both metrics are useful to understand the trends in our business, and average monthly Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship is useful particularly as we continue to focus on growing our higher-margin businesses.Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 38Table of Contents
Connectivity & Platforms — Supplemental Costs and Expenses InformationConnectivity & Platforms supplemental costs and expenses information in the table below is presented on an aggregate basis across the Connectivity & Platforms segments as the segments use certain shared infrastructure, including our HFC network in the United States. Costs and expenses information reported separately for the Residential Connectivity & Platforms and Business Services Connectivity segments include each segment’s direct costs and an allocation of shared costs.
2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
(in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change Constant Currency Change (g)
Change Constant Currency Change (g)Costs and Expenses
Programming (a)$ 18,067 $ 18,500 $ 20,542 (2.3) % (2.5) % (9.9) % (7.0) %Technical and support (b)7,416 7,721 7,682 (3.9) (4.1) 0.5 2.4Direct product costs (c)6,146 5,598 4,901 9.8 9.4 14.2 21.0Marketing and promotion (d)4,720 5,101 5,180 (7.5) (7.7) (1.5) 1.0Customer service (e)2,783 2,870 3,018 (3.0) (3.1) (4.9) (2.7)Other (f)9,830 10,244 9,557 (4.0) (4.3) 7.2 10.2
Total Connectivity & Platforms costs and expenses $ 48,962 $ 50,033 $ 50,880 (2.1) % (2.3) % (1.7) % 1.4 %(a) Programming expenses, which represent our most significant operating expense, are the fees we incur to provide video services to our customers, and primarily include fees related to the distribution of television network programming and fees charged for retransmission of the signals from local broadcast television stations. These expenses also include the costs of content on the Sky-branded entertainment television networks, including amortization of licensed content.(b) Technical and support expenses primarily include costs for labor to complete service call and installation activities; and costs for network operations and satellite transmission, product development, fulfillment and provisioning.
(c) Direct product costs primarily include access fees related to using wireless and broadband networks owned by third parties to deliver our services and costs of products sold, including wireless devices and Sky Glass smart televisions.
(d) Marketing and promotion expenses include the costs associated with attracting new customers and promoting our service offerings.
(e) Customer service expenses include the personnel and other costs associated with customer service and certain selling activities.
(f) Other expenses primarily include administrative personnel costs; franchise and other regulatory fees; fees paid to third parties where we represent the advertising sales efforts; other business support costs, including building and office expenses, taxes and billing costs; and bad debt.
(g) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 47 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.Residential Connectivity & Platforms Segment Results of Operations2022 to 2023 2021 to 2022
(in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change Constant Currency Change (a)
Change Constant Currency Change (a)RevenueDomestic broadband $ 25,489 $ 24,469 $ 22,979 4.2 % 4.2 % 6.5 % 6.5 %
Domestic wireless 3,664 3,071 2,380 19.3 19.3 29.0 29.0
International connectivity 4,207 3,426 3,293 22.8 21.9 4.0 16.0
Total residential connectivity 33,359 30,966 28,652 7.7 7.6 8.1 9.4
Video 28,797 30,496 32,440 (5.6) (5.7) (6.0) (3.0)
Advertising 3,969 4,546 4,507 (12.7) (12.8) 0.9 5.0
Other 5,820 6,378 7,095 (8.7) (8.7) (10.1) (7.7)
Total revenue 71,946 72,386 72,694 (0.6) (0.7) (0.4) 2.0Costs and ExpensesProgramming 18,067 18,500 20,542 (2.3) (2.5) (9.9) (7.0)
Other 26,932 27,775 26,964 (3.0) (3.3) 3.0 6.4
Total costs and expenses 44,998 46,275 47,506 (2.8) (3.0) (2.6) 0.6
Adjusted EBITDA $ 26,948 $ 26,111 $ 25,188 3.2 % 3.3 % 3.7 % 4.4 %
(a) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 47 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.39Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsResidential Connectivity & Platforms Segment – RevenueDomestic broadband revenue consists of revenue from sales of broadband services to residential customers in the United States, including equipment and installation services. Domestic broadband revenue also includes revenue related to Xumo Stream Boxes and commission revenue from the sale of certain DTC streaming services.
Domestic broadband revenue increased in 2023 and 2022 primarily due to an increase in average rates. The increase in 2022 also includes an increase in the number of residential broadband customers.
Domestic wireless revenue consists of revenue from sales of wireless services and devices, including handsets, tablets and smart watches, to residential customers in the United States.
Domestic wireless revenue increased in 2023 and 2022 primarily due to an increase in the number of customer lines. Wireless devices sales were consistent in 2023 compared to 2022 and increased in 2022 compared to 2021.
International connectivity revenue consists of revenue from sales of broadband services, including equipment and installation services, wireless services and wireless devices to residential customers in the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as commission revenue from the sale of certain third-party DTC streaming services.
International connectivity revenue increased in 2023 and 2022 primarily due to increases in broadband and in wireless revenue resulting from increases in the sale of wireless devices and wireless services. International connectivity revenue included the negative impact of foreign currency in 2022.
Video revenue consists of revenue from sales of video services to residential and business customers across the Connectivity & Platforms markets, including equipment and installation services. Video revenue includes pay-per-view and other transactional revenue and franchise fees, as well as revenue from sales of certain hardware, including Sky Glass smart televisions.
Video revenue decreased in 2023 and 2022 primarily due to declines in the overall number of residential video customers, partially offset by an overall increase in average rates. The decrease in 2022 includes the negative impact of foreign currency.
Advertising revenue includes revenue from the sale of advertising across our platforms in the Connectivity & Platforms markets, including advertising as part of our distribution agreements with cable networks in the United States, and advertising on Sky-branded entertainment television networks and on our digital properties. Advertising also includes revenue where we represent the sales efforts of third parties and from our advanced advertising businesses.
Advertising revenue decreased in 2023 primarily due to a decline in domestic political advertising and overall market weakness compared to the prior year.
Ad vertising revenue increased in 2022 primarily due to increases in domestic political advertising and revenue from our advanced advertising business, partially offset by the negative impact of foreign currency and lower local and national advertising revenue.
Other revenue includes revenue in the Connectivity & Platforms markets from sales of wireline voice services to residential customers; our residential security and automation services businesses; the licensing of our technology platforms to other multichannel video providers; the distribution of certain of our Sky-branded entertainment television networks to third-party video service providers; commissions from electronic retailing networks; and certain billing and collection fees.
Other revenue decreased in 2023 and 2022 primarily due to decreases in residential wireline voice revenue driven by declines in the number of customers. The decrease in 2022 includes the negative impact of foreign currency.Residential Connectivity & Platforms Segment – Costs and ExpensesProgramming expenses decreased in 2023 primarily due to a decline in the number of domestic video subscribers, partially offset by domestic contractual rate increases and an increase in programming expenses for international sports channels.
Programming expenses decreased in 2022 primarily due to a decline in the number of domestic video subscribers, a decrease in programming expenses for international sports channels and the impact of foreign currency, partially offset by domestic contractual rate increases.
Other expenses decreased in 2023 primarily due to decreased spending on marketing and promotion, lower technical and support costs, lower severance charges in 2023 compared to 2022 and a decrease in fees paid to third-party channels relating to advertising sales, partially offset by increased direct product costs associated with our wireless services resulting from increases in device sales and the number of customers receiving our services.
Other expenses increased in 2022 primarily due to increased direct product costs, severance charges in 2022 and lower levels of bad debt expense in 2021, partially offset by the impact of foreign currency, decreased franchise and other regulatory fees, and decreased customer service expenses.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 40Table of Contents
Business Services Connectivity Segment Results of Operations(in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ 9,255 $ 8,819 $ 8,056 4.9 % 9.5 %
Costs and expenses 3,964 3,759 3,374 5.4 11.4
Adjusted EBITDA $ 5,291 $ 5,060 $ 4,682 4.6 % 8.1 %
Business services connectivity revenue primarily consists of revenue from our service offerings for small business locations in the United States, which include broadband, wireline voice and wireless services, as well as our service offerings for medium-sized customers and larger enterprises, and our small business connectivity service offerings in the United Kingdom.
Business services connectivity revenue increased in 2023 primarily due to an increase in revenue from small business customers, driven by an increase in average rates, and an increase in revenue from medium-sized and enterprise customers.
Business services connectivity revenue increased in 2022 primarily due to an increase in revenue from medium-sized and enterprise customers, primarily due to the acquisition of Masergy in October 2021, and an increase in revenue from small business customers, driven by an increase in average rates and customer relationships compared to 2021.
Business services connectivity costs and expenses increased in 2023 primarily due to increases in direct product costs, higher severance in 2023 compared to 2022, increased spending on marketing and promotion, higher technical and support expenses, and higher customer service expenses.
Business services connectivity costs and expenses increased in 2022 primarily due to an increase in direct product costs, an increase in technical and support expenses driven by the acquisition of Masergy in October 2021, and increased spending on marketing and promotion.Content & Experiences OverviewYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022RevenueMedia $ 25,355 $ 26,719 $ 27,406 (5.1) % (2.5) %
Studios 11,625 12,257 10,077 (5.2) 21.6
Theme Parks 8,947 7,541 5,051 18.6 49.3
Headquarters and Other 64 75 87 (15.4) (13.6)
Eliminations (2,800) (3,442) (3,048) 18.7 (12.9)
Total Content & Experiences revenue $ 43,191 $ 43,151 $ 39,574 0.1 % 9.0 %Adjusted EBITDAMedia $ 2,955 $ 3,598 $ 5,133 (17.9) % (29.9) %
Studios 1,269 961 879 32.0 9.4
Theme Parks 3,345 2,683 1,267 24.7 111.7
Headquarters and Other (946) (881) (840) (7.5) (4.8)
Eliminations 77 (2) (205) NM 99.1
Total Content & Experiences Adjusted EBITDA $ 6,700 $ 6,360 $ 6,234 5.4 % 2.0 %
Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.
We operate our Media segment as a combined television and streaming business. We expect that the number of subscribers and audience ratings at our linear television networks will continue to decline as a result of the competitive environment and shifting video consumption patterns, which we aim to mitigate over time by continued growth in paid subscribers and advertising revenue at Peacock. We expect to continue to incur significant costs related to additional content and marketing at Peacock. Revenue and programming expenses are also impacted by the timing of certain sporting events, including the Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022. Global economic conditions and consumer sentiment have in the past, and may continue to, adversely impact demand for our products and services and our results of operations.41Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsOur Studios segment generates revenue primarily from third parties and from licensing content to our Media segment. While results of operations for our Studios segment are not impacted, results for our total Content & Experiences business may be impacted as the Studios segment licenses content to the Media segment, including for Peacock, rather than licensing the content to third parties. The Writers Guild of America and the SAG work stoppages from May to September 2023 and July to November 2023, respectively, paused productions, which primarily resulted in reduced content licensing revenue at our Studios segment and reduced programming and production costs at both our Studios and Media segments.
We continue to invest significantly in existing and new theme park attractions, hotels and infrastructure, including Epic Universe in Orlando, as well as in new destinations and experiences, which we believe will have a positive impact on attendance and guest spending at our theme parks. Our results in prior periods were impacted by temporary restrictions and closures at our international theme parks due to COVID-19.Media Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022RevenueDomestic advertising $ 8,600 $ 10,360 $ 10,177 (17.0) % 1.8 %
Domestic distribution 10,663 10,525 10,080 1.3 4.4
International networks 4,109 3,729 5,060 10.2 (26.3)
Other 1,983 2,105 2,090 (5.8) 0.7
Total revenue 25,355 26,719 27,406 (5.1) (2.5)Costs and ExpensesProgramming and production 16,921 17,650 17,398 (4.1) 1.4
Marketing and promotion 1,389 1,520 1,264 (8.7) 20.3
Other 4,091 3,951 3,611 3.5 9.4
Total costs and expenses 22,400 23,121 22,273 (3.1) 3.8Adjusted EBITDA$ 2,955 $ 3,598 $ 5,133 (17.9) % (29.9) %Media Segment – RevenueRevenue decreased in 2023 primarily due to our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022. Excluding incremental revenue associated with our broadcasts of these events, revenue increased in 2023 driven by increases in domestic distribution and international networks revenue, partially offset by decreases in domestic advertising and other revenue.
Revenue decreased in 2022 due to our broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which more than offset the impact of our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022. Excluding incremental revenue associated with the broadcast of these events, revenue decreased in 2022 primarily due to a decline in international networks revenue, partially offset by an increase in domestic distribution revenue.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Total revenue $ 25,355 $ 26,719 $ 27,406 (5.1) % (2.5) %
Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup — 1,744 1,759 NM (0.9)
Total revenue, excluding Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup $ 25,355 $ 24,975 $ 25,647 1.5 % (2.6) %
Total domestic advertising revenue $ 8,600 $ 10,360 $ 10,177 (17.0) % 1.8 %
Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup — 1,417 1,238 NM 14.5
Domestic advertising revenue, excluding Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup $ 8,600 $ 8,943 $ 8,939 (3.8) % — %
Total domestic distribution revenue $ 10,663 $ 10,525 $ 10,080 1.3 % 4.4 %
Olympics — 327 522 NM (37.4)
Domestic distribution revenue, excluding Olympics $ 10,663 $ 10,198 $ 9,558 4.6 % 6.7 %Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 42Table of ContentsDomestic advertising r evenue consists of revenue generated from sales of advertising on our linear television networks, Peacock and other digital properties operating predominantly in the United States.
Domestic advertising revenue decreased in 2023 primarily due to our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022. Excluding incremental revenue associated with the broadcasts of these events in 2022, domestic advertising revenue decreased in 2023 primarily due to a decrease in revenue at our networks, partially offset by an increase in revenue at Peacock.
D omestic advertising revenue increased in 2022, including the impacts of our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022, partially offset by our broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Excluding incremental revenue associated with the broadcasts of these events in 2022 and 2021, domestic advertising in 2022 remained consistent with 2021 primarily due to increased revenue at Peacock, offset by a decrease in revenue at our networks. The decreases at our networks were primarily due to continued audience ratings declines and the impact of additional sporting events in 2021, partially offset by higher pricing in 2022 and increased political advertising.
Domestic distribution r evenue primarily includes revenue generated from the distribution of our television networks operating predominantly in the United States to traditional and virtual multichannel video providers, and from NBC-affiliated and Telemundo-affiliated local broadcast television stations. Our revenue from distribution agreements is generally based on the number of subscribers receiving the programming on our television networks and a per subscriber fee. Distribution revenue also includes Peacock subscription fees.
Domestic distribution revenue increased in 2023 , including the impacts of our broadcast of the Beijing Olympics in 2022. Excluding incremental revenue associated with our broadcast of the Beijing Olympics in 2022, domestic distribution revenue increased primarily due to an increase in Peacock paid subscribers, partially offset by a decrease in revenue at our networks. The decrease in revenue at our networks was primarily due to a decline in the number of subscribers, partially offset by contractual rate increases.
