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Employee Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]  
Employee Benefit Plans
Note 11: Employee Benefit Plans
Deferred Compensation Plans
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2017

2016

2015

Benefit obligation
$
2,539

$
2,164

$
2,038

Interest expense
$
209

$
178

$
171


We maintain unfunded, nonqualified deferred compensation plans for certain members of management and nonemployee directors. The amount of compensation deferred by each participant is based on participant elections. Participant accounts, except for those in the NBCUniversal plan, are credited with income primarily based on a fixed annual rate. Participants in the NBCUniversal plan designate one or more valuation funds, independently established funds or indices that are used to determine the amount of investment gain or loss in the participant’s account. Participants are eligible to receive distributions from their account based on elected deferral periods that are consistent with the plans and applicable tax law.
We have purchased life insurance policies to recover a portion of the future payments related to our deferred compensation plans. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the cash surrender value of these policies, which is recorded to other noncurrent assets, was $820 million and $709 million, respectively.
Postretirement Benefit Plan
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2017

2016

Benefit obligation
$
425

$
538

Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income not yet recognized in benefits expense
$
(458
)
$
(372
)

We sponsor a retiree health and welfare benefit plan that provides postretirement benefits to eligible employees. The plan provides to eligible employees who retire from Comcast or its subsidiaries, an annual stipend for reimbursement of certain eligible healthcare costs. The amount of the stipend for an eligible retiree is fixed at a predetermined amount based on the retiree’s years of service and whether the retiree is eligible for Medicare. In December 2016, the plan was amended primarily to reduce the stipend benefits of active employees of Comcast and subsidiaries other than NBCUniversal who retire after December 31, 2017, and in 2017 additional amendments were made to reduce the benefits of NBCUniversal employees who retire after December 31, 2017. The plan amendments reduced our benefit obligation by $361 million and $146 million in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Additionally, under the plan, a small number of employees are also eligible to participate in legacy plan benefits that were previously sponsored by acquired companies.
The plan is unfunded and substantially all of our postretirement benefit obligations are recorded to noncurrent liabilities. The expense we recognize for the plan is determined using certain assumptions, including the discount rate. The benefits expense we recognized for the plan was not material in any of the periods presented.
Pension Plans
NBCUniversal sponsors various nonqualified defined benefit pension plans for domestic employees. Since the future benefits have been frozen since the beginning of 2013, we did not recognize service costs related to the pension plans for any period presented. The benefits expense we recognized for our defined benefit plans was not material in any of the periods presented. In addition to the defined benefit plans it sponsors, NBCUniversal is also obligated to reimburse The General Electric Company (“GE”) for future benefit payments to those participants who were vested in the supplemental pension plan sponsored by GE at the time of the NBCUniversal transaction in 2011. These pension plans are currently unfunded and we recorded a benefit obligation of $338 million and $314 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which consists primarily of our obligations to reimburse GE.
Retirement Investment Plans
We sponsor several 401(k) defined contribution retirement plans that allow eligible employees to contribute a portion of their compensation through payroll deductions in accordance with specified plan guidelines. We make contributions to the plans that include matching a percentage of the employees’ contributions up to certain limits. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, expenses related to these plans totaled $458 million, $446 million and $416 million, respectively.
Multiemployer Benefit Plans
We participate in various multiemployer benefit plans, including pension and postretirement benefit plans, that cover some of our employees and temporary employees who are represented by labor unions. We also participate in other multiemployer benefit plans that provide health and welfare and retirement savings benefits to active and retired participants. We make periodic contributions to these plans in accordance with the terms of applicable collective bargaining agreements and laws but do not sponsor or administer these plans. We do not participate in any multiemployer benefit plans for which we consider our contributions to be individually significant.
In 2017, 2016 and 2015, the total contributions we made to multiemployer pension plans were $97 million, $84 million and $77 million, respectively. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, the total contributions we made to multiemployer postretirement and other benefit plans were $152 million, $136 million and $119 million, respectively.
If we cease to be obligated to make contributions or were to otherwise withdraw from participation in any of these plans, applicable law would require us to fund our allocable share of the unfunded vested benefits, which is known as a withdrawal liability. In addition, actions taken by other participating employers may lead to adverse changes in the financial condition of one of these plans, which could result in an increase in our withdrawal liability.
Severance Benefits
We provide severance benefits to certain former employees. A liability is recorded when payment is probable, the amount is reasonably estimable, and the obligation relates to rights that have vested or accumulated. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recorded severance costs of $203 million, $315 million and $181 million, respectively. Severance costs in 2016 included $61 million of severance costs associated with the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation.
NBCUniversal Media LLC [Member]  
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Table Text Block [Line Items]  
Employee Benefit Plans
Note 11: Employee Benefit Plans
Deferred Compensation Plans
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2017

