Segment Reporting

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Segment Reporting

Segment Reporting

16.Segment Reporting

Our reportable segments are strategic business units managed separately based on different business strategies, services and products.

Our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) is our President and Chief Executive Officer. “OIBDA,” defined as “Operating income (loss)” plus “Depreciation and amortization,” is the primary measure used by our CODM to evaluate segment operating performance. The CODM regularly reviews budget-to-actual variances of OIBDA when evaluating segment performance and allocating resources to each segment.

Historically, we reported four primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Retail Wireless; (3) 5G Network Deployment; and (4) Broadband and Satellite Services. However, based on the information provided to the CODM and to align with management’s view of the business, we concluded that the Retail Wireless and 5G Network Deployment segments should be combined to a single segment, the “Wireless” segment.

We currently operate three primary business segments: (1) Pay-TV; (2) Wireless; and (3) Broadband and Satellite Services. See Note 1 for further information. Our Pay-TV segment revenue is primarily derived from Pay-TV subscriber revenue. Our Wireless segment revenue is primarily derived from Wireless subscriber revenue and selling wireless devices to subscribers. Our Broadband and Satellite Services segment revenue is primarily derived from Broadband subscriber revenue, broadband services revenue and communications equipment sales and leases.

All other and eliminations primarily include intersegment eliminations related to intercompany revenue and the related expense, which are eliminated in consolidation.

The CODM is not regularly provided assets on a segment basis; therefore, such information is not presented. 

The revenue, expense, operating income (loss) and OIBDA by segment were as follows:

The significant expense categories and amounts align with the segment-level information that is regularly provided to the CODM. Intersegment expenses are included within the amounts presented.

	Pay-TV		Wireless		Broadband and Satellite Services		Eliminations		Consolidated Total
	(In thousands)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2024
Revenue
Revenue from external customers:
Service revenue	$	10,602,475	$	3,156,760	$	1,196,891	$	—	$	14,956,126
Equipment sales and other revenue		71,002		448,477		349,911		—		869,390
Intersegment revenue		14,727		2,746		28,986		(46,459)		—
Total Revenue		10,688,204		3,607,983		1,575,788		(46,459)		15,825,516
Operating Expenses
Cost of services:
Programming		5,060,083		—		—		—		5,060,083
Connectivity services (1)		224,112		2,570,988		203,498		(9,032)		2,989,566
Other (2)		1,262,311		529,328		299,242		(4,908)		2,085,973
Total cost of services		6,546,506		3,100,316		502,740		(13,940)		10,135,622
Cost of services - equipment and other		80,271		1,250,656		308,412		(2,384)		1,636,955
Selling, general and administrative expenses:
Subscriber acquisition costs		425,227		650,794		194,665		(3,192)		1,267,494
Selling, general and administrative expenses		650,915		303,240		228,076		(22,909)		1,159,322
Total selling, general and administrative expenses		1,076,142		954,034		422,741		(26,101)		2,426,816
OIBDA (3)		2,985,285		(1,697,023)		341,895		(4,034)		1,626,123
Depreciation and amortization		337,331		1,134,883		459,796		(1,817)		1,930,193
Total costs and expenses		8,040,250		6,439,889		1,693,689		(44,242)		16,129,586
Operating income (loss)	$	2,647,954	$	(2,831,906)	$	(117,901)	$	(2,217)		(304,070)
Unallocated Amounts
Interest income										116,625
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized										(481,622)
Other, net										593,497
Income (loss) before income taxes									$	(75,570)

(1) “Connectivity services” is the cost to deliver our services and products to customers, which includes, among other things, network, transport and data, cloud based service, satellite and transmission, and other related costs.

(2) “Other” primarily consists of variable costs including call center, manufacturing, dealer incentive, bad debt, billing and other variable costs, as well as costs to retain our subscribers.

(3) OIBDA is a non-GAAP measure and does not purport to be an alternative to operating income (loss) as a measure of operating performance. We believe this measure is useful to management, investors and other users of our financial information in evaluating operating profitability of our business segments on a more variable cost basis as it excludes the depreciation and amortization expenses related primarily to capital expenditures and acquisitions for those business segments, as well as in evaluating operating performance in relation to our competitors.

	Pay-TV		Wireless		Broadband and Satellite Services		Eliminations		Consolidated Total
	(In thousands)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
Revenue
Revenue from external customers:
Service revenue	$	11,377,524	$	3,337,186	$	1,431,053	$	—	$	16,145,763
Equipment sales and other revenue		175,948		394,167		299,720		—		869,835
Intersegment revenue		17,687		807		24,786		(43,280)		—
Total Revenue		11,571,159		3,732,160		1,755,559		(43,280)		17,015,598
Operating Expenses
Cost of services:
Programming		5,301,968		—		—		—		5,301,968
Connectivity services		245,716		1,530,184		197,358		(3,416)		1,969,842
Other		1,429,944		482,149		333,517		(6,993)		2,238,617
Total cost of services		6,977,628		2,012,333		530,875		(10,409)		9,510,427
Cost of services - equipment and other		91,164		2,110,706		241,570		(8,536)		2,434,904
Selling, general and administrative expenses:
Subscriber acquisition costs		687,338		701,814		227,754		(6,391)		1,610,515
Selling, general and administrative expenses		727,470		412,671		258,625		(20,127)		1,378,639
Total selling, general and administrative expenses		1,414,808		1,114,485		486,379		(26,518)		2,989,154
Impairments for long-lived assets and goodwill		6,457		218,560		536,082		—		761,099
OIBDA		3,081,102		(1,723,924)		(39,347)		2,183		1,320,014
Depreciation and amortization		381,292		800,629		419,262		(3,260)		1,597,923
Total costs and expenses		8,871,349		6,256,713		2,214,168		(48,723)		17,293,507
Operating income (loss)	$	2,699,810	$	(2,524,553)	$	(458,609)	$	5,443		(277,909)
Unallocated Amounts
Interest income										207,374
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized										(90,357)
Other, net										(1,770,792)
Income (loss) before income taxes									$	(1,931,684)