Domestic distribution revenue increased in 2022 , including the impacts of our broadcast of the Beijing Olympics in 2022, offset by our broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Excluding incremental revenue associated with the broadcasts of these events in 2022 and 2021, domestic distribution revenue increased in 2022 primarily due to increased revenue at Peacock. Distribution revenue at our networks in 2022 remained consistent with 2021 due to contractual rates increases, offset by a decline in the number of subscribers.
International networks r evenue consists of revenue generated by our networks operating predominantly outside the United States, including the Sky Sports networks in the United Kingdom and Italy. This revenue primarily results from the distribution of our television networks to traditional and virtual multichannel video providers and other platforms, as well as sales of advertising. A significant portion of this revenue comes from the Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment.
International networks revenue increased in 2023 primarily due to an increase in revenue associated with the distribution of sports networks.
International networks revenue decreased in 2022 primarily due to a decrease in revenue associated with the distribution of sports networks, including the impact of our reduced broadcast rights for Serie A in Italy, and the negative impact of foreign currency.
Ot her r evenue consists primarily of revenue generated from the licensing of our owned content and technology and from various digital properties.
Other revenue decreased in 2023 primarily due to a decrease in content licensing revenue, partially offset by an increase in revenue from licensing our technology.
Other revenue in 2022 was consistent with 2021.* * *Media segment total revenue included $3.4 billion, $2.1 billion and $778 million related to Peacock in 2023, 2022 and 2021 , respectively. We had 31 million, 21 million and 9 million paid subscribers of Peacock as of 2023, 2022 and 2021 , respectively. Peacock paid subscribers represent customers from which Peacock receives a subscription fee on a retail or wholesale basis. Paid subscribers do not include certain customers that receive Peacock as part of bundled services where Peacock does not receive fees.
43
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsMedia Segment – Costs and ExpensesProgramming and production costs include the amortization of owned and licensed content, including sports rights, direct production costs, production overhead, on-air talent costs and costs associated with the distribution of our television networks to multichannel video providers.
Programming and production costs decreased in 2023 primarily due to costs associated with our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup in 2022 and a decrease in content costs for our entertainment television networks, including the impact of the Writers Guild and SAG work stoppages in the current year, partially offset by higher programming costs at Peacock and an increase in other domestic and international sports programming costs. The increase in international sports programming costs includes the impact of the timing of recognition of costs related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which resulted in a shift of certain European football matches and the related programming expenses from the fourth quarter of 2022 primarily into the first half of 2023.
Programming and production costs increased in 2022 primarily due to higher programming costs at Peacock and costs associated with our broadcasts of the Beijing Olympics, Super Bowl, and FIFA World Cup in 2022, partially offset by costs associated with our broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and a decrease in international sports programming costs. The decrease in international sports programming costs in 2022 primarily reflected lower costs associated with Serie A in Italy as a result of reduced broadcast rights, the timing of recognition of costs related to sporting events and the impact of foreign currency. The timing impacts included the delayed start of 2020-21 European football seasons due to COVID-19 and the shifting of certain European football matches from the fourth quarter of 2022 primarily into the first half of 2023 due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Marketing and promotion expenses consist primarily of the costs associated with promoting our television networks, Peacock and other digital properties.
Marketing and promotion expenses decreased in 2023 primarily due to lower costs related to marketing for entertainment programming.
Marketing and promotion expenses increased in 2022 primarily due to higher marketing costs related to Peacock.
Other expenses include salaries, employee benefits, rent and other overhead expenses.
Other expenses increased in 2023 and 2022 primarily due to increases in costs related to Peacock.* * *Media segment total costs and expenses included $6.1 billion , $4.6 billion and $2.5 billion related to Peacock in 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively .
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 44Table of Contents
Studios Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022RevenueContent licensing $ 8,231 $ 9,348 $ 8,193 (11.9) % 14.1 %
Theatrical 2,079 1,607 691 29.4 132.5
Other 1,315 1,302 1,193 1.0 9.2
Total revenue 11,625 12,257 10,077 (5.2) 21.6Costs and ExpensesProgramming and production 7,958 8,778 7,443 (9.3) 17.9
Marketing and promotion 1,579 1,699 1,079 (7.0) 57.5
Other 818 819 677 (0.1) 21.1
Total costs and expenses 10,356 11,296 9,198 (8.3) 22.8Adjusted EBITDA$ 1,269 $ 961 $ 879 32.0 % 9.4 %Studios Segment – RevenueC ontent licensing r evenue relates to the licensing of our owned film and television content in the United States and internationally to television networks and DTC streaming service providers, as well as through video on demand and pay-per-view services provided by multichannel video providers and OTT service providers.
Content licensing revenue decreased in 2023 primarily due to the timing of when content was made available by our television studios under licensing agreements, including the impact of the Writers Guild and SAG work stoppages in the current year, partially offset by the timing of when content was made available by our film studios.
Content licensing revenue increased in 2022 primarily due to the timing of when content was made available by our television and film studios under licensing agreements and included additional sales of content as production levels returned to normal, partially offset by the impact of a new licensing agreement for content that became exclusively available for streaming on Peacock in 2021.
Theatrical r evenue relates to the worldwide distribution of our produced and acquired films for exhibition in movie theaters.
Theatrical revenue increased in 2023 primarily due to higher revenue from releases in our 2023 slate, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie , Oppenheimer and Fast X , compared to revenue from releases in our 2022 slate, including Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru .
Theatrical revenue increased in 2022 primarily due to higher revenue from releases in our 2022 slate compared to releases in our 2021 slate, including F9 .
Other revenue consists primarily of the sale of physical and digital home entertainment products, as well as the production and licensing of live stage plays and the distribution of content produced by third parties.Studios Segment – Costs and ExpensesProg ramming and production costs include the amortization of capitalized film and television production and acquisition costs; residuals and participations expenses; and distribution expenses. The costs associated with producing film and television content have generally increased in recent years and may continue to increase in the future.
Programming and production costs decreased in 2023 primarily due to lower costs associated with content licensing sales, including the impact of the Writers Guild and SAG work stoppages in the current year, partially offset by higher costs associated with theatrical releases.
Programming and production costs increased in 2022 primarily due to higher costs associated with content licensing sales and theatrical releases.
Marketing and promotion expenses consist primarily of expenses associated with advertising for our theatrical releases.
Marketing and promotion expenses decreased in 2023 primarily due to decreased spending on current year and upcoming theatrical film releases.
Marketing and promotion expenses increased in 2022 primarily due to higher spending on theatrical film releases.Other expenses include salaries, employee benefits, rent and other overhead expenses.45
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsTheme Parks Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ 8,947 $ 7,541 $ 5,051 18.6 % 49.3 %
Costs and expenses 5,602 4,858 3,783 15.3 28.4Adjusted EBITDA$ 3,345 $ 2,683 $ 1,267 24.7 % 111.7 %
Theme parks segment revenue primarily relates to guest spending at our theme parks, including ticket sales and in-park spending, and to our consumer products business.
Theme park segment revenue increas ed in 2023 driven by an increase at our international theme parks, which had COVID-19 related restrictions during certain periods in the prior year, and an increase at our domestic theme parks primarily due to higher revenue at our theme park in Hollywood driven by the opening of Super Nintendo World, partially offset by lower revenue at our theme park in Orlando.
Theme parks segment revenue increased in 2022 primarily due to improved operating conditions compared to 2021, when our theme parks in Orlando, Hollywood and Japan were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, as well as the operations of Universal Beijing Resort, which opened in September 2021. Results at our international theme parks in 2022 were negatively impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and by temporary restrictions and closures that were reinstituted in certain periods due to COVID-19.
Theme parks segment costs and expenses consist primarily of theme park operations, including repairs and maintenance and related administrative expenses; food, beverage and merchandise costs; labor costs; and sales and marketing costs.
Theme parks segment costs and expenses increased in 2023 due to higher costs primarily associated with increased guest attendance.
Theme parks segment costs and expenses increased in 2022 primarily as a result of lower operating costs in 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions at our theme parks and due to operating costs associated with Universal Beijing Resort in 2022, which were higher than pre-opening costs in 2021.Content & Experiences Headquarters, Other and Eliminations
Headquarters and Other Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ 64 $ 75 $ 87 (15.4) % (13.6) %
Costs and expenses 1,010 956 927 5.7 3.1Adjusted EBITDA$ (946) $ (881) $ (840) (7.5) % (4.8) %
Headquarter s and Other expenses include overhead, personnel costs and costs associated with corporate initiatives. Expenses increased in 2023 primarily due to an increase in employee-related costs, partially offset by lower severance charges in 2023 compared to 2022. Expenses i ncreased in 2022 primarily due to severance charges, partially offset by a decrease in employee-related costs compared to 2021 .EliminationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ (2,800) $ (3,442) $ (3,048) (18.7) % 12.9 %
Costs and expenses (2,877) (3,440) (2,843) (16.4) 21.0Adjusted EBITDA$ 77 $ (2) $ (205) NM (99.1) %
Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between segments in our Content & Experiences business, the most significant being content licensing between the Studios and Media segments, which are affected by the timing of recognition of content licenses.
Eliminations increase or decrease to the extent that additional content is made available to our other segments within the Content & Experiences business. Refer to Note 2 for additional information on transactions between our segments.Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 46
Table of ContentsCorporate, Other and Eliminations
Corporate and Other Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ 2,763 $ 2,662 $ 2,844 3.8 % (6.4) %
Costs and expenses 4,098 3,670 4,175 11.7 (12.1)
Adjusted EBITDA $ (1,335) $ (1,008) $ (1,331) (32.4) % 24.2 %
Corporate and Other primarily includes overhead and personnel costs; Sky-branded video services and television networks in Germany; Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the We lls Fargo Center arena in Philadelphia, Penn sylvania; and Xumo, our consolidated streaming platform joint venture beginning in June 2022.
Corporate and Other revenue increased in 2023 reflecting higher revenue across each of our other businesses and decreased in 2022 primarily due to decreased revenue related to Sky operations in Germany, including the negative impact of foreign currency. The decrease in 2022 was partially offset by an increase in revenue at Comcast Spectacor compared to 2021, which included the impact of COVID-19, and by revenue at Xumo related to the Xumo Play streaming service.
Corporate and Other costs and expenses increased in 2023 primarily due to higher costs related to Sky operations in Germany, including the impact of the timing of recognition of costs related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup and charges related to entertainment content in the current year, and increased costs related to Xumo.
Corporate and Other costs and expenses decreased in 2022 primarily due to lower costs related to Sky operations in Germany, including the impact of foreign currency and the impact of the timing of recognition of costs related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup , and lower administrative costs, partially offset by costs related to Xumo.EliminationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021 Change 2022 to 2023 Change 2021 to 2022
Revenue $ (5,583) $ (5,590) $ (6,783) (0.1) % (17.6) %
Costs and expenses (5,611) (5,526) (6,718) 1.5 (17.7)
Adjusted EBITDA $ 28 $ (64) $ (65) NM (1.7) %
Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.
Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between our Connectivity & Platforms, Content & Experiences and other businesses, the most significant being distribution of television network programming between the Media and Residential Connectivity & Platforms segments. Eliminations of transactions between segments within Content & Experiences are presented separately. Amounts are affected by the periodic broadcast of the Olympic Games, including the Beijing and Tokyo Olympics in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Refer to Note 2 for additional information on transactions between our segments.Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and is the primary basis used to measure the operational strength and performance of our businesses as well as to assist in the evaluation of underlying trends in our businesses. This measure eliminates the significant level of noncash depreciation and amortization expense that results from the capital-intensive nature of certain of our businesses and from intangible assets recognized in business combinations. It is also unaffected by our capital and tax structures, and by our investment activities, including the results of entities that we do not consolidate, as our management excludes these results when evaluating our operating performance. Our management and Board of Directors use this financial measure to evaluate our consolidated operating performance and the operating performance of our operating segments and to allocate resources and capital to our operating segments. It is also a significant performance measure in our annual incentive compensation programs. Additionally, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is one of the bases for comparing our operating performance with that of other companies in our industries, although our measure of Adjusted EBITDA may not be directly comparable to similar measures used by other companies.47
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsWe define Adjusted EBITDA as net income attributable to Comcast Corporation before net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests, income tax expense, investment and other income (loss), net, interest expense, depreciation and amortization expense, and other operating gains and losses (such as impairment charges related to fixed and intangible assets and gains or losses on the sale of long-lived assets), if any. From time to time, we may exclude from Adjusted EBITDA the impact of certain events, gains, losses or other charges (such as significant legal settlements) that affect the period-to-period comparability of our operating performance.
We reconcile consolidated Adjusted EBITDA to net income attributable to Comcast Corporation. This measure should not be considered a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), net income (loss) attributable to Comcast Corporation, or net cash provided by operating activities that we have reported in accordance with GAAP.
Reconciliation from Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation to Adjusted EBITDAYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021
Net income attributable to Comcast Corporation
$ 15,388 $ 5,370 $ 14,159
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (282) (445) (325)
Income tax expense 5,371 4,359 5,259
Interest expense 4,087 3,896 4,281
Investment and other (income) loss, net (1,252) 861 (2,557)
Depreciation 8,854 8,724 8,628
Amortization 5,482 5,097 5,176
Goodwill and long-lived asset impairments — 8,583 —Adjustments (a)(16) 13 87
Adjusted EBITDA $ 37,633 $ 36,459 $ 34,708
(a) Amounts represent the impact of certain events, gains, losses or other charges that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA, including costs related to our investment portfolio, and Sky transaction-related costs in 2021.Constant Currency
Constant currency and constant currency growth rates are non-GAAP financial measures that present our results of operations excluding the estimated effects of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Certain of our businesses, including Connectivity & Platforms, have operations outside the United States that are conducted in local currencies. As a result, the comparability of the financial results reported in U.S. dollars is affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In our Connectivity & Platforms business, we use constant currency and constant currency growth rates to evaluate the underlying performance of the businesses, and we believe they are helpful for investors because such measures present operating results on a comparable basis year over year to allow the evaluation of their underlying performance.
Constant currency and constant currency growth rates are calculated by comparing the results for each comparable prior year period adjusted to reflect the average exchange rates from each current year period presented rather than the actual exchange rates that were in effect during the respective periods.