2016

2015

Benefit obligation
$
621

$
494

$
417

Interest expense
$
64

$
48

$
28

Certain members of management participate in Comcast’s unfunded, nonqualified deferred compensation plan. The amount of compensation deferred by each participant is based on participant elections. Participant accounts are credited with income primarily based on a fixed annual rate.
Additionally, we maintain unfunded, nonqualified deferred compensation plans for certain members of management. The amount of compensation deferred by each participant is based on participant elections. Participants designate one or more valuation funds, independently established funds or indices that are used to determine the amount of investment gain or loss in the participant’s account.
Deferred compensation plan participants are eligible to receive distributions from their account based on elected deferral periods that are consistent with the plans and applicable tax law.
Postretirement Benefit Plan
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2017

2016

Benefit obligation
$
51

$
192

Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income not yet recognized in benefits expense
$
(177
)
$
(42
)
We provide postretirement benefits to eligible employees through a retiree health and welfare benefits plan. The plan provides credit to employees for length of service provided before Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal.
The plan provides eligible employees who retire from NBCUniversal with an annual stipend for reimbursement of certain eligible healthcare costs. The amount of the stipend for an eligible retiree is fixed at a predetermined amount based on the retiree’s years of service and whether the retiree is eligible for Medicare. In 2017, the plan was amended primarily to reduce the benefits of active employees who retire after December 31, 2017. The plan amendment reduced the benefit obligation by $146 million in 2017.
The plan is unfunded and substantially all of our postretirement benefit obligations are recorded to noncurrent liabilities. The expense we recognize for the plan is determined using certain assumptions, including the discount rate. The benefits expense we recognized for the plan was not material in any of the periods presented.
Pension Plans
We sponsor various nonqualified defined benefit pension plans for domestic employees. Since the future benefits have been frozen since the beginning of 2013, we did not recognize service costs related to our pension plans in any of the periods presented. The benefits expense we recognized for our defined benefit plans was not material for any period presented. In addition to the defined benefit plans we sponsor, we are also obligated to reimburse The General Electric Company (“GE”) for future benefit payments to those participants who were vested in the supplemental pension plan sponsored by GE at the time of Comcast’s acquisition of NBCUniversal. These pension plans are currently unfunded and we recorded a benefit obligation of $338 million and $314 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which consists primarily of our obligations to reimburse GE.
Retirement Investment Plans
We sponsor several defined contribution retirement plans, including 401(k) plans, that allow eligible employees to contribute a portion of their compensation through payroll deductions in accordance with specified plan guidelines. We make contributions to the plans that include matching a percentage of the employees’ contributions up to certain limits. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, expenses related to these plans totaled $201 million, $185 million and $174 million, respectively.
Multiemployer Benefit Plans
We participate in various multiemployer benefit plans, including pension and postretirement benefit plans, that cover some of our employees and temporary employees who are represented by labor unions. We also participate in other multiemployer benefit plans that provide health and welfare and retirement savings benefits to active and retired participants. We make periodic contributions to these plans in accordance with the terms of applicable collective bargaining agreements and laws but do not sponsor or administer these plans. We do not participate in any multiemployer benefit plans for which we consider our contributions to be individually significant.
In 2017, 2016 and 2015, the total contributions we made to multiemployer pension plans were $97 million, $84 million and $77 million, respectively. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, the total contributions we made to multiemployer postretirement and other benefit plans were $152 million, $136 million and $119 million, respectively.
If we cease to be obligated to make contributions or were to otherwise withdraw from participation in any of these plans, applicable law would require us to fund our allocable share of the unfunded vested benefits, which is known as a withdrawal liability. In addition, actions taken by other participating employers may lead to adverse changes in the financial condition of one of these plans, which could result in an increase in our withdrawal liability.
Severance Benefits
We provide severance benefits to certain former employees. A liability is recorded when payment is probable, the amount is reasonably estimable, and the obligation relates to rights that have vested or accumulated. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recorded severance costs of $108 million, $165 million and $113 million, respectively. Severance costs in 2016 included $61 million of severance costs associated with the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation.