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Revenue Recognition
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue Recognition
NOTE 5. REVENUE RECOGNITION

Revenue Categories
The following tables set forth reported revenue by category and by business unit. Intercompany transactions between segments and the dual reporting of certain advertising revenues are included in “Eliminations and consolidations.” Intercompany transactions between Turner, Home Box Office and Warner Bros., including internal sales of HBO Max that began in the fourth quarter of 2019, are included in “Eliminations and other.”
For the three months ended September 30, 2020
 Service Revenues  
 WirelessAdvanced DataLegacy Voice & DataSubscriptionContentAdvertisingOtherEquipmentTotal
Communications         
Mobility$13,811 $ $ $ $ $72 $ $4,011 $17,894 
Entertainment
Group
 2,128 538 6,556  408 373 50 10,053 
Business
Wireline
 3,348 2,031    780 181 6,340 
WarnerMedia
Turner   1,840 175 1,077 84  3,176 
Home Box
Office
   1,624 150  7  1,781 
Warner Bros.   11 2,293 1 106  2,411 
Eliminations
and other1
   87 (488)529 18  146 
Latin America
Vrio   753     753 
Mexico385       258 643 
Corporate and
Other
169 14 138    52 58 431 
Eliminations and
consolidations2
   (790) (408)(90) (1,288)
Total Operating
Revenues
$14,365 $5,490 $2,707 $10,081 $2,130 $1,679 $1,330 $4,558 $42,340 
1“Eliminations and other” of $488 include Warner Bros. content sales of approximately $200 with HBO Max, $180 with HBO linear and $100 with Turner.
2“Eliminations and consolidations” of $790 include approximately $370 and $250 of Turner and HBO linear channel distribution arrangements with the Entertainment Group, respectively, and $120 of HBO Max customer subscriptions at Mobility.
For the three months ended September 30, 2019
 Service Revenues  
 WirelessAdvanced DataLegacy Voice & DataSubscriptionContentAdvertisingOtherEquipmentTotal
Communications         
Mobility$13,856 $— $— $— $— $74 $— $3,771 $17,701 
Entertainment
Group
— 2,117 628 7,512 — 421 517 11,197 
Business
Wireline
— 3,269 2,252 — — — 783 199 6,503 
WarnerMedia
Turner— — — 1,927 89 913 78 — 3,007 
Home Box
Office
— — — 1,533 284 — — 1,819 
Warner Bros.— — — 23 3,129 13 168 — 3,333 
Eliminations
and other1
— — — 57 (387)523 (2)— 191 
Latin America
Vrio— — — 1,013 — — — — 1,013 
Mexico455 — — — — — — 262 717 
Corporate and
Other
124 13 — — — 227 37 407 
Eliminations and
consolidations2
— — — (798)— (421)(81)— (1,300)
Total Operating
Revenues
$14,435 $5,399 $2,886 $11,267 $3,115 $1,523 $1,692 $4,271 $44,588 
1“Eliminations and other” of $387 include Warner Bros. content sales of approximately $110 with HBO linear and $170 with Turner.
2“Eliminations and consolidations” of $798 include approximately $430 and $330 of Turner and HBO linear channel distribution arrangements with the Entertainment Group, respectively.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2020
 Service Revenues  
 WirelessAdvanced DataLegacy Voice & DataSubscriptionContentAdvertisingOtherEquipmentTotal
Communications         
Mobility$41,314 $ $ $ $ $206 $ $10,925 $52,445 
Entertainment
Group
 6,329 1,679 20,220  1,115 1,189 105 30,637 
Business
Wireline
 9,943 6,227    2,315 561 19,046 
WarnerMedia
Turner   5,693 595 2,830 208  9,326 
Home Box
Office
   4,403 488  14  4,905 
Warner Bros.   37 8,532 4 334  8,907 
Eliminations
and other1
   221 (2,650)1,416 51  (962)
Latin America
Vrio   2,392     2,392 
Mexico1,197       629 1,826 
Corporate and
Other
464 38 424    197 133 1,256 
Eliminations and
consolidations2
   (2,349) (1,115)(245) (3,709)
Total Operating
Revenues
$42,975 $16,310 $8,330 $30,617 $6,965 $4,456 $4,063 $12,353 $126,069 
1“Eliminations and other” of $2,650 include Warner Bros. contents sales of approximately $1,850 with HBO Max, $510 with HBO linear and $220 with Turner.
2“Eliminations and consolidations” of $2,349 include approximately $1,170 and $880 of Turner and HBO linear channel distribution arrangements with the Entertainment Group, respectively, and $150 of HBO Max customer subscriptions at Mobility.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2019
 Service Revenues  
 WirelessAdvanced DataLegacy Voice & DataSubscriptionContentAdvertisingOtherEquipmentTotal
Communications         
Mobility$41,171 $— $— $— $— $212 $— $10,973 $52,356 
Entertainment
Group
— 6,296 1,969 22,872 — 1,170 1,580 33,893 
Business
Wireline
— 9,649 6,973 — — — 2,430 536 19,588 
WarnerMedia
Turner— — — 5,835 335 3,440 250 — 9,860 
Home Box
Office
— — — 4,383 655 — — 5,045 
Warner Bros.— — — 67