Reconciliation of Connectivity & Platforms Constant Currency2022 2021
Year ended December 31 (in millions) As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency Amounts As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency AmountsRevenueResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 72,386 $ 78 $ 72,464 $ 72,694 $ (1,699) $ 70,995
Business Services Connectivity 8,819 — 8,819 8,056 (2) 8,054
Total Connectivity & Platforms revenue $ 81,205 $ 79 $ 81,284 $ 80,750 $ (1,701) $ 79,049Adjusted EBITDAResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 26,111 $ (23) $ 26,088 $ 25,188 $ (176) $ 25,012
Business Services Connectivity 5,060 — 5,060 4,682 2 4,684
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA $ 31,171 $ (23) $ 31,148 $ 29,871 $ (175) $ 29,696Adjusted EBITDA MarginResidential Connectivity & Platforms 36.1 % (10) bps 36.0 % 34.6 % 60 bps 35.2 %
Business Services Connectivity 57.4 — bps 57.4 58.1 10 bps 58.2
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA margin 38.4 % (10) bps 38.3 % 37.0 % 60 bps 37.6 %
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 48
Table of Contents
2022 2021
As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency Amounts As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency Amounts
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms revenue per customer relationship $ 129.10 $ 0.12 $ 129.22 $ 129.41 $ (2.73) $ 126.68
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship $ 49.55 $ (0.03) $ 49.52 $ 47.87 $ (0.28) $ 47.59
2022 2021
(in millions) As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency Amounts As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency AmountsCosts and ExpensesProgramming $ 18,500 $ 32 $ 18,532 $ 20,542 $ (653) $ 19,889
Technical and support 7,721 11 7,732 7,682 (141) 7,541
Direct product costs 5,598 20 5,618 4,901 (275) 4,626
Marketing and promotion 5,101 11 5,112 5,180 (128) 5,052
Customer service 2,870 3 2,873 3,018 (68) 2,950
Other 10,244 25 10,269 9,557 (261) 9,296
Total Connectivity & Platforms costs and expenses $ 50,033 $ 103 $ 50,136 $ 50,880 $ (1,527) $ 49,353Reconciliation of Residential Connectivity & Platforms Constant Currency2022 2021
(in millions) As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency Amounts As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency AmountsRevenueDomestic broadband $ 24,469 $ — $ 24,469 $ 22,979 $ — $ 22,979
Domestic wireless 3,071 — 3,071 2,380 — 2,380
International connectivity 3,426 25 3,451 3,293 (341) 2,952
Total residential connectivity 30,966 25 30,991 28,652 (340) 28,312
Video 30,496 47 30,543 32,440 (995) 31,445
Advertising 4,546 7 4,553 4,507 (176) 4,331
Other 6,378 (1) 6,377 7,095 (188) 6,907
Total revenue 72,386 78 72,464 72,694 (1,699) 70,995Costs and ExpensesProgramming 18,500 32 18,532 20,542 (653) 19,889
Other 27,775 70 27,845 26,964 (869) 26,095
Total costs and expenses 46,275 102 46,377 47,506 (1,523) 45,983
Adjusted EBITDA $ 26,111 $ (23) $ 26,088 $ 25,188 $ (176) $ 25,012Other Adjustments
From time to time, we present adjusted information, such as revenue, to exclude the impact of certain events, gains, losses or other charges. This adjusted information is a non-GAAP financial measure. We believe, among other things, that the adjusted information may help investors evaluate our ongoing operations and can assist in making meaningful period-over-period comparisons.
Liquidity and Capital ResourcesYear ended December 31 (in billions) 2023 2022 2021
Cash provided by operating activities $ 28.5 $ 26.4 $ 29.1
Cash used in investing activities $ (7.2) $ (14.1) $ (13.4)
Cash used in financing activities $ (19.9) $ (16.2) $ (18.6)
49
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of Contents
December 31 (in billions) 2023 2022
Cash and cash equivalents $ 6.2 $ 4.7
Short-term and long-term debt $ 97.1 $ 94.8Our businesses generate significant cash flows from operating activities. We believe that we will be able to continue to meet our current and long-term liquidity and capital requirements, including fixed charges, through our cash flows from operating activities; existing cash, cash equivalents and investments; available borrowings under our existing credit facility; and our ability to obtain future external financing. Refer to the “Contractual Obligations” discussion below for additional information regarding our cash requirements. We anticipate that we will continue to use a substantial portion of our cash flows from operating activities in repaying our debt obligations, funding our capital expenditures and cash paid for intangible assets, investing in business opportunities, and returning capital to shareholders.We maintain significant availability under our revolving credit facility and our commercial paper program to meet our short-term liquidity requirements. Our commercial paper program generally provides a lower-cost source of borrowing to fund our short-term working capital requirements. As of December 31, 2023, amounts available under our revolving credit facility, net of amounts outstanding under our commercial paper program and outstanding letters of credit and bank guarantees, totaled $11.0 billion.
We are subject to customary covenants and restrictions set forth in agreements related to debt issued at Comcast and certain of our subsidiaries, including the indentures governing our public debt securities and the credit agreement governing the Comcast revolving credit facility. Our credit facility contains a financial covenant pertaining to leverage, which is the ratio of debt to EBITDA, as defined in the credit facility. Compliance with this financial covenant is tested on a quarterly basis under the terms of the credit facility. As of December 31, 2023, we met this financial covenant by a significant margin, and we expect to remain in compliance with this financial covenant and other covenants related to our debt. The covenants and restrictions in our revolving credit facility do not apply to certain entities, including Sky and our international theme parks.Operating Activities
Components of Net Cash Provided by Operating ActivitiesYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021
Operating income $ 23,314 $ 14,041 $ 20,817
Depreciation and amortization 14,336 13,821 13,804
Goodwill and long-lived asset impairments — 8,583 —
Noncash share-based compensation 1,241 1,336 1,315
Changes in operating assets and liabilities (2,055) (3,006) (1,499)
Payments of interest (3,711) (3,413) (3,908)
Payments of income taxes (5,107) (5,265) (2,628)
Proceeds from investments and other 483 316 1,246
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 28,501 $ 26,413 $ 29,146
The variance in changes in operating assets and liabilities in 2023 was primarily related to the timing of amortization and related payments for our film and television costs, including reduced spending due to the work stoppages and the timing of sports, and the timing of deferred revenue, as well as increases in accounts receivable, partially offset by higher accruals related to severance in 2022 compared to 2023.
The increase in payments of interest in 2023 was primarily due to increased debt balances following debt issuances in the current year, cash proceeds from the early settlement of interest rate swaps related to our collateralized obligation in the prior year and higher weighted-average interest rates.
The decrease in income tax payments in 2023 was primarily due to higher payments in the prior year relating to the preceding tax year, partially offset by higher taxable income in the current year. Income tax payments related to the sale of our investment in Hulu will primarily be made in 2024.Investing ActivitiesNet cash used in investing activities decreased in 2023 primarily due to net proceeds received as an advance on the sale of our interest in Hulu (see Note 8) and decreased purchases of short-term investments in the current year. These decreases were partially offset by increased capital expenditures and decreased proceeds from the maturity of short-term investments.
We expect to receive additional proceeds for the sale of our interest in Hulu in 2024 following the finalization of the third-party appraisal process, at which time we will recognize the sale of our interest. See Note 8.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 50
Table of Contents
In September 2023, we entered into an agreement with T-Mobile to sell certain of our spectrum licenses. The agreement provides us with a right to remove certain licenses from the transaction, which will result in total cash consideration between $1.2 billion and $3.3 billion. The sale is expected to close in 2028 subject to various conditions and approvals.Capital ExpendituresCapital expenditures increased in 2023 primarily due to increased spending on the development of the Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, $271 million associated with the acquisition of land for potential theme park expansion opportunities and increased spending in the Connectivity & Platforms business. The costs associated with the construction of Universal Beijing Resort are presented separately in our consolidated statements of cash flows. See Note 8.
Our most significant capital expenditures are within the Connectivity & Platforms business, and we expect that this will continue in the future. Connectivity & Platforms’ capital expenditures increased primarily due to increased spending on line extensions and scalable infrastructure, partially offset by decreased spending on customer premise equipment and support capital. The table below summarizes the capital expenditures we incurred in our segments in the Connectivity & Platforms business in 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2023 2022 2021
Customer premise equipment $ 2,234 $ 2,579 $ 2,745
Scalable infrastructure 3,161 2,919 2,725
Line extensions 2,333 1,824 1,566
Support capital 514 795 828
Total $ 8,241 $ 8,116 $ 7,864
We expect our capital expenditures in 2024 will continue to be focused on investments in line extensions for the expansion of both business services and residential passings in the Connectivity & Platforms business, in scalable infrastructure as we increase capacity and continue to execute our plans to upgrade our network to deliver multigigabit speeds, and in the continued deployment of wireless gateways. In addition, we expect to continue investment in existing and new attractions at our Universal theme parks, including the development of Epic Universe. Capital expenditures for subsequent years will depend on numerous factors, including competition, changes in technology, regulatory changes, the timing and rate of deployment of new services, the capacity required for existing services, the timing of new attractions at our theme parks and potential acquisitions.Financing ActivitiesNet cash used in financing activities increased in 2023 primarily due to repayment of a collateralized obligation in the current year (see Note 8), higher repurchases and repayments of debt, repayments of short-term borrowings, net in the current year compared to proceeds from short-term borrowings, net in the prior year, and higher settlements of derivative contracts in the prior year, which are included in other financing activities. These increases were partially offset by higher proceeds from borrowings in the current year and a decrease in repurchases of common stock under our share repurchase program and employee plans.
In May 2023, we issued $5.0 billion aggregate principal amount of fixed-rate senior notes maturing between 2029 and 2064, of which $2.9 billion was used to purchase senior notes maturing in 2024 and 2025. In February 2023, we issued $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of fixed-rate senior notes maturing in 2033 and an amount equal to the net proceeds from this issuance is intended to finance or refinance one or more green projects, assets or activities that meet certain specified eligibility criteria.
In 2023, we also had net repayments of $660 million under our commercial paper program and made total debt repayments of $4.0 billion, including the $2.9 billion purchase of senior notes.
We have made, and may from time to time in the future make, optional repayments on our debt obligations, which may include repurchases or exchanges of our outstanding public notes and debentures, depending on various factors, such as market conditions. Any such repurchases may be effected through privately negotiated transactions, market transactions, tender offers, redemptions or otherwise. See Notes 6 and 8 for additional information on our financing activities.
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Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsShare Repurchases and DividendsIn the second quarter of 2021, we restarted our share repurchase program, which had been paused since the beginning of 2019. In 2023, we repurchased a total of 262 million shares of our Class A common stock for $11.0 billion under the share repurchase program authorization of $20 billion approved by our Board of Directors in September 2022. We did not purchase any shares outside of the program. As of December 31, 2023, we had $5.0 billion remaining under the authorization, and in January 2024, our Board of Directors terminated the existing program and approved a new share repurchase program authorization of $15 billion, which has no expiration date. We expect to repurchase additional shares of our Class A common stock under this new program in the open market or in private transactions, subject to market and other conditions.
In 2023, our Board of Directors d eclared quarterly dividends of $0.29 per share, including our fourth quarter dividend payable in January 2024 and we mad e dividend payments of $4.8 billion. In January 2024, our Board of Directors approved a 6.9% increase in our dividend to $1.24 per share on an annualized basis and approved our first quarter dividend of $0.31 per share, to be paid in April 2024. We expect to continue to pay quarterly dividends, although each dividend is subject to approval by our Board of Directors.
The chart below summarizes share repurchases and dividend payments. In addition, we paid $291 million, $321 million and $674 million in 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, related to employee taxes associated with the administration of our share-based compensation plans. Our share repurchases have more than offset dilution that resulted from issuing our Class A common stock in connection with our share-based compensation plans in those years, thereby having the effect of reducing the total number of our Class A common stock outstanding.Share Repurchases Under Share Repurchase Program Authorization and Dividends Paid and Weighted-Average Number of Common Shares Outstanding - Diluted
($ in billions and shares in millions)
Contractual ObligationsThe following table summarizes our most significant contractual obligations as of December 31, 2023 :
As of December 31, 2023 (in billions) Total Within the next 12 months Beyond the next 12 monthsDebt obligations (a)$ 103.2 $ 2.1 $ 101.1
Programming and production obligations 78.0 17.7 60.3
(a) Amounts represent the face value of debt and exclude interest payments.
Our largest contractual obligations relate to our outstanding debt. As of December 31, 2023 , our debt had a weighted-average time to maturity of approximately 16 years. Including the effects of our derivative financial instruments, as of December 31, 2023, our debt had a weighted-average interest rate based on the stated coupons of 3.6% and the percentage of our debt obligations that were fixed-rate debt was 97%. We typically fund and expect to continue to be able to fund debt maturities and interest payments with cash flows generated in our operations; existing cash, cash equivalents and investments; or proceeds from additional external financing. See Note 6 and Item 7A for additional information on our debt.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 52Table of ContentsWe also have significant contractual obligations associated with our programming and production expenses. We have multiyear agreem ents for broadcast rights of sporting events, such as for the NFL, the Olympics and the English Premier League, which represent the substantial majority of our programming and production obligations. Connectivity & Platforms’ programming expenses related to the distribution of third-party television networks are generally acquired under multiyear distribution agreements with fees based on the number of subscribers receiving the television network programming and a per subscriber fee. The amounts included in the table above relate to minimum guaranteed commitments for these distribution agreements or fixed fees, and as a result, we expect the total fees to be paid under these arrangements to be significantly higher than the amounts included above. We have funded and expect to continue to be able to fund our programming and production obligations with the cash generated from our operations. As of December 31, 2023 , approximately 29% of cash payments related to our programming and production obligations are due after five years, of which the vast majority related to multiyear sports rights agreements. See Note 4 for additional information on programming and production costs.
Our other contractual obligations relate primarily to operating leases (see Note 15) and other arrangements recorded in our consolidated balance sheets and/or disclosed in the notes to our financial statements, including benefit plan obligations (see Note 11), liabilities for uncertain tax positions (see Note 5), our remaining unfunded capital commitment to Atairos (see Note 8) and a contractual obligation related to an interest held by a third party in the revenue of certain theme parks (see Note 15).Guarantee Structure
Our debt is primarily issued at Comcast, although we also have debt at certain of our subsidiaries as a result of acquisitions and other issuances. A substantial amount of this debt is subject to guarantees by Comcast and by certain subsidiaries that we have put in place to simplify our capital structure. We believe this guarantee structure provides liquidity benefits to debt investors and helps to simplify credit analysis with respect to relative value considerations of guaranteed subsidiary debt.
Debt and Guarantee StructureDecember 31 (in billions) 2023 2022Debt Subject to Cross-GuaranteesComcast $ 91.9 $ 88.4NBCUniversal (a)
1.6 1.6
Comcast Cable (a)
0.9 0.994.4 90.9Debt Subject to One-Way GuaranteesSky 3.6 5.2Other (a)
0.1 0.13.8 5.3Debt Not Guaranteed
Universal Beijing Resort (b)3.5 3.5
Other 1.5 1.3
5.0 4.8Debt issuance costs, premiums, discounts, fair value adjustments for acquisition accounting and hedged positions, net(6.1) (6.2)
Total debt $ 97.1 $ 94.8(a) NBCUniversal Media, LLC (“NBCUniversal”), Comcast Cable Communications, LLC (“Comcast Cable”) and Comcast Holdings Corporation (“Comcast Holdings”), which is included within other debt subject to one-way guarantees, are each consolidated subsidiaries subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the SEC. The guarantee structures and related disclosures in this section, together with Exhibit 22, satisfy these reporting obligations.
