12. REVENUE RECOGNITION

We adopted the new accounting guidance for revenue recognition (i.e. ASU 2014-09) as of January 1, 2018.

We disaggregate revenue from contracts with customers by type of services. We have determined that disaggregating revenue into these categories depicts how the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows are affected by economic factors in our one reporting segment.

Nature of Services

Our primary revenue stream is subscription-based and consists of video service, high-speed data service and phone service. These services have base-level offerings and can be upgraded to premium level services. Residential customers can cancel their services at any time with no penalty. Small-to-medium business customers and large enterprise-class customers (collectively, “business customers”) are generally subject to fixed-term contracts with penalties imposed for early cancellation. We recognize revenue as services are provided on a monthly basis in an amount that reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for those services. Billing for all services (regardless of customer type) typically occurs in advance of services being delivered and paid by customers on a monthly basis.

We also generate revenue from installation services and customer premise equipment rental associated with our subscription-based services. After installation occurs, equipment is rented to the customer over the service period to allow the customer to use the various subscription services noted above. Fees for installation services are viewed as advance payments for future services and are recognized over the period of benefit which is estimated to be the life of the customer relationship (approximately three years for residential customers and 1-10 years for all other customers). Customer premise equipment rentals are not separate performance obligations as they are considered to be highly interdependent on the underlying video, high-speed data and/or telephone service. Revenue for equipment rental is recognized when control of the underlying services is transferred to our customers over time.

One of our other revenue streams is advertising sales. These revenues represent the insertion of commercials into various video and/or Internet platforms for an advertising customer. The performance obligation for these contracts is satisfied as the commercials are displayed. There are no agent relationships included in our delivery of our advertising services. Our obligation for returns and/or refunds is deemed insignificant. Revenue is recognized at a point in time as commercials are displayed by us and viewed by the public.

A significant portion of our revenue streams are derived from customers who may cancel their subscriptions at any time without penalty. As such, the amount of revenue related to unsatisfied, remaining performance obligations is not necessarily indicative of the future revenue to be recognized from our existing customer base. Revenue from customers with a contract containing a specified contract term and non-cancelable service period will be recognized over the term of such contracts, which is generally 1-10 years.

Franchise fees imposed by local governmental authorities are collected on a monthly basis from our customers and are periodically remitted to the local governmental authorities. Because franchise fees are our obligation, we present them on a gross basis within revenues with a corresponding operating expense. Franchise fees reported on a gross basis amounted to $5.3 million for each of the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.

Our revenues by type of service are as follows (dollars in thousands):


	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
Type of service	2019		2018
HSD	$	109,436	$	97,501
Video		103,195		107,672
Phone		15,918		15,149
Business services		42,350		40,153
Advertising		8,355		9,206

Total revenues	$	279,254	$	269,681

Virtually all of our revenue streams, including subscription services and equipment rental, are recognized over time. We recognize revenue at a point in time for services such as pay-per-view, video on demand, advertising and miscellaneous fees.