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Related Party Transactions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
NBCUniversal Media LLC [Member]  
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]  
Related Party Transactions
Note 15: Related Party Transactions
In the ordinary course of our business, we enter into transactions with Comcast.
We generate revenue from Comcast primarily from the distribution of our cable network programming, the fees received under retransmission consent agreements in our Broadcast Television segment and, to a lesser extent, the sale of advertising and our owned programming, and we incur expenses primarily related to advertising and various support services provided by Comcast to us.
As part of the Comcast cash management process, we and Comcast have a revolving credit agreement with a maturity date of 2026 that allows us to borrow from Comcast and for Comcast to borrow from us up to $5 billion. Depending on the receivable or payable position, amounts owed by us to Comcast or to us by Comcast under the revolving credit agreements are presented under the captions “notes payable to Comcast” and “notes receivable from Comcast,” respectively, in our consolidated balance sheet and are presented as current since the amounts include daily borrowings and repayments throughout the year based on our working capital needs.
In 2019, using a portion of the proceeds from a collateralized obligation, we issued $1.3 billion of non-interest bearing notes due 2024 to Comcast, repaid $1.0 billion under our revolving credit agreement with Comcast, and repaid the $610 million 4.00% notes due 2049 to Comcast. The early redemption of the notes due to Comcast were accounted for as a debt extinguishment, resulting in a charge of $178 million to interest expense in the third quarter of 2019.
In October 2017, we and Comcast completed a debt exchange transaction. Comcast issued new senior notes in exchange for $3.9 billion aggregate principal amount of certain series of outstanding senior notes issued by Comcast and us, including $442 million of our 6.40% senior notes due 2040. In connection with the exchange transaction, we issued $610 million of 4.00% notes due 2049 to Comcast. The debt exchange transaction was accounted for as a debt extinguishment, and therefore we recorded a charge of $157 million to interest expense upon retirement of the old notes.
Comcast is also the counterparty to one of our contractual obligations. As of both December 31, 2019 and 2018, the carrying value of the liability associated with this contractual obligation was $383 million.
The following tables present transactions with Comcast and its consolidated subsidiaries that are included in our consolidated financial statements.
Consolidated Statement of Income
 
 
 
 
 
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
2019

 
2018

 
2017

Transactions with Comcast and Consolidated Subsidiaries
 
 
 
 
 
Revenue
$
2,398

 
$
2,156

 
$
1,837

Total costs and expenses
$
(287
)
 
$
(245
)
 
$
(214
)
Interest expense and investment and other income (loss), net
$
(133
)
 
$
(54
)
 
$
(250
)
Consolidated Balance Sheet
 
 
 
December 31 (in millions)
2019

 
2018

Transactions with Comcast and Consolidated Subsidiaries
 
 
 
Receivables, net
$
492

 
$
464

Other current assets
$
46

 
$

Notes receivable from Comcast, current
$
3,886

 
$
2,054

Film and television costs
$
26

 
$
27

Note receivable from Comcast, noncurrent
$
1,069

 
$

Other noncurrent assets, net
$
70

 
$

Accounts payable and accrued expenses related to trade creditors
$
84

 
$
78

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities
$
108

 
$
32

Notes payable to Comcast
$
99

 
$
54

Long-term debt (See Note 6)
$
156

 
$
701

Other noncurrent liabilities
$
454

 
$
410

Distributions to NBCUniversal Holdings
In addition to the transaction amounts presented in the table above, we make distributions to NBCUniversal Holdings on a periodic basis to enable its owners to meet their obligations to pay taxes on taxable income generated by our businesses. We also make quarterly distributions to NBCUniversal Holdings to enable it to make its required quarterly payments to NBCUniversal Enterprise at an initial annual rate of 8.25% on the $9.4 billion aggregate liquidation preference of its preferred units. On March 1, 2023, and thereafter on every fifth anniversary of such date, this rate will reset to 7.44% plus the yield on actively traded United States Treasury securities having a 5 year maturity. These distributions are presented under the caption “distributions to member” in our consolidated statement of cash flows.
Share-Based Compensation
Comcast maintains share-based compensation plans that consist primarily of awards of restricted share units (“RSUs”) and stock options to certain employees and directors as part of its approach to long-term incentive compensation. Additionally, through its employee stock purchase plans, employees are able to purchase shares of Comcast common stock at a discount through payroll deductions. The cost associated with Comcast’s share-based compensation is based on an award’s estimated fair value at the date of grant and is recognized over the period in which any related services are provided. RSUs are valued based on the closing price of Comcast common stock on the date of grant and are discounted for the lack of dividends, if any, during the vesting period. Stock options are valued using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Certain of our employees participate in these plans and the expense associated with their participation is settled in cash with Comcast. In 2019, 2018 and 2017, we recognized share-based compensation expense of $188 million, $151 million and $133 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, we had unrecognized pretax compensation expense of $308 million related to nonvested Comcast RSUs and unrecognized pretax compensation expense of $13 million related to nonvested Comcast stock options that will be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 1.5 years and 0.7 years, respectively.