Comcast's Suppliers Performance

To offer our video services, we license a substantial portion of our programming from cable and broadcast networks, as well as from local broadcast television stations. We attempt to secure long-term programming distribution agreements with our content providers. We also license individual programs or packages of programs from programming suppliers for our On Demand and streaming services. We seek to include in our distribution agreements the rights to offer such programming to our subscribers through multiple delivery platforms that may be used in a variety of locations, such as through On Demand, XFINITY TV online, and through our mobile apps for smartphones and tablets.

Our video programming expenses are affected by the programming license fees charged by cable networks, fees we pay for retransmission of the signals from local broadcast television stations, the number of video customers we serve and the amount of content we provide. We anticipate that our programming expenses will continue to increase as we provide additional content to our customers, including in HD; as we deliver this content through an increasing number of platforms, including On Demand, online and through our mobile apps for smartphones and tablets; and as the fees we pay increase. We believe that adding more content and delivering it on various platforms will help us attract and retain video customers.

We purchase from a limited number of suppliers a significant number of set-top boxes, network equipment and services that we use in providing our cable services.

For our high-speed Internet services, we license software products (such as email and security software) and content (such as news feeds) for our portal, XFINITY.comcast.net, from a variety of suppliers under contracts in which we generally pay on a fixed-fee basis, on a per subscriber basis in the case of software product licenses or on a video advertising revenue share basis in the case of content licenses.

For our voice services, we license software products (such as voicemail and text messaging) from a variety of suppliers under multiyear contracts. The fees we pay are generally based on the consumption of the related services.
We use two primary vendors to provide customer billing for our cable services.

Our broadcast television production operations develop and produce original content, including scripted and unscripted series and talk shows. This original content is licensed to broadcast networks, cable networks and local broadcast television stations owned by us and third parties, as well as to digital distributors, and is sold in DVD format, both in the United States and internationally. We also produce “first-run” syndicated shows, which are programs for initial exhibition on local television stations in the United States, on a market-by-market basis, without prior exhibition on a network. We currently distribute some of our television programs after their initial exhibition, as well as older television programs from our library, to local broadcast television stations and cable networks in the off-network syndication market.

We produce films both on our own and jointly with other studios or production companies, as well as with other entities. Our films are produced primarily under the Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Illumination names. Our films are marketed and distributed worldwide primarily through our own marketing and distribution companies. We also acquire distribution rights to films produced by others, which may be limited to particular geographic regions, specific forms of media or certain periods of time. Our content consists of theatrical films, direct-to-video titles and our film library, which is comprised of more than 5,000 titles in a variety of genres.

We have entered, and may continue to enter, into film cofinancing arrangements with third parties, including both studio and nonstudio entities, to jointly finance or distribute certain of our film productions. These arrangements can take various forms, but in most cases involve the grant of an economic interest in a film to an investor. Investors generally assume the full risks and rewards of ownership proportionate to their ownership in the film.

Our Theme Parks segment licenses the right to use a substantial amount of intellectual property from third parties for its themed elements in rides, attractions, retail outlets and merchandising.

To offer our video services, we license a substantial portion of our programming from cable and broadcast networks, as well as from local broadcast television stations. We attempt to secure long-term programming distribution agreements with our content providers. We also license individual programs or packages of programs from programming suppliers for our On Demand and streaming services. We seek to include in our distribution agreements the rights to offer such programming to our subscribers through multiple delivery platforms that may be used in a variety of locations, such as through On Demand, XFINITY TV online, and through our mobile apps for smartphones and tablets.

Our video programming expenses are affected by the programming license fees charged by cable networks, fees we pay for retransmission of the signals from local broadcast television stations, the number of video customers we serve and the amount of content we provide. We anticipate that our programming expenses will continue to increase as we provide additional content to our customers, including in HD; as we deliver this content through an increasing number of platforms, including On Demand, online and through our mobile apps for smartphones and tablets; and as the fees we pay increase. We believe that adding more content and delivering it on various platforms will help us attract and retain video customers.

We purchase from a limited number of suppliers a significant number of set-top boxes, network equipment and services that we use in providing our cable services.

For our high-speed Internet services, we license software products (such as email and security software) and content (such as news feeds) for our portal, XFINITY.comcast.net, from a variety of suppliers under contracts in which we generally pay on a fixed-fee basis, on a per subscriber basis in the case of software product licenses or on a video advertising revenue share basis in the case of content licenses.

For our voice services, we license software products (such as voicemail and text messaging) from a variety of suppliers under multiyear contracts. The fees we pay are generally based on the consumption of the related services.
We use two primary vendors to provide customer billing for our cable services.

Our broadcast television production operations develop and produce original content, including scripted and unscripted series and talk shows. This original content is licensed to broadcast networks, cable networks and local broadcast television stations owned by us and third parties, as well as to digital distributors, and is sold in DVD format, both in the United States and internationally. We also produce “first-run” syndicated shows, which are programs for initial exhibition on local television stations in the United States, on a market-by-market basis, without prior exhibition on a network. We currently distribute some of our television programs after their initial exhibition, as well as older television programs from our library, to local broadcast television stations and cable networks in the off-network syndication market.

We produce films both on our own and jointly with other studios or production companies, as well as with other entities. Our films are produced primarily under the Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Illumination names. Our films are marketed and distributed worldwide primarily through our own marketing and distribution companies. We also acquire distribution rights to films produced by others, which may be limited to particular geographic regions, specific forms of media or certain periods of time. Our content consists of theatrical films, direct-to-video titles and our film library, which is comprised of more than 5,000 titles in a variety of genres.

We have entered, and may continue to enter, into film cofinancing arrangements with third parties, including both studio and nonstudio entities, to jointly finance or distribute certain of our film productions. These arrangements can take various forms, but in most cases involve the grant of an economic interest in a film to an investor. Investors generally assume the full risks and rewards of ownership proportionate to their ownership in the film.

Our Theme Parks segment licenses the right to use a substantial amount of intellectual property from third parties for its themed elements in rides, attractions, retail outlets and merchandising.