	Pay-TV		Wireless		Broadband and Satellite Services		Eliminations		Consolidated Total
	(In thousands)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Revenue
Revenue from external customers:
Service revenue	$	12,348,995	$	3,653,892	$	1,593,378	$	—	$	17,596,265
Equipment sales and other revenue		137,633		525,820		374,528		—		1,037,981
Intersegment revenue		18,764		306		30,187		(49,257)		—
Total Revenue		12,505,392		4,180,018		1,998,093		(49,257)		18,634,246
Operating Expenses
Cost of services:
Programming		5,584,877		—		—		—		5,584,877
Connectivity services		261,942		1,680,811		204,384		(5,799)		2,141,338
Other		1,576,608		454,262		362,927		(8,671)		2,385,126
Total cost of services		7,423,427		2,135,073		567,311		(14,470)		10,111,341
Cost of services - equipment and other		97,315		1,715,276		294,683		(8,138)		2,099,136
Selling, general and administrative expenses:
Subscriber acquisition costs		879,620		512,721		254,751		(7,669)		1,639,423
Selling, general and administrative expenses		742,661		416,578		236,274		(19,611)		1,375,902
Total selling, general and administrative expenses		1,622,281		929,299		491,025		(27,280)		3,015,325
Impairments for long-lived assets and goodwill		—		—		711		—		711
OIBDA		3,362,369		(599,630)		644,363		631		3,407,733
Depreciation and amortization		428,471		288,602		462,748		(4,926)		1,174,895
Total costs and expenses		9,571,494		5,068,250		1,816,478		(54,814)		16,401,408
Operating income (loss)	$	2,933,898	$	(888,232)	$	181,615	$	5,557		2,232,838
Unallocated Amounts
Interest income										93,240
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized										(79,217)
Other, net										1,088,441
Income (loss) before income taxes									$	3,335,302

The purchases of property and equipment, net of refunds, (including capitalized interest related to Regulatory authorizations) by segment were as follows:

					Broadband
					and Satellite
	Pay-TV		Wireless		Services		Eliminations		Total
	(In thousands)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2024
Purchases of property and equipment, net of refunds, (including capitalized interest related to regulatory authorizations)	$	218,473	$	2,065,570	$	212,581	$	—	$	2,496,624
For the Year Ended December 31, 2023
Purchases of property and equipment, net of refunds, (including capitalized interest related to regulatory authorizations)	$	242,736	$	3,748,624	$	233,423	$	—	$	4,224,783
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Purchases of property and equipment, net of refunds, (including capitalized interest related to regulatory authorizations)	$	131,093	$	3,580,518	$	325,891	$	(2,721)	$	4,034,781

Geographic Information. Revenue is attributed to geographic regions based upon the customer billing location. Long-lived assets are associated with the geographic regions based upon the location where the asset resides. Geographic regions consist of: (i) North America, including the U.S. and its territories, Mexico, and Canada; (ii) Foreign, including South and Central America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, India, and the Middle East.

The following table summarizes revenue by geographic region:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Revenue:	2024		2023		2022
	(In thousands)
North America	$	15,508,769	$	16,670,377	$	18,244,417
Foreign		316,747		345,221		389,829
Total revenue	$	15,825,516	$	17,015,598	$	18,634,246

The following table summarizes long-lived assets by geographic region:

	As of December 31,
Long-lived assets:	2024		2023
	(In thousands)
North America	$	51,729,583	$	50,965,318
Foreign		160,483		234,944
Total long-lived assets	$	51,890,066	$	51,200,262

The revenue from external customers disaggregated by major revenue source was as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Category:	2024		2023		2022
	(In thousands)
Pay-TV subscriber and related revenue	$	10,613,653	$	11,385,961	$	12,360,601
Wireless services and related revenue		3,156,760		3,337,240		3,653,909
Broadband and satellite services and other revenue		1,204,938		1,443,616		1,611,069
Pay-TV equipment sales and other revenue		74,551		185,198		144,791
Wireless equipment sales and other revenue		451,223		394,920		526,109
Broadband equipment and other revenue		370,850		311,943		387,024
Eliminations		(46,459)		(43,280)		(49,257)
Total	$	15,825,516	$	17,015,598	$	18,634,246