(b) Universal Beijing Resort debt financing is secured by the assets of Universal Beijing Resort and the equity interests of the investors. See Note 8 for additional information.53
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsCross-Guarantees
Comcast, NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable (the “Guarantors”) fully and unconditionally, jointly and severally, guarantee each other’s debt securities. NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable also guarantee other borrowings of Comcast, including its revolving credit facility. These guarantees rank equally with all other general unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the respective Guarantors. However, the obligations of the Guarantors under the guarantees are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of their respective non-guarantor subsidiaries. The obligations of each Guarantor are limited to the maximum amount that would not render such Guarantor’s obligations subject to avoidance under applicable fraudulent conveyance provisions of U.S. and non-U.S. law. Each Guarantor’s obligations will remain in effect until all amounts payable with respect to the guaranteed securities have been paid in full. However, a guarantee by NBCUniversal or Comcast Cable of Comcast’s debt securities, or by NBCUniversal of Comcast Cable’s debt securities, will terminate upon a disposition of such Guarantor entity or all or substantially all of its assets.
The Guarantors are each holding companies that principally hold investments in, borrow from and lend to non-guarantor subsidiary operating companies; issue and service third-party debt obligations; repurchase shares and pay dividends; and engage in certain corporate and headquarters activities. The Guarantors are generally dependent on non-guarantor subsidiary operating companies to fund these activities.As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the combined Guarantors have noncurrent notes payable to non-guarantor subsidiaries of $136 billion and $128 billion, respectively, and noncurrent notes receivable from non-guarantor subsidiaries of $18 billion and $30 billion, respectively. This financial information is that of the Guarantors presented on a combined basis with intercompany balances between the Guarantors eliminated. The combined financial information excludes financial information of non-guarantor subsidiaries. The underlying net assets of the non-guarantor subsidiaries are significantly in excess of the Guarantor obligations. Excluding investments in non-guarantor subsidiaries, external debt and the noncurrent notes payable and receivable with non-guarantor subsidiaries, the Guarantors do not have material assets, liabilities or results of operations.One-Way GuaranteesComcast provides full and unconditional guarantees of certain debt issued by Sky Limited (“Sky ”) , including all of its senior notes, and other consolidated subsidiaries not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the SEC.
Comcast also provides a full and unconditional guarantee of $138 million principal amount of subordinated debt issued by Comcast Holdings. Comcast’s obligations under this guarantee are subordinated and subject, in right of payment, to the prior payment in full of all of Comcast’s senior indebtedness, including debt guaranteed by Comcast on a senior basis, and are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of its non-guarantor subsidiaries (for purposes of this Comcast Holdings discussion, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal are included within the non-guarantor subsidiary group). Comcast’s obligations as guarantor will remain in effect until all amounts payable with respect to the guaranteed debt have been paid in full. However, the guarantee will terminate upon a disposition of Comcast Holdings or all or substantially all of its assets. Comcast Holdings is a consolidated subsidiary holding company that directly or indirectly holds 100% and approximately 37% of our equity interests in Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal, respectively.
As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, Comcast and Comcast Holdings, the combined issuer and guarantor of the guaranteed subordinated debt, have noncurrent senior notes payable to non-guarantor subsidiaries of $104 billion and $97 billion, respectively, and noncurrent notes receivable from non-guarantor subsidiaries of $14 billion and $28 billion, respectively. This financial information is that of Comcast and Comcast Holdings presented on a combined basis with intercompany balances between Comcast and Comcast Holdings eliminated. The combined financial information excludes financial information of non-guarantor subsidiaries of Comcast and Comcast Holdings. The underlying net assets of the non-guarantor subsidiaries of Comcast and Comcast Holdings are significantly in excess of the obligations of Comcast and Comcast Holdings. Excluding investments in non-guarantor subsidiaries, external debt, and the noncurrent notes payable and receivable with non-guarantor subsidiaries, Comcast and Comcast Holdings do not have material assets, liabilities or results of operations.Critical Accounting 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 assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making estimates about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 54
Table of ContentsWe believe our estimates associated with the valuation and impairment testing of goodwill and cable franchise rights and the accounting for film and television costs are critical in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, and the Audit Committee has reviewed the related disclosures below. See also Notes 4 and 10.
Valuation and Impairment Testing of Goodwill and Cable Franchise RightsWe assess the recoverability of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, including cable franchise rights, annually as of July 1, or more frequently whenever events or substantive changes in circumstances indicate that the assets might be impaired. The assessment of recoverability may first consider qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit or an indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount. A quantitative assessment is performed if the qualitative assessment results in a more-likely-than-not determination or if a qualitative assessment is not performed. In connection with our impairment assessment process, in order to support our qualitative assessments, we typically perform quantitative assessments of our reporting units and cable franchise rights approximately once every four years.Goodwill
Goodwill results from business combinations and represents the excess amount of the consideration paid over the identifiable assets and liabilities recorded in the acquisition. We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level.When performing a quantitative assessment, we estimate the fair values of our reporting units primarily based on a discounted cash flow analysis that involves significant judgment, including market participant estimates of future cash flows expected to be generated by the business and the selection of discount rates. Wh en performing this analysis, we also consider multiples of earnings from comparable public companies and recent market transactions.
We assessed goodwill for impairment in connection with our change in segment presentation in the first quarter of 2023. See Note 2 for additional information. Based on our assessment, no impairment was required. We also performed a qualitative assessment for goodwill in each of our reporting units in connection with our annual impairment testing. This analysis considered the results of previous quantitative assessments, and also considered various factors that would affect the estimated fair value of these reporting units in our qualitative assessments, including changes in projected future cash flows, recent market transactions and overall macroeconomic conditions, discount rates, and changes in our market capitalization. Based on these assessments, we concluded that it was more likely than not that the estimated fair values of our reporting units were substantially higher than their carrying values and that the performance of a quantitative impairment test was not required.
In 2022, in connection with our annual impairment testing, we recorded an impairment of $8.1 billion related to goodwill in our Sky reporting unit (See Note 10). In preparing this assessment, we estimated the fair value of the Sky reporting unit using a discounted cash flow analysis. This analysis involved significant judgment, including market participant estimates of future cash flows expected to be generated by the business, including the estimated impact of macroeconomic conditions in the Sky territories, as well as the selection of the discount rate, which increased by 125 basis points compared to the prior analysis. When analyzing the fair value indicated under the discounted cash flow model, we also considered multiples of earnings from comparable public companies and recent market transactions.
Changes in market conditions, laws and regulations, and key assumptions made in future quantitative assessments, including expected cash flows, competitive factors and discount rates, could negatively impact the results of future impairment testing and could result in the recogn ition of an additional impairment charge.Cable Franchise Rights
Our cable franchise rights assets result from agreements we have with state and local governments that allow us to construct and operate a cable business within a specified geographic area. The value of a franchise is derived from the economic benefits we receive from the right to solicit new customers and to market additional services in a particular service area. The amounts we record for cable franchise rights are primarily a result of cable system acquisitions. Typically when we acquire a cable system, the most significant asset we record is the value of the cable franchise rights.When performing a quantitative assessment, we estimate the fair values of our cable franchise rights primarily based on a discounted cash flow analysis that involves significant judgment, including the estimate of future cash flows and the selection of discount rates.
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Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsIn 2023, we performed a qualitative assessment of our cable franchise rights. At the time of our previous quantitative assessment in 2022, which was pursuant to our practice of performing quantitative assessments of cable franchise rights approximately once every four years, the estimated fair values of our franchise rights substantially exceeded their carrying values. We also considered various factors that would affect the estimated fair values of our cable franchise rights in our qualitative assessment, including changes in our projected future cash flows, recent market transactions and overall macroeconomic conditions, discount rates, and changes in our market capitalization. Based on this assessment, we concluded that it was more likely than not that the estimated fair values of our cable franchise rights were substantially higher than the carrying values and that the performance of a quantitative impairment test was not required.
Changes in market conditions, laws and regulations and key assumptions made in future quantitative assessments, including expected cash flows, competitive factors and discount rates, could negatively impact the results of future impairment testing and could result in the recognition of an impairment charge.Film and Television Content
We capitalize costs for owned film and television content, including direct costs, production overhead, print costs, development costs and interest, as well as acquired libraries. We have determined that the predominant monetization strategy for the substantial majority of our content is on an individual basis. Amortization for owned content predominantly monetized on an individual basis and accrued costs associated with participations and residuals payments are recorded using the individual film forecast computation method, which recognizes the costs in the same ratio as the associated ultimate revenue.
Our estimates of ultimate revenue for films generally include revenue from all sources that are expected to be earned within 10 years from the date of a film’s initial release. These estimates are based on the distribution strategy and historical performance of similar content, as well as factors unique to the content itself. The most sensitive factor affecting our estimate of ultimate revenue for a film intended for theatrical release is the film’s theatrical performance, as subsequent revenue from the licensing and sale of a film has historically exhibited a high correlation to its theatrical performance. Upon a film’s release, our estimates of revenue from succeeding markets, including from content licensing across multiple platforms and home entertainment sales, are revised based on historical relationships and an analysis of current market trends.
With respect to television series or other owned television programming, the most sensitive factor affecting our estimate of ultimate revenue is whether the series can be successfully licensed beyond its initial license window. Initial estimates of ultimate revenue are limited to the amount of revenue attributed to the initial license window. Once it is determined that a television series or other owned television programming can be licensed beyond the initial license window, revenue estimates for these additional windows or platforms, such as U.S. and international syndication, home entertainment, and other distribution platforms, are included in ultimate revenue. Revenue estimates for produced episodes include revenue expected to be earned within 10 years of delivery of the initial episode or, if still in production, 5 years from the delivery of the most recent episode, if later.We capitalize the costs of licensed content when the license period begins, the content is made available for use and the costs of the licenses are known. Licensed content is amortized as the associated programs are used, incorporating estimated viewing patterns. We recognize the costs of multiyear, live-event sports rights as the rights are utilized over the contract term based on estimated relative value. Estimated relative value is generally based on terms of the contract and the nature of and potential revenue generation of the deliverables within the contract.
Capitalized film and television costs are subject to impairment testing when certain triggering events are identified. The substantial majority of our owned content is evaluated for impairment on an individual title basis. Licensed content that is not part of a fil m group is tested for impairment primarily on a channel, network or platform basis, with the exception of our broadcast networks and owned local broadcast television stations, which are tested on a daypart basis. Sports rights are accounted for as executory contracts and are not subject to impairment. When performing an impairment assessment, we estimate fair value primarily based on a discounted cash flow analysis that involves significant judgment, including market participant estimates of future cash flows, which are supported by internal forecasts. Impairments of capitalized film and television costs were not material in any of the periods presented.
Comcast 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K 56Table of Contents
FY 2025-12-31 (later)
Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsManagement’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunctio n with, the consolidated financial statements and related notes (“Notes”) to enhance the understanding of our operations and our present business environment. For more information about our company’s operations and the risks facing our businesses, see Item 1: Business and Item 1A: Risk Factors, respectively. Refer to Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K for management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal year 2024, including comparison to fiscal year 2023.OverviewWe are a global media and technology company with two primary businesses: Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences. We present the operations of (1) our Connectivity & Platforms business in two segments: Residential Connectivity & Platforms and Business Services Connectivity; and (2) our Content & Experiences business in three segments: Media, Studios and Theme Parks.
The discussion and analysis that follows includes the results of the cable television networks and complementary digital platforms included in Versant as the Separation did not occur until 2026. Refer to Note 16 for additional information.Consolidated Revenue, Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation and Adjusted EBITDA (a)
(in billions)
Revenue Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation Adjusted EBITDA(a) Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure that is not defined by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 46 for additional information, including our definition and our use of Adjusted EBITDA, and for a reconciliat ion from net income attributable to Comcast Corporation to Adjusted EBITDA. Revenue, Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation and Adjusted EBITDA charts are not presented on the same scale.
2025 Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA Segment Contribution (a)Revenue Adjusted EBITDA
(a) Charts exclude the results of Content & Experiences Headquarters and Other, Corporate and Other, and eliminations. Refer to our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional information.Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
32Table of Contents2025 DevelopmentsConnectivity & Platforms (a)
Content & Experiences (a)(b)
(a) Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA charts are not presented on the same scale.
(b) Segment details in the charts exclude the results of Content & Experiences Headquarters and Other and Eliminations and therefore the amounts do not equal the total.
Residential Connectivity & Platforms Media• Revenue decreased due to decreases in video, other and advertising revenue, partially offset by increases in domestic wireless and international connectivity revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased primarily due to a decrease in revenue and an increase in other costs and expenses, partially offset by a decrease in programming expenses.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased from 38.2% to 37.7%.Business Services Connectivity• Revenue increased due to an increase in revenue from enterprise solutions offerings and small business customers.• Adjusted EBITDA increased due to an increase in revenue, partially offset by increased costs and expenses.• Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased from 56.7% to 55.9%.Customer Metrics• Total customer relationships decreased by 967,000 to 50.8 million.
• Domestic broadband customers decreased by 711,000 to 31.3 million.
• Domestic wireless lines increased by 1.5 million to 9.3 million.
• Domestic video customers decreased by 1.3 million to 11.3 million.
• Domestic homes and businesses passed increased by 1.3 million to 65.0 million.
Capital Expenditures
• Total Connectivity & Platforms capital expenditures increased 5.3% to $8.7 billion, reflecting increased spending on customer premise equipment, scalable infrastructure and support capital.
• Revenue decreased primarily due to the impact of the Paris Olympics in 2024. Excluding $1.9 billion of incremental revenue associated with this event, revenue increased due to increases in international networks, domestic distribution and other revenue, partially offset by a decrease in domestic advertising revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased primarily due to a decrease in programming and production costs driven by the Paris Olympics, partially offset by a decrease in revenue.
• Peacock generated revenue and costs and expenses of $5.4 billion and $6.5 billion in 2025 , respectively, compared to $4.9 billion and $6.7 billion in 2024, respectively, including the Paris Olympics . Paid subscribers increased by 8 million to 44 million in 2025 .Studios• Revenue increased primarily due to an increase in content licensing, partially offset by a decrease in theatrical revenue.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased due to an increase in costs and expenses driven by marketing and promotion and programming and production, partially offset by an increase in revenue.
Theme Parks
• Revenue increased primarily due to an increase in revenue at our theme parks in Orlando, driven by the opening of Epic Universe in May 2025.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased due to an increase in revenue, partially offset by an increase in costs and expenses.
• Capital expenditures continued to reflect significant spending for the development of Epic Universe in Orlando ahead of its opening.33Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsOther• Repurchased a total of 205 million shares of our Class A common stock for $6.8 billion in 2025 compared to a total of 212 million shares of our Class A common stock for $8.6 billion in 2024. Raised our dividend by $0.08 to $1.32 per share on an annualized basis in January 2025 and paid $4.9 billion of dividends in 2025.
• In June 2025, we sold our interest in Hulu, at which time we recognized the sale of our interest with a pre-tax gain of $9.4 billion (see Note 8).
