INTANGIBLE ASSETS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

The following table summarizes information relating to the Company's acquired amortizable intangible assets:



	As of December 31, 2017							As of December 31, 2016
	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization			Net Carrying Amount		Estimated Useful Lives
Customer relationships	$	5,970,884	$	(1,409,021	)	$	4,561,863	$	5,925,884	$	(580,276	)	$	5,345,608	8 to 18 years
Trade names (a)	1,067,083		(588,574		)	478,509		1,066,783		(83,397		)	983,386		2 to 5 years
Other amortizable intangibles	37,060		(10,978		)	26,082		26,743		(3,093		)	23,650		1 to 15 years
	$	7,075,027	$	(2,008,573	)	$	5,066,454	$	7,019,410	$	(666,766	)	$	6,352,644

(a)

On May 23, 2017, Altice N.V. announced the adoption of a global brand to replace the Company's brands in the future, reducing the remaining useful lives of these trade name intangibles to three years from the date of the adoption, which reflected one year as an in-use asset and two years as a defensive asset. In December 2017, the Company made a decision to postpone the adoption of a global brand that would have replaced the Optimum brand, increasing the useful life of the Optimum trade name intangible asset to 5 years.

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 and aggregated $1,341,807 and $653,410, respectively.

The following table sets forth the estimated amortization expense on intangible assets for the periods presented:



Estimated amortization expense
Year Ending December 31, 2018	$	873,133
Year Ending December 31, 2019	777,846
Year Ending December 31, 2020	696,240
Year Ending December 31, 2021	616,718
Year Ending December 31, 2022	537,100

The following table summarizes information relating to the Company's acquired indefinite-lived intangible assets as of December 31, 2017:



	As of December 31, 2017						As of December 31, 2016
	Cablevision		Cequel		Total		Cablevision		Cequel		Total
Cable television franchises	$	8,113,575	$	4,906,506	$	13,020,081	$	8,113,575	$	4,906,506	$	13,020,081
Goodwill	5,866,120		2,153,741		8,019,861		5,838,959		2,153,741		7,992,700
Total	$	13,979,695	$	7,060,247	$	21,039,942	$	13,952,534	$	7,060,247	$	21,012,781

The carrying amount of goodwill is presented below:



Gross goodwill as of January 1, 2016	$	2,040,402
Goodwill recorded in connection with Cablevision Acquisition	5,838,959
Adjustments to purchase accounting relating to Cequel Acquisition	113,339
Gross goodwill as of January 1, 2017	7,992,700
Goodwill recorded in connection with acquisitions in the first and fourth quarters of 2017 (Cablevision Segment)	23,948
Adjustments to purchase accounting relating to Cablevision Acquisition	3,213
Net goodwill as of December 31, 2017	$	8,019,861

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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