• On January 2, 2026, we completed the Separation of Versant into an independent, publicly traded company and we made a pro rata distribution of 100% of the shares of Versant common stock to Comcast shareholders in which each Comcast shareholder received 1 share of Versant common stock for every 25 shares of Comcast common stock owned as of the close of business on December 16, 2025 (see Note 16).Consolidated Operating ResultsYear ended December 31 (in millions, except per share data) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ 123,707 $ 123,731 — %Costs and Expenses:Programming and production 34,951 37,026 (5.6)
Marketing and promotion 8,862 8,073 9.8
Other operating and administrative 43,013 40,533 6.1
Depreciation 9,327 8,729 6.8
Amortization 6,884 6,072 13.4
Total costs and expenses 103,035 100,434 2.6
Operating income 20,672 23,297 (11.3)
Interest expense (4,409) (4,134) 6.6
Investment and other income (loss), net 9,503 (490) NM
Income before income taxes 25,766 18,673 38.0
Income tax expense (6,106) (2,796) 118.4
Net income 19,660 15,877 23.8
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (338) (315) 7.3
Net income attributable to Comcast Corporation $ 19,998 $ 16,192 23.5 %
Basic earnings per common share attributable to Comcast Corporation shareholders $ 5.41 $ 4.17 29.7 %Diluted earnings per common share attributable to Comcast Corporation shareholders$ 5.39 $ 4.14 30.1 %Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding - basic3,699 3,885 (4.8) %Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - diluted3,709 3,908 (5.1) %Adjusted EBITDA (a)$ 37,384 $ 38,069 (1.8) %Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.(a) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 46 for additional information, including our definition and our use of Adjusted EBITDA, and for a reconciliation from net income attributable to Comcast Corporation to Adjusted EBITDA.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
34Table of Contents
Consolidated Revenue
The following graph illustrates the contributions to the change in consolidated revenue made by our Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences businesses, as well as by Corporate and Other activities, including eliminations.
(a) Graph is presented using a truncated scale.
Revenue for our segments and other businesses is discussed separately below under the heading “Segment Operating Results.”
Consolidated Costs and ExpensesThe following graph illustrates the contributions to the change in consolidated costs and expenses, excluding depreciation expense and amortization expense, made by our Connectivity & Platforms and Content & Experiences businesses, as well as by Corporate and Other activities, including adjustments and eliminations. The increase in adjustments in the current year is primarily driven by transaction and transaction-related costs associated with the Separation of Versant that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA and our segment operating results.(a) Graph is presented using a truncated scale.
Costs and expenses for our segments and our corporate operations and other businesses are discussed separately below under the heading “Segment Operating Results.”Consolidated depreciation and amortization expense increased in 2025 compared to 2024 primarily due to increased amortization of certain acquisition-related intangible assets related to the linear media business, increased depreciation due to the opening of Epic Universe in May 2025, impairments of certain long-lived assets in 2025 and the impact of foreign currency.
Amortization expense from acquisition-related intangible assets totaled $3.3 billion and $2.7 billion in 2025 and 2024, respectively. Amounts primarily relate to customer relationship intangible assets recorded in connection with the NBCUniversal transaction in 2011 and the Sky transaction in 2018.35Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsConsolidated interest expense increased in 2025 compared to 2024 primarily due to a decrease in capitalized interest driven by the opening of Epic Universe, as well as higher weighted-average interest rates in the current year.
Consolidated investment and other income (loss), net increased in 2025 compared to 2024.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024
Equity in net income (losses) of investees, net $ (591) $ (680)
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on equity securities, net (20) (313)
Other income (loss), net 10,114 502
Total investment and other income (loss), net $ 9,503 $ (490)
The change in equity in net income (losses) of investees, net in 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to our investments in Atairos and Hulu. The income (losses) at Atairos were driven by fair value adjustments on its underlying investments with income (loss) of $(377) million and $(474) million in 2025 and 2024, respectively.
The change in realized and unrealized gains (losses) on equity securities, net in 2025 compared to 2024 was primarily due to a gain on the sale of a nonmarketable security in the current year and due to higher net unrealized losses on nonmarketable securities in the prior year.
The change in other income (loss), net in 2025 compared to 2024 primarily resulted from a $9.4 billion pre-tax gain from the sale of our interest in Hulu in 2025 (see Note 8).Consolidated Income Tax ExpenseOur effective income tax rate in 2025 and 2024 was 23.7% and 15.0%, respectively.
The increase in income tax expense in 2025 was primarily driven by a tax benefit in the prior year from an internal corporate reorganization completed in 2024 and higher domestic income before income taxes in the current year.
See Note 5 for additional information on our income taxes.Consolidated Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Noncontrolling InterestsThe changes in net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests in 2025 compared to 2024 were primarily due to our regional sports networks and Universal Beijing Resort.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
36Table of Contents
Segment Operating Results
Our segment operating results are presented based on how we assess operating performance and internally report financial information. See Note 2 for additional information on our segments.
Connectivity & Platforms Overview2024 to 2025
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change Constant Currency Change (b)RevenueResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 70,704 $ 71,574 (1.2) % (1.9) %
Business Services Connectivity 10,237 9,701 5.5 5.5
Total Connectivity & Platforms revenue $ 80,940 $ 81,275 (0.4) % (1.1) %Adjusted EBITDAResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 26,653 $ 27,338 (2.5) % (2.8) %
Business Services Connectivity 5,725 5,500 4.1 4.1
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA $ 32,377 $ 32,838 (1.4) % (1.6) %Adjusted EBITDA Margin (a)Residential Connectivity & Platforms 37.7 % 38.2 % (50) bps (30) bps
Business Services Connectivity 55.9 56.7 (80) bps (80) bps
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA margin 40.0 % 40.4 % (40) bps (20) bps
(a) Our Adjusted EBITDA margin is Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. We believe this metric is useful particularly as we continue to focus on growing our higher-margin businesses and improving overall operating cost management. The changes reflect the year-over-year basis point changes in the rounded Adjusted EBITDA margins.
(b) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 46 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.
We continue to focus on growing our higher-margin connectivity businesses while managing overall operating costs. We also continue to invest in our network to support higher-speed broadband offerings and to expand the number of homes and businesses passed. Our customer relationship additions/(losses) continue to be negatively impacted by an increasingly competitive environment. We are focused on increasing our residential connectivity revenue. In 2025, we simplified our broadband pricing structure and began offering a free wireless line for one year to new and existing domestic broadband customers, which we expect will improve customer retention and strengthen our ability to compete for new customers, but will negatively impact average domestic broadband revenue per customer. We also expect continued declines in video revenue as a result of domestic customer net losses due to shifting video consumption patterns and the competitive environment, although customer net losses typically mitigate the impact of continued rate increases on programming expenses, as well as continued declines in other revenue related to declines in wireline voice revenue. We are also focused on growing our Business Services Connectivity segment revenue by offering competitive services, including enterprise solutions, and driving higher adoption of our advanced solutions.37Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of Contents
Connectivity & Platforms Customer Metri cs
Net Additions / (Losses)(in thousands) 2025 2024 2025 2024Customer Relationships
Domestic Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships (a)30,439 31,172 (733) (476)International Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships (a)17,624 17,811 (186) (36)
Business Services Connectivity customer relationships (b)(c)
2,702 2,626 (48) (16)
Total Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships 50,766 51,609 (967) (527)Domestic BroadbandResidential customers 28,719 29,373 (654) (375)
Business customers (b)(c)
2,536 2,469 (57) (36)
Total domestic broadband customers 31,255 31,842 (711) (411)Domestic WirelessTotal domestic wireless lines (d)
9,305 7,826 1,479 1,237Domestic VideoTotal domestic video customers 11,270 12,523 (1,253) (1,583)Domestic homes and businesses passed (e)64,983 63,692Domestic broadband penetration of homes and businesses passed (f)47.6 % 49.8 %
(a) Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships generally represent the number of residential customer locations that subscribe to at least one of our services. International Residential Connectivity & Platforms customer relationships represent customers receiving Sky services in the United Kingdom and Italy. Because each of our services includes a variety of product tiers, which may change from time to time, net additions or losses in any one period will reflect a mix of customers at various tiers.
(b) Business Services Connectivity customer metrics are generally counted based on the number of connections receiving services, including connections within our network in the United States, as well as connections outside of our network both in the United States and internationally. Certain arrangements whereby third parties provide connectivity services leveraging our network are also generally counted based on the number of connections served.
(c) Beginning in the second quarter of 2025, Business Services Connectivity customer relationships and domestic broadband business customers include connections from the acquisition of Nitel and other conforming changes, resulting in an increase of 124,000 Business Services Connectivity customer relationships and 123,000 domestic broadband business customers as of April 1, 2025. Because these adjustments were made as of April 1, 2025, they are not reflected in 2024 customer metrics or in net additions/(losses) in 2024 or 2025.
(d) Domestic wireless lines represent the number of residential and business customers’ wireless devices. An individual customer relationship may have multiple wireless lines.(e) Connectivity & Platforms domestic homes and businesses are considered passed if we can connect them to our network in the United States without further extending the transmission lines. Homes and businesses passed is an estimate based on the best available information.
(f) Penetration is calculated by dividing the number of domestic customers located within our network by the number of domestic homes and businesses passed.2024 to 2025
2025 2024 Change Constant Currency Change (a)
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms revenue per customer relationship $ 131.77 $ 130.57 0.9 % 0.3 %
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship $ 52.71 $ 52.75 (0.1) % (0.3) %
(a) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measure” section on page 46 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.Average monthly total revenue per customer relationship is impacted by rate adjustments and changes in the types and levels of services received by our residential and business customers, as well as changes in advertising and other revenue and in foreign currency exchange rates. While revenue from our individual service offerings is also impacted by changes in the allocation of revenue among services sold in a bundle, the allocation does not impact average monthly total revenue per customer relationship. Each of our services has a different contribution to Adjusted EBITDA margin. We use average monthly Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship to evaluate the profitability of our customer base across our service offerings. We believe both metrics are useful to understand the trends in our business, and average monthly Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship is useful particularly as we continue to focus on growing our higher-margin businesses.Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Connectivity & Platforms — Supplemental Costs and Expenses InformationConnectivity & Platforms supplemental costs and expenses information in the table below is presented on an aggregate basis across the Connectivity & Platforms segments as the segments use certain shared infrastructure, including our network in the United States. Costs and expenses information reported separately for the Residential Connectivity & Platforms and Business Services Connectivity segments includes each segment’s direct costs and an allocation of shared costs.
2024 to 2025
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2025 2024 Change Constant Currency Change (g)Costs and Expenses
Programming (a)$ 16,007 $ 16,881 (5.2) % (6.1) %Technical and support (b)7,610 7,617 (0.1) (0.7)Direct product costs (c)7,576 6,607 14.7 12.8Marketing and promotion (d)5,085 4,772 6.6 5.8Customer service (e)2,755 2,732 0.9 0.2Other (f)9,532 9,828 (3.0) (3.8)
Total Connectivity & Platforms costs and expenses $ 48,563 $ 48,438 0.3 % (0.7) %(a) Programming expenses, which represent our most significant operating expense, are the fees we incur to provide video services to our customers, and primarily include fees related to the distribution of television network programming and fees charged for retransmission of the signals from local broadcast television stations. These expenses also include the costs of content on the Sky-branded entertainment television networks, including amortization of licensed content.(b) Technical and support expenses primarily consist of costs for labor to complete service call and installation activities; and costs for network operations and satellite transmission, product development, fulfillment and provisioning.
(c) Direct product costs primarily consist of access fees related to using wireless and broadband networks owned by third parties to deliver our services and costs of products sold, including wireless devices and Sky Glass smart televisions.
(d) Marketing and promotion expenses primarily consist of the costs associated with attracting new customers and promoting our service offerings.
(e) Customer service expenses primarily consist of the personnel and other costs associated with customer service and certain selling activities.
(f) Other expenses primarily consist of administrative personnel costs; franchise and other regulatory fees; fees paid to third parties where we sell advertising on their behalf; bad debt; building and office expenses, taxes and billing costs; and other business, headquarters and support costs necessary to operate the Connectivity & Platforms business.
(g) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 46 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.Residential Connectivity & Platforms Segment Results of Operations2024 to 2025
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2025 2024 (a)
Change Constant Currency Change (b)RevenueDomestic broadband $ 25,837 $ 25,660 0.7 % 0.7 %
Domestic wireless 4,967 4,273 16.3 16.3
International connectivity 4,963 4,503 10.2 6.8
Total residential connectivity 35,767 34,435 3.9 3.4
Video 26,387 27,791 (5.1) (6.1)
Advertising 3,712 4,089 (9.2) (10.3)
Other 4,838 5,259 (8.0) (8.8)
Total revenue 70,704 71,574 (1.2) (1.9)Costs and ExpensesProgramming 16,007 16,881 (5.2) (6.1)
Other 28,044 27,355 2.5 1.4
Total costs and expenses 44,051 44,237 (0.4) (1.4)
Adjusted EBITDA $ 26,653 $ 27,338 (2.5) % (2.8) %
(a) Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, commission revenue from the sale of certain DTC streaming services and revenue related to certain equipment are presented in video revenue. Previously, these amounts were presented in domestic broadband and international connectivity. Prior periods have been reclassified to reflect the current year presentation.39Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of Contents(b) Constant currency is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” section on page 46 for additional information, including our definition and our use of constant currency, and for a reconciliation of constant currency amounts.Residential Connectivity & Platforms Segment – RevenueDomestic broadband revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of broadband services to residential customers in the United States, including equipment and installation services.
Domestic broadband revenue remained consistent in 2025 due to an increase in average rates, offset by a decline in the number of domestic broadband customers.
Domestic wireless revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of wireless services and devices, including handsets, tablets and smart watches, to residential customers in the United States.
Domestic wireless revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to an increase in the number of customer lines and device sales.
International connectivity revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of broadband services, including equipment and installation services, wireless devices and wireless services to residential customers in the United Kingdom and Italy.
International connectivity revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to an increase in broadband revenue resulting from an increase in average rates and an increase in wireless revenue primarily resulting from an increase in the number of customer lines and device sales. These increases include the positive impact of foreign currency.
Video revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of video services to residential and business customers across the Connectivity & Platforms markets, including equipment and installation services. Video revenue includes pay-per-view and other transactional revenue and franchise fees, revenue from sales of certain hardware, including Sky Glass smart televisions, commission revenue from the sale of certain DTC streaming services, and revenue related to Xumo Stream Boxes.
Video revenue decreased in 2025 due to declines in the overall number of video customers, partially offset by an overall increase in average rates and the positive impact of foreign currency.
Advertising revenue primarily consists of revenue from the sale of advertising across our platforms in the Connectivity & Platforms markets, including advertising as part of our distribution agreements with cable networks in the United States, and advertising on Sky-branded entertainment television networks and on our digital properties. Advertising also includes revenue where we enter into representation agreements under which we sell advertising on behalf of third parties and from our advanced advertising businesses.
Advertising revenue decreased in 2025 primarily driven by lower domestic political and nonpolitical advertising, partially offset by the positive impact of foreign currency.
Other revenue primarily consists of revenue in the Connectivity & Platforms markets from sales of wireline voice services to residential customers; our residential security and automation services businesses; the licensing of our technology platforms to other multichannel video providers; the distribution of certain of our Sky-branded entertainment television networks to third-party video service providers; commissions from electronic retailing networks; and certain billing and collection fees.
Other revenue decreased in 2025 primarily due to a decrease in residential wireline voice revenue driven by a decline in the number of customers.Residential Connectivity & Platforms Segment – Costs and ExpensesProgramming expenses decreased in 2025 primarily due to a decline in the number of domestic video subscribers, partially offset by rate increases under our domestic programming contracts, an increase in programming expenses for our international sports networks and the impact of foreign currency.
Other expenses increased in 2025 primarily due to increased direct product costs, the impact of foreign currency and increased spending on marketing and promotion, partially offset by a decrease in franchise and other regulatory fees, and a decrease in fees paid to third parties relating to advertising sales.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Business Services Connectivity Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions)
2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ 10,237 $ 9,701 5.5 %
Costs and expenses 4,512 4,201 7.4
Adjusted EBITDA $ 5,725 $ 5,500 4.1 %
Business services connectivity revenue primarily consists of revenue from our service offerings for small business locations in the United States, which include broadband, wireline voice and wireless services, as well as our enterprise solutions offerings, and our business connectivity service offerings in the United Kingdom.
Business services connectivity revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to an increase in revenue from enterprise solutions offerings, including the results from Nitel, which was acquired in April 2025, and from an increase in revenue from small business customers.
Business services connectivity costs and expenses increased in 2025 primarily due to increases in direct product costs, which include the results from Nitel.Content & Experiences OverviewYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025RevenueMedia $ 27,090 $ 28,148 (3.8) %
Studios 11,286 11,092 1.7
Theme Parks 9,836 8,617 14.2
Headquarters and Other 46 50 (6.7)
Eliminations (2,699) (2,798) 3.5
Total Content & Experiences revenue $ 45,559 $ 45,108 1.0 %Adjusted EBITDAMedia $ 3,196 $ 3,130 2.1 %
Studios 1,099 1,404 (21.7)
Theme Parks 3,080 2,949 4.5
Headquarters and Other (1,095) (831) (31.8)
Eliminations 186 82 127.9
Total Content & Experiences Adjusted EBITDA $ 6,467 $ 6,735 (4.0) %
We operate our Media segment as a combined television and streaming business and will continue to do so following the Separation of the Versant business. We expect that the number of subscribers and audience ratings at our remaining linear television networks will continue to decline as a result of the competitive environment and shifting video consumption patterns, which we aim to mitigate over time by growth in both paid subscribers and advertising revenue at Peacock. We expect to continue to incur significant costs related to content and marketing at Peacock. Revenue and programming expenses are also impacted by the timing of certain sporting events, including the Paris Olympics in the third quarter of 2024 and the NBA beginning in the fourth quarter of 2025. We expect lower revenue and costs and expenses for the Media segment in 2026 as a result of the Separation of Versant.
Our Studios segment generates revenue primarily from third parties and from licensing content to our Media segment. While the results of operations for our Studios segment are not impacted, results for our total Content & Experiences business may be impacted as the Studios segment licenses content to the Media segment, including for Peacock, rather than licensing the content to third parties.
We continue to invest significantly in existing and new theme park attractions, hotels and infrastructure, including Epic Universe in Orlando, which opened in May 2025, as well as in new destinations and experiences, including a Universal theme park and resort in the United Kingdom with a projected opening date in 2031, subject to various approvals.41Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of ContentsMedia Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025RevenueDomestic advertising $ 8,382 $ 10,008 (16.2) %
Domestic distribution 11,613 11,826 (1.8)
International networks 4,977 4,282 16.2
Other 2,118 2,031 4.2
Total revenue 27,090 28,148 (3.8)Costs and ExpensesProgramming and production 17,866 18,968 (5.8)
Marketing and promotion 1,463 1,473 (0.6)
Other 4,565 4,577 (0.3)
Total costs and expenses 23,894 25,017 (4.5)Adjusted EBITDA$ 3,196 $ 3,130 2.1 %Media Segment – RevenueRevenue decreased in 2025 primarily due to the Paris Olympics in 2024. Excluding incremental revenue associated with this event, revenue increased in 2025 driven by increases in international networks, domestic distribution and other revenue, partially offset by a decrease in domestic advertising revenue.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Total revenue $ 27,090 $ 28,148 (3.8) %
Olympics
— 1,906 NM
Total revenue, excluding Olympics
$ 27,090 $ 26,242 3.2 %
Total domestic advertising revenue $ 8,382 $ 10,008 (16.2) %
Olympics
— 1,432 NM
Domestic advertising revenue, excluding Olympics
$ 8,382 $ 8,576 (2.3) %
Total domestic distribution revenue $ 11,613 $ 11,826 (1.8) %
Olympics — 473 NM
Domestic distribution revenue, excluding Olympics $ 11,613 $ 11,353 2.3 %Percentage changes that are considered not meaningful are denoted with NM.Domesti c advertising revenue primarily consists of revenue generated from sales of advertising on our linear television networks, Peacock and other digital properties operating predominantly in the United States.
Domestic advertising revenue decreased in 2025 primarily due to the Paris Olympics in 2024. Excluding incremental revenue associated with this event, domestic advertising revenue decreased in 2025 primarily due to a decrease in revenue at our linear television networks, partially offset by an increase in revenue at Peacock.
Domestic distribution revenue primarily consists of revenue generated from the distribution of our television networks operating predominantly in the United States to traditional and virtual multichannel video providers, and from NBC-affiliated and Telemundo-affiliated local broadcast television stations. Our revenue from distribution agreements is generally based on the number of subscribers receiving the programming on our television networks and a per subscriber fee. Distribution revenue also includes Peacock subscription fees.
Domestic distribution revenue decreased in 2025, including the impact of the Paris Olympics in 2024. Excluding incremental revenue associated with this event, domestic distribution revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to an increase in revenue at Peacock, partially offset by a decrease in revenue at our linear television networks. The decrease at our linear television networks was primarily due to a decline in the number of subscribers, partially offset by contractual rate increases.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
42Table of ContentsInternational networks revenue primarily consists of revenue generated by our networks operating predominantly outside the United States, including the Sky Sports networks in the United Kingdom and Italy. This revenue primarily results from the distribution of our television networks to traditional and virtual multichannel video providers and other platforms, as well as sales of advertising. A significant portion of this revenue comes from the Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment.
International networks revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to an increase in revenue associated with the distribution of sports networks and the positive impact of foreign currency.
Ot her r evenue primarily consists of revenue generated from various digital properties and the licensing of our owned content and technology.
Other revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to increased revenue from a digital property and increased licensing of our owned content.* * *Media segment total revenue included $5.4 billion and $4.9 billion related to Peacock in 2025 and 2024, respectively, including amounts related to the Paris Olympics in 2024. We had 44 million and 36 million paid subscribers of Peacock as of 2025 and 2024, respectively. Peacock paid subscribers represent customers from which we recognize distribution revenue, including both customers that pay us directly and customers receiving the service through arrangements with companies who sell Peacock on our behalf. In these arrangements, paid subscribers are counted based on the terms of the arrangement when the related revenue is recognized. As a result, certain customers are counted when they activate their account, while other customers are counted when the Peacock service is made available to them as part of their bundled service offering regardless of whether it is activated. The increase in paid subscribers in 2025 is mainly due to the availability of Peacock through third-party bundled service offerings.Media Segment – Costs and ExpensesProgramming and production costs primarily consists of the amortization of owned and licensed content, including sports rights, direct production costs, p roduction overhead, on-air talent costs and costs associated with the distribution of our television networks to multichannel video providers.
Programming and production costs decreased in 2025 primarily due to costs associated with the Paris Olympics in 2024, partially offset by an increase in sports programming costs for our international television networks and the impact of foreign currency.
Marketing and promotion expenses primarily consists of the costs associated with promoting our television networks, Peacock and other digital properties.
Marketing and promotion expenses remained consistent in 2025 primarily due to costs associated with the Paris Olympics in 2024, offset by higher costs related to marketing for our linear television networks.
Other expenses primarily consists of salaries, employee benefits, rent and other overhead expenses.
Other expenses remained consistent in 2025 primarily due to higher severance charges in 2024, offset by an increase in costs related to Peacock.* * *Media segment total costs and expenses included $6.5 billion and $6.7 billion related to Peacock in 2025 and 2024, respectively, including amounts related to the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of Contents
Studios Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025RevenueContent licensing $ 8,199 $ 8,063 1.7 %
Theatrical 1,621 1,693 (4.3)
Other 1,465 1,335 9.7
Total revenue 11,286 11,092 1.7Costs and ExpensesProgramming and production 7,441 7,257 2.5
Marketing and promotion 1,773 1,483 19.5
Other 973 947 2.7
Total costs and expenses 10,186 9,687 5.2Adjusted EBITDA$ 1,099 $ 1,404 (21.7) %Studios Segment – RevenueC ontent licensing r evenue primarily relates to the licensing of our owned film and television content in the United States and internationally to television networks and DTC streaming service providers, as well as through video on demand services provided by multichannel video providers and other service providers.
Content licensing revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to the timing of when content was made available by our television studios under licensing agreements, partially offset by the timing of when content was made available by our film studios.
Theatrical r evenue primarily relates to the worldwide distribution of our produced and acquired films for exhibition in movie theaters.
Theatrical revenue decreased in 2025 primarily due to higher revenue from releases in our 2024 slate, including Despicable Me 4 , Wicked , and Kung Fu Panda 4 , compared to revenue from releases in our 2025 slate, including Jurassic World Rebirth , How to Train Your Dragon and Wicked: For Good.
Other revenue primarily consists of the sale of physical and digital home entertainment products, as well as the production and licensing of live stage plays and the distribution of content produced by third parties.Studios Segment – Costs and ExpensesProg ramming and production costs primarily consists of the amortization of capitalized film and television production and acquisition costs; participations and residuals expenses; and distribution expenses.
Programming and production costs increased in 2025 primarily due to higher costs associated with content licensing sales, partially offset by lower costs associated with theatrical releases.
Marketing and promotion expenses primarily consists of expenses associated with advertising for our theatrical releases.
Marketing and promotion expenses increased in 2025 primarily due to increased spending on current year and upcoming theatrical film releases.Other expenses include salaries, employee benefits, rent and other overhead expenses.Theme Parks Segment Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ 9,836 $ 8,617 14.2 %
Costs and expenses 6,756 5,668 19.2Adjusted EBITDA$ 3,080 $ 2,949 4.5 %
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Table of Contents
Theme parks segment revenue primarily relates to guest spending at our theme parks, including ticket sales and in-park spending, and to our c onsumer products business.
Theme park segment revenue increased in 2025 primarily driven by our domestic theme parks, which included higher revenue at our theme parks in Orlando driven by the opening of Epic Universe in May 2025, partially offset by lower revenue at our theme park in Hollywood.
Theme parks segment costs and expenses primarily consists of theme park operations, including repairs and maintenance and related administrative expe nses; food, beverage and merchandise costs; labor costs; and sales and marketing costs.
Theme parks segment costs and expenses increased in 2025 primarily due to operating costs associated with Epic Universe.Content & Experiences Headquarters, Other and Eliminations
Headquarters and Other Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ 46 $ 50 (6.7) %
Costs and expenses 1,142 881 29.6Adjusted EBITDA$ (1,095) $ (831) (31.8) %
Headquarters and Other expenses primarily consist of overhead, personnel and other costs necessary to operate the Content & Experiences business.EliminationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ (2,699) $ (2,798) (3.5) %
Costs and expenses (2,886) (2,880) 0.2Adjusted EBITDA$ 186 $ 82 (127.9) %Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between segments in our Content & Experiences business, the most significant being content licensing between the Studios and Media segments, which are affected by the timing of recognition of content licenses.
Eliminations increase or decrease to the extent that additional content is made available to our other segments within the Content & Experiences business. Refer to Note 2 for additional information on transactions between our segments.Corporate, Other and Eliminations
Corporate and Other Results of OperationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ 3,044 $ 2,933 3.8 %
Costs and expenses 4,518 4,308 4.9
Adjusted EBITDA $ (1,474) $ (1,376) (7.1) %
Corporate and Other primarily consists of overhead and personnel costs; Sky-branded video services and television networks in Germany; Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Xumo, our consolidated streaming platform joint venture.
Corporate and Other revenue increased in 2025 primarily due to an increase from Sky operations in Germany, which includes the positive impact of foreign currency and an underlying increase in revenue, partially offset by a decrease in revenue from Comcast Spectacor.
Corporate and Other costs and expenses increased in 2025 primarily due to our corporate functions and higher costs related to Sky operations in Germany which includes the impact of foreign currency partially offset by an underlying decrease in costs and expenses. These increases were partially offset by marketing associated with the Paris Olympics in 2024.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsEliminationsYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024 Change 2024 to 2025
Revenue $ (5,836) $ (5,585) 4.5 %
Costs and expenses (5,849) (5,456) 7.2
Adjusted EBITDA $ 13 $ (128) (110.4) %
Amounts represent eliminations of transactions between our Connectivity & Platforms, Content & Experiences and other businesses, the most significant being distribution of television network programming between the Media and Residential Connectivity & Platforms segments. Eliminations of transactions between segments within Content & Experiences are presented separately. Amounts are affected by the periodic broadcast of the Olympic Games, including the Paris Olympics in 2024. Refer to Note 2 for additional information on transactions between our segments.Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and is the primary basis used to measure the operational strength and performance of our businesses as well as to assist in the evaluation of underlying trends in our businesses. This measure eliminates the significant level of noncash depreciation and amortization expense that results from the capital-intensive nature of certain of our businesses and from intangible assets recognized in business combinations. It is also unaffected by our capital and tax structures, and by our investment activities, including the results of entities that we do not consolidate, as our management excludes these results when evaluating our operating performance. Our management and Board of Directors use this financial measure to evaluate our consolidated operating performance and the operating performance of our operating segments and to allocate resources and capital to our operating segments. It is also a significant performance measure in our annual incentive compensation programs. Additionally, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it is one of the bases for comparing our operating performance with that of other companies in our industries, although our measure of Adjusted EBITDA may not be directly comparable to similar measures used by other companies.We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income attributable to Comcast Corporation before net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests, income tax expense, investment and other income (loss), net, interest expense, depreciation and amortization expense, and other operating gains and losses (such as impairment charges related to fixed and intangible assets and gains or losses on the sale of long-lived assets), if any. From time to time, we may exclude from Adjusted EBITDA the impact of certain events, gains, losses or other charges (such as significant legal settlements) that affect the period-to-period comparability of our operating performance.
We reconcile consolidated Adjusted EBITDA to net income attributable to Comcast Corporation. This measure should not be considered a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), net income (loss) attributable to Comcast Corporation, or net cash provided by operating activities that we have reported in accordance with GAAP.
Reconciliation from Net Income Attributable to Comcast Corporation to Adjusted EBITDAYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024
Net income attributable to Comcast Corporation $ 19,998 $ 16,192
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests (338) (315)
Income tax expense 6,106 2,796
Interest expense 4,409 4,134
Investment and other (income) loss, net (9,503) 490
Depreciation 9,327 8,729
Amortization 6,884 6,072Adjustments (a)501 (30)
Adjusted EBITDA $ 37,384 $ 38,069
(a) Amounts represent the impact of certain events, gains, losses or other charges that are excluded from Adjusted EBITDA. For the periods presented, Adjusted EBITDA excludes transaction and transaction-related costs associated with the Separation of Versant, as well as other operating and administrative expenses related to our investment portfolio. Transaction costs are incremental costs directly related to effectuating the Separation and primarily include advisory, legal and audit fees, as well as legal entity separation costs. Transaction-related costs are incremental costs incurred in anticipation of the Separation, including costs that reflect strategic decisions about how the standalone Versant business will be structured or operated, which may be different than if it remained part of Comcast. Transaction-related costs primarily include certain separation-related employee compensation, severance and retention bonuses; IT separation and implementation costs; and other one-time costs.
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Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024
Transaction-related costs $ 374 $ —
Transaction costs 109 7
Costs related to our investment portfolio 18 (37)
Total Adjustments $ 501 $ (30)Constant Currency
Constant currency and constant currency growth rates are non-GAAP financial measures that present our results of operations excluding the estimated effects of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Certain of our businesses, including Connectivity & Platforms, have operations outside the United States that are conducted in local currencies. As a result, the comparability of the financial results reported in U.S. dollars is affected by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In our Connectivity & Platforms business, we use constant currency and constant currency growth rates to evaluate the underlying performance of the businesses, and we believe they are helpful for investors because such measures present operating results on a comparable basis year over year to allow the evaluation of their underlying performance.
Constant currency and constant currency growth rates are calculated by comparing the results for each comparable prior year period adjusted to reflect the average exchange rates from each current year period presented rather than the actual exchange rates that were in effect during the respective periods.
Reconciliation of Connectivity & Platforms Constant Currency2024
Year ended December 31 (in millions) As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency AmountsRevenueResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 71,574 $ 533 $ 72,107
Business Services Connectivity 9,701 2 9,703
Total Connectivity & Platforms revenue $ 81,275 $ 535 $ 81,811Adjusted EBITDAResidential Connectivity & Platforms $ 27,338 $ 71 $ 27,409
Business Services Connectivity 5,500 (1) 5,499
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA $ 32,838 $ 71 $ 32,909Adjusted EBITDA MarginResidential Connectivity & Platforms 38.2 % (20) bps 38.0 %
Business Services Connectivity 56.7 — bps 56.7
Total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA margin 40.4 % (20) bps 40.2 %
2024
As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency Amounts
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms revenue per customer relationship $ 130.57 $ 0.86 $ 131.43
Average monthly total Connectivity & Platforms Adjusted EBITDA per customer relationship $ 52.75 $ 0.12 $ 52.87
2024
(in millions) As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency AmountsCosts and ExpensesProgramming $ 16,881 $ 172 $ 17,054
Technical and support 7,617 49 7,666
Direct product costs 6,607 109 6,716
Marketing and promotion 4,772 35 4,808
Customer service 2,732 17 2,749
Other 9,828 81 9,909
Total Connectivity & Platforms costs and expenses $ 48,438 $ 465 $ 48,902
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsReconciliation of Residential Connectivity & Platforms Constant Currency2024
(in millions) As Reported Effects of Foreign Currency Constant Currency AmountsRevenueDomestic broadband $ 25,660 $ — $ 25,660
Domestic wireless 4,273 — 4,273
International connectivity 4,503 145 4,648
Total residential connectivity 34,435 145 34,581
Video 27,791 296 28,087
Advertising 4,089 48 4,137
Other 5,259 44 5,303
Total revenue 71,574 533 72,107Costs and ExpensesProgramming 16,881 172 17,054
Other 27,355 289 27,644
Total costs and expenses 44,237 461 44,698
Adjusted EBITDA $ 27,338 $ 71 $ 27,409Other Adjustments
From time to time, we present adjusted information, such as revenue, to exclude the impact of certain events, gains, losses or other charges. This adjusted information is a non-GAAP financial measure. We believe, among other things, that the adjusted information may help investors evaluate our ongoing operations and can assist in making meaningful period-over-period comparisons.
Liquidity and Capital ResourcesYear ended December 31 (in billions) 2025 2024
Cash provided by operating activities $ 33.6 $ 27.7
Cash used in investing activities $ (16.2) $ (15.7)
Cash used in financing activities $ (14.3) $ (10.9)
December 31 (in billions) 2025 2024
Cash and cash equivalents $ 9.5 $ 7.3
Restricted cash included in other current assets and other noncurrent assets, net $ 1.1 $ 0.1
Debt
$ 98.9 $ 99.1Our businesses generate significant cash flows from operating activities. We believe that we will be able to continue to meet our current and long-term liquidity and capital requirements, including fixed charges, through our cash flows from operating activities; existing cash, cash equivalents and investments; available borrowings under our existing credit facility; and our ability to obtain future external financing. Refer to the “Contractual Obligations” discussion below for additional information regarding our cash requirements. We anticipate that we will continue to use a substantial portion of our cash flows from operating activities in repaying our debt obligations, funding our capital expenditures and cash paid for intangible assets, investing in business opportunities, and returning capital to shareholders.We maintain significant availability under our revolving credit facility and our commercial paper program to meet our short-term liquidity requirements. Our commercial paper program generally provides a lower-cost source of borrowing to fund our short-term working capital requirements. As of December 31, 2025, amounts available under our revolving credit facility, net of amounts outstanding under our commercial paper program and outstanding letters of credit and bank guarantees, totaled $ 11.8 billion.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Table of Contents
W e are subject to customary covenants and restrictions set forth in agreements related to debt issued at Comcast and certain of our subsidiaries, including the indentures governing our public debt securities and the credit agreement governing the Comcast revolving credit facility. Our revolving credit facility contains a financial covenant pertaining to leverage, which is the ratio of debt to EBITDA, as defined in the agreement. Compliance with this financial covenant is tested on a quarterly basis. As of December 31, 2025, we met this financial covenant and other covenants related to our debt, and we expect to remain in compliance with this financial covenant and other covenants related to our debt.Operating Activities
Components of Net Cash Provided by Operating ActivitiesYear ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024
Operating income $ 20,672 $ 23,297
Depreciation and amortization 16,210 14,802
Noncash share-based compensation 1,288 1,288
Changes in operating assets and liabilities (551) (1,559)
Payments of interest (3,871) (3,657)
Payments of income taxes (755) (7,096)
Proceeds from investments and other 649 597
Net cash provided by operating activities $ 33,643 $ 27,673
The variance in changes in operating assets and liabilities in 2025 was primarily related to the timing of our accounts payable; timing of deferred revenue, which includes the impact of the Olympics; and the timing of amortization and related payments for our film and television costs, including the timing of sports; partially offset by increases in inventory and receivables.
The increase in payments of interest in 2025 was primarily due to decreased capitalized interest driven by the opening of Epic Universe and higher weighted-average interest rates.
Payments of income taxes decreased in 2025 primarily due to higher payments in 2024 related to the 2023 tax year primarily driven by the taxable gain recognized on our investment in Hulu (see Note 8), a federal income tax refund received in 2025 as a result of carrying back a capital loss created primarily as part of a 2024 internal corporate reorganization (see Note 5), and additional deductions allowed under legislation enacted in 2025 (see Note 5). These decreases were partially offset by the timing of transferable tax credit purchases.
Legislation signed into law in 2025 in the United States is expected to significantly reduce our payments of income taxes over the next several years, with variability across the years, primarily due to additional depreciation deductions and the reinstatement of the immediate deduction of domestic research and development expenses.Investing ActivitiesNet cash used in investing activities increased in 2025 primarily due to the acquisition of Nitel in 2025, the purchase of an equity method investment in the current year, and proceeds from the maturity of short-term investments in the prior year, partially offset by purchases of short-term investments in the prior year, additional proceeds received in 2025 for the sale of our interest in Hulu (see Note 8), decreased capital expenditures, decreased cash paid for intangible assets related to software development, and proceeds from the sale of a nonmarketable security in the current year.
In 2025, we entered into an agreement with RTL Group to sell our Sky operations in Germany, subject to various conditions and approvals, and we expect the sale to be completed in 2026. The related assets and liabilities are presented as held for sale as of December 31, 2025 (see Note 7).
In 2023, we entered into an agreement with T-Mobile to sell certain of our spectrum licenses. The agreement provides us with a right to remove certain licenses from the transaction, which will result in total cash consideration between $1.2 billion and $3.3 billion. The sale is expected to close in 2028 subject to various conditions and approvals.Capital ExpendituresCapital expenditures decreased in 2025 primarily due to decreased spending on Epic Universe driven by the opening in May 2025, partially offset by increased spending by the Connectivity & Platforms businesses. The costs associated with the construction of Universal Beijing Resort are presented separately in our consolidated statements of cash flows. See Note 8.
Our most significant capital expenditures are within the Connectivity & Platforms business, and we expect that this will continue in the future. Connectivity & Platforms’ capital expenditures increased in 2025 primarily due to increased spending on customer premise equipment, scalable infrastructure and support capital. The table below summarizes the capital expenditures we incurred in our segments in the Connectivity & Platforms business in 2025 and 2024.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of Contents
Year ended December 31 (in millions) 2025 2024
Customer premise equipment $ 2,192 $ 2,013
Scalable infrastructure 3,156 3,024
Line extensions 2,689 2,691
Support capital 686 557
Total $ 8,723 $ 8,286
We expect our capital expenditures in 2026 will continue to be focused on investments in the Connectivity & Platforms business in scalable infrastructure as we increase capacity and continue to execute our plans to upgrade our network to deliver multigigabit symmetrical speeds, in the continued deployment of next generation wireless gateways, and in line extensions for the expansion of homes and businesses passed. In addition, we expect to continue investment in existing and new attractions at our Universal theme parks. Capital expenditures for subsequent years will depend on numerous factors, including competition, changes in technology, regulatory changes, the timing and rate of deployment of new services, the capacity required for existing services, the timing of new attractions at our theme parks and potential acquisitions.Financing ActivitiesNet cash used in financing activities increased in 2025 primarily due to lower proceeds from borrowings and higher repurchases and repayments of debt in the current year, partially offset by a decrease in repurchases of common stock under our share repurchase program and employee plans.
In October 2025, we completed debt exchange transactions and concurrent tender offers. We issued $1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of new 5.17% senior notes due 2037 and made cash payments of approximately $0.8 billion in exchange for $1.9 billion aggregate principal amount of certain series of outstanding senior notes with maturities ranging from 2027 to 2029 and a weighted-average interest rate of 4.01%. These transactions did not have a material impact on our interest expense or on our overall weighted-average interest rate or weighted-average maturity for our total outstanding debt.
In May 2025, we issued $2.5 billion aggregate principal amount of fixed-rate senior notes, which have maturities ranging between 2032 and 2055 and a weighted-average interest rate of 5.51%. The net proceeds from this issuance were intended for the early redemption of all outstanding amounts of our $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.375% Notes due August 2025, which was completed in June 2025, and for general corporate purposes.
In 2025, we made debt repayments of $5.7 billion, including $2.6 billion of 3.950% Notes due October 2025, $1.2 billion of 3.375% Notes due August 2025, $1.0 billion principal amount of notes due at maturity and $0.8 billion of cash payments in the debt exchange transactions.
We have made, and may from time to time in the future make, optional repayments on our debt obligations, which may include repurchases or exchanges of our outstanding public notes and debentures, depending on various factors, such as market conditions. Any such repurchases may be effected through privately negotiated transactions, market transactions, tender offers, redemptions or otherwise. In particular, we may repurchase varying amounts of our outstanding public notes and debentures with short to medium term m aturities through privately negotiated or market transactions. See Notes 6 and 8 for additional information on our financing activities.
Additionally, in October 2025, in anticipation of the Separation of Versant, Versant entered into a credit agreement with respect to a $1.0 billion senior secured term A loan facility due January 2031 (the “Term A Loan Facility”) and a $750 million revolving credit facility due January 2031 (the “Versant Revolving Credit Facility”). As of December 31, 2025, the Term A Loan Facility was not funded and the Versant Revolving Credit Facility was undrawn. Versant also entered into an indenture pursuant to which Versant issued $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 7.25% senior secured notes due January 2031 (the “Notes”). As of December 31, 2025, the net proceeds from the Notes issuance, plus accrued and unpaid interest, were held in an escrow account and reported as restricted cash within our consolidated balance sheet due to a special mandatory redemption provision that would have required the Notes to be redeemed if the Separation of Versant from Comcast had not been consummated by March 2, 2026.
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
50Table of ContentsOn January 2, 2026, before the Distribution, Versant entered into a credit agreement with respect to a $1.0 billion term B loan facility due January 2031 (the “Term B Loan Facility”), and each of the Term A Loan Facility and the Term B Loan Facility was funded. Versant’s $3.0 billion aggregate principal amount of indebtedness consisting of the Notes and borrowings under the Term A Loan Facility and Term B Loan Facility ceased to be consolidated indebtedness of Comcast in connection with the Separation. Further, in connection with the Separation, Versant used the net proceeds from the issuance of the Notes and a portion of the proceeds of its borrowings under the Term A Loan Facility and the Term B Loan Facility to make a cash distribution of $2.25 billion to us. The proceeds from the distribution, together with cash on hand, were used for the redemption on January 15, 2026 of all outstanding amounts of our 3.15% Notes due March 2026, including accrued and unpaid interest, totaling approximately $2.1 billion and all outstanding amounts of our 5.35% Notes due November 2027, including accrued and unpaid interest, totaling approximately $650 million. See Note 16 for additional information on the Separation.Share Repurchases and DividendsIn January 2024, our Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program authorization of $15.0 billion and in January 2025, our Board of Directors terminated the existing program and approved a new share repurchase program authorization of $15.0 billion, effective as of January 31, 2025, which has no expiration date. In 2025, we repurchased a total of 205 million shares of our Class A common stock for $6.8 billion under our authorization programs. We did not purchase any shares outside of these programs. As of December 31, 2025, we had $8.9 billion remaining under the authorization.
We expect to repurchase additional shares of our Class A common stock under this authorization in the open market or in private transactions, subject to market and other conditions.
In 2025, our Board of Directors declared quarterly dividends of $0.33 per share, including our fourth quarter dividend to be paid in February 2026, and we made dividend payments of $4.9 billion. In January 2026, our Board of Directors approved a dividend consistent with the prior year of $1.32 per share on an annualized basis and approved our first quarter dividend of $0.33 per share, to be paid in April 2026. We expect to continue to pay quarterly dividends, although each dividend is subject to approval by our Board of Directors.
The chart below summarizes share repurchases and dividend payments. In addition, we paid $371 million and $463 million in 2025 and 2024, respectively, related to employee taxes associated with the administration of our share-based compensation plans and excise taxes related to share repurchases. Our share repurchases have more than offset dilution that resulted from issuing our Class A common stock in connection with our share-based compensation plans in those years, thereby having the effect of reducing the total number of our Class A common stock outstanding.Share Repurchases Under Share Repurchase Program Authorization and Dividends Paid and Weighted-Average Number of Common Shares Outstanding - Diluted
($ in billions and shares in millions)
Contractual ObligationsThe following table summarizes our most significant contractual obligations as of December 31, 2025 :
As of December 31, 2025 (in billions)
Total Within the next 12 months Beyond the next 12 monthsDebt obligations (a)$ 104.8 $ 6.0 $ 98.8
Programming and production obligations (b)(c)
93.8 18.3 75.5
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of Contents(a) A mounts represent the face value of debt and exclude interest payments. Subsequent to December 31, 2025, $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 7.25% fixed-rate senior secured notes due January 2031 issued by Versant ceased to be our contractual obligation due to the completion of the Separation on January 2, 2026.
(b) Amounts include contractual obligations for our assets presented as held for sale as of December 31, 2025.
(c) Subsequent to December 31, 2025, certain content license agreements, or parts thereof, including sports rights agreements, were transferred to Versant in connection with the Separation, thereby reducing our programming and production obligations by $5.9 billion, of which $1.5 billion was due within the next 12 months and $4.4 billion was due thereafter. The vast majority of this reduction relates to multiyear sports rights agreements.
Our largest contractual obligations relate to our outstanding debt. As of December 31, 2025 , our debt had a weighted-average time to maturity of approximately 15 years. Including the effects of our derivative financial instruments, as of December 31, 2025, our debt had a weighted-average interest rate based on the stated coupons of 3.8% and the percentage of our debt obligations that were fixed-rate debt was 95%. We typically fund and expect to continue to be able to fund debt maturities and interest payments with cash flows generated in our operations; existing cash, cash equivalents and investments; or proceeds from additional external financing. See Note 6 and Item 7A for additional information on our debt.
We also have significant contractual obligations associated with our programming and production expenses. We have multiyear agreements for television and/or streaming rights of sporting events, such as for the NBA, the NFL, the Olympics and the English Premier League, which represent the substantial majority of our programming and production obligations. Connectivity & Platforms’ programming expenses related to the distribution of third-party television networks are generally acquired under multiyear distribution agreements with fees based on the number of subscribers receiving the television network programming and a per subscriber fee. The amounts included in the table above relate to minimum guaranteed commitments for these distribution agreements or fixed fees, and as a result, we expect the total fees to be paid under these arrangements to be significantly higher than the amounts included above. We have funded and expect to continue to be able to fund our programming and production obligations with the cash generated from our operations. As of December 31, 2025 , approximately 36% of cash payments related to our programming and production obligations are due after five years, of which the vast majority related to multiyear sports rights agreements. See Note 4 for additional information on programming and production costs.
Our other contractual obligations relate primarily to operating leases (see Note 15) and other arrangements recorded in our consolidated balance sheets or disclosed in the notes to our financial statements, including benefit plan obligations (see Note 11), liabilities for uncertain tax positions (see Note 5), our remaining unfunded capital commitment to Atairos (see Note 8) and a contractual obligation related to an interest held by a third party in the revenue of certain theme parks (see Note 15).Guarantee Structure
Our debt is primarily issued at Comcast, although we also have debt at certain of our subsidiaries as a result of acquisitions and other issuances. A substantial amount of this debt is subject to guarantees by Comcast and by certain subsidiaries that we have put in place to simplify our capital structure. We believe this guarantee structure provides liquidity benefits to debt investors and helps to simplify credit analysis with respect to relative value considerations of guaranteed subsidiary debt.
Debt and Guarantee StructureDecember 31 (in billions) 2025 2024Debt Subject to Cross-GuaranteesComcast $ 93.3 $ 94.6NBCUniversal (a)
1.6 1.6
Comcast Cable (a)
0.9 0.995.8 97.1Debt Subject to One-Way GuaranteesSky 2.7 3.0Other (a)
0.1 0.12.9 3.1Debt Not Guaranteed
Universal Beijing Resort (b)3.6 3.4
Other (c)
2.5 1.4
6.1 4.8Debt issuance costs, premiums, discounts, fair value adjustments for acquisition accounting and hedged positions, net(5.9) (6.0)
Total debt $ 98.9 $ 99.1
Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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Table of Contents(a) NBCUniversal Media, LLC (“NBCUniversal”), Comcast Cable Communications, LLC (“Comcast Cable”) and Comcast Holdings Corporation (“Comcast Holdings”), which is included within other debt subject to one-way guarantees, are each consolidated subsidiaries subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the SEC. The guarantee structures and related disclosures in this section, together with Exhibit 22, satisfy these reporting obligations.
(b) Universal Beijing Resort debt financing is secured by the assets of Universal Beijing Resort and the equity interests of the investors. See Note 8 for additional information.(c) Other includes $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 7.25% fixed-rate senior secured notes due January 2031 issued by Versant which was secured by the assets of Versant. Subsequent to December 31, 2025, the notes ceased to be our contractual obligation due to the completion of the Separation.Cross-Guarantees
Comcast, NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable (the “Guarantors”) fully and unconditionally, jointly and severally, guarantee each other’s debt securities. NBCUniversal and Comcast Cable also guarantee other borrowings of Comcast, including its revolving credit facility. These guarantees rank equally with all other general unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the respective Guarantors. However, the obligations of the Guarantors under the guarantees are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of their respective non-guarantor subsidiaries. The obligations of each Guarantor are limited to the maximum amount that would not render such Guarantor’s obligations subject to avoidance under applicable fraudulent conveyance provisions of U.S. and non-U.S. law. Each Guarantor’s obligations will remain in effect until all amounts payable with respect to the guaranteed securities have been paid in full. However, a guarantee by NBCUniversal or Comcast Cable of Comcast’s debt securities, or by NBCUniversal of Comcast Cable’s debt securities, will terminate upon a disposition of such Guarantor entity or all or substantially all of its assets.
The Guarantors are each holding companies that principally hold investments in, borrow from and lend to non-guarantor subsidiary operating companies; issue and service third-party debt obligations; repurchase shares and pay dividends; and engage in certain corporate and headquarters activities. The Guarantors are generally dependent on non-guarantor subsidiary operating companies to fund these activities.As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the combined Guarantors have noncurrent notes payable to non-guarantor subsidiaries of $107 billion and $88 billion, respectively, and noncurrent notes receivable from non-guarantor subsidiaries of $14 billion for both periods. This financial information is that of the Guarantors presented on a combined basis with intercompany balances between the Guarantors eliminated. The combined financial information excludes financial information of non-guarantor subsidiaries. The underlying net assets of the non-guarantor subsidiaries are significantly in excess of the Guarantor obligations. Excluding investments in non-guarantor subsidiaries, external debt and the noncurrent notes payable and receivable with non-guarantor subsidiaries, the Guarantors do not have material assets, liabilities or results of operations.One-Way GuaranteesComcast provides full and unconditional guarantees of certain debt issued by Sky Limited (“Sky” ) , including all of its senior notes, and other consolidated subsidiaries not subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the SEC.
Comcast also provides a full and unconditional guarantee of $138 million principal amount of subordinated debt issued by Comcast Holdings. Comcast’s obligations under this guarantee are subordinated and subject, in right of payment, to the prior payment in full of all of Comcast’s senior indebtedness, including debt guaranteed by Comcast on a senior basis, and are structurally subordinated to the indebtedness and other liabilities of its non-guarantor subsidiaries (for purposes of this Comcast Holdings discussion, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal are included within the non-guarantor subsidiary group). Comcast’s obligations as guarantor will remain in effect until all amounts payable with respect to the guaranteed debt have been paid in full. However, the guarantee will terminate upon a disposition of Comcast Holdings or all or substantially all of its assets. Comcast Holdings is a consolidated subsidiary holding company that directly or indirectly holds 100% and approximately 32% of our equity interests in Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal, respectively.
As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, Comcast and Comcast Holdings, the combined issuer and guarantor of the guaranteed subordinated debt, have noncurrent senior notes payable to non-guarantor subsidiaries of $71 billion and $53 billion, respectively, and noncurrent notes receivable from non-guarantor subsidiaries of $11 billion and $10 billion, respectively. This financial information is that of Comcast and Comcast Holdings presented on a combined basis with intercompany balances between Comcast and Comcast Holdings eliminated. The combined financial information excludes financial information of non-guarantor subsidiaries of Comcast and Comcast Holdings. The underlying net assets of the non-guarantor subsidiaries of Comcast and Comcast Holdings are significantly in excess of the obligations of Comcast and Comcast Holdings. Excluding investments in non-guarantor subsidiaries, external debt, and the noncurrent notes payable and receivable with non-guarantor subsidiaries, Comcast and Comcast Holdings do not have material assets, liabilities or results of operations.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
Table of ContentsCritical Accounting 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 assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making estimates about the carrying value 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 estimates associated with the valuation and impairment testing of goodwill and cable franchise rights and the accounting for film and television costs are critical in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, and the Audit Committee has reviewed the related disclosures below. See also Notes 4 and 10.
Valuation and Impairment Testing of Goodwill and Cable Franchise RightsWe assess the recoverability of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, including cable franchise rights, annually as of July 1, or more frequently whenever events or substantive changes in circumstances indicate that the assets might be impaired. We evaluate the unit of account used to test for impairment of our cable franchise rights and other indefinite-lived intangible assets periodically or whenever events or substantive changes in circumstances occur to ensure impairment testing is performed at an appropriate level. The assessment of recoverability may first consider qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit or an indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount. A quantitative assessment is performed if the qualitative assessment results in a more-likely-than-not determination or if a qualitative assessment is not performed. In connection with our impairment assessment process, from time to time, we perform quantitative assessments of our reporting units and cable franchise rights in order to support our qualitative assessments.Goodwill
Goodwill results from business combinations and represents the excess amount of the consideration paid over the identifiable assets and liabilities recorded in the acquisition. We test goodwill for impairment at the reporting unit level.When performing a quantitative assessment, we estimate the fair values of our reporting units primarily based on a discounted cash flow analysis that involves significant judgment, including market participant estimates of future cash flows expected to be generated by the business and the selection of discount rates. When performing this analysis, we also consider multiples of earnings from comparable public companies and recent market transactions.
We performed qualitative assessments in 2025 for goodwill in our Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Business Services Connectivity, Media and Theme Parks segments in connection with our annual impairment testing. These analyses considered the results of previous quantitative assessments, and also considered various factors that would affect the estimated fair value of these reporting units in our qualitative assessments, including changes in projected future cash flows, recent market transactions and overall macroeconomic conditions, discount rates, and changes in our market capitalization. Based on these assessments, we concluded that it was more likely than not that the estimated fair values of our reporting units were substantially higher than their carrying values and that the performance of a quantitative impairment test was not required. We performed a quantitative assessment in 2025 for goodwill in our Studios segment, pursuant to our practice of performing quantitative assessments from time to time. Based on this assessment, the estimated fair value of the Studios reporting unit substantially exceeded its carrying value and no impairment was required.
Changes in market conditions, laws and regulations, and key assumptions made in future quantitative assessments, such as expected cash flows, competitive factors, discount rates, and value indications from market transactions, including the separation of Versant, could negatively impact the results of future impairment testing and could result in the recognition of an impairment charge.Cable Franchise Rights
Our cable franchise rights assets result from agreements we have with state and local governments that allow us to construct and operate a cable business within a specified geographic area. The value of a franchise is derived from the economic benefits we receive from the right to solicit new customers and to market additional services in a particular service area. The amounts we record for cable franchise rights are primarily a result of cable system acquisitions. Typically when we acquire a cable system, the most significant asset we record is the value of the cable franchise rights.Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K
54Table of ContentsWhen performing a quantitative assessment, we estimate the fair values of our cable franchise rights primarily based on a discounted cash flow analysis that involves significant judgment, including the estimate of future cash flows and the selection of discount rates.
In 2025, we performed a qualitative assessment of our cable franchise rights. At the time of our previous quantitative assessment in 2022, which was pursuant to our practice of performing quantitative assessments from time to time, the estimated fair values of our franchise rights substantially exceeded their carrying values. We also considered various factors that would affect the estimated fair values of our cable franchise rights in our qualitative assessment, including changes in our projected future cash flows, recent market transactions and overall macroeconomic conditions, discount rates, and changes in our market capitalization. Based on this assessment, we concluded that it was more likely than not that the estimated fair values of our cable franchise rights were substantially higher than the carrying values and that the performance of a quantitative impairment test was not required.
Changes in market conditions, laws and regulations, and key assumptions made in future quantitative assessments, such as expected cash flows, competitive factors, discount rates, and value indications from market transactions, could negatively impact the results of future impairment testing and could result in the recognition of an impairment charge.Film and Television Content
We capitalize costs for owned film and television content, including direct costs, production overhead, print costs, development costs and interest, as well as acquired libraries. We have determined that the predominant monetization strategy for the substantial majority of our content is on an individual basis. Amortization for owned content predominantly monetized on an individual basis and accrued costs associated with participations and residuals payments are recorded using the individual film forecast computation method, which recognizes the costs in the same ratio as the associated ultimate revenue.
Our estimates of ultimate revenue for films generally include revenue from all sources that are expected to be earned within 10 years from the date of a film’s initial release. These estimates are based on the distribution strategy and historical performance of similar content, as well as factors unique to the content itself. The most sensitive factor affecting our estimate of ultimate revenue for a film intended for theatrical release is the film’s theatrical performance, as subsequent revenue from the licensing and sale of a film has historically exhibited a high correlation to its theatrical performance. Upon a film’s release, our estimates of revenue from succeeding markets, including from content licensing across multiple platforms and home entertainment sales, are revised based on historical relationships and an analysis of current market trends.
With respect to television series or other owned television programming, the most sensitive factor affecting our estimate of ultimate revenue is whether the series can be successfully licensed beyond its initial license window. Initial estimates of ultimate revenue are limited to the amount of revenue attributed to the initial license window. Once it is determined that a television series or other owned television programming can be licensed beyond the initial license window, revenue estimates for these additional windows or platforms, such as U.S. and international syndication, home entertainment, and other distribution platforms, are included in ultimate revenue. Revenue estimates for produced episodes include revenue expected to be earned within 10 years of delivery of the initial episode or, if still in production, 5 years from the delivery of the most recent episode, if later.We capitalize the costs of licensed content when the license period begins, the content is made available for use and the costs of the licenses are known. Licensed content is amortized as the associated programs are used, incorporating estimated viewing patterns.
Capitalized film and television costs are subject to impairment testing when certain triggering events are identified. The substantial majority of our owned content is evaluated for impairment on an individual title basis. Licensed content that is not part of a fil m group is tested for impairment primarily on a channel, network or platform basis, with the exception of our broadcast networks and owned local broadcast television stations, which are tested on a daypart basis. When performing an impairment assessment, we estimate fair value primarily based on a discounted cash flow analysis that involves significant judgment, including market participant estimates of future cash flows, which are supported by internal forecasts. Impairments of capitalized film and television costs were not material in any of the periods presented.
We recognize the costs of multiyear, live-event sports rights as the rights are used over the contract term based on estimated relative value. Estimated relative value is generally based on terms of the contract and the nature of and potential revenue generation of the deliverables within the contract. Sports rights are accounted for as executory contracts and are not subject to impairment.
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Comcast 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-KTable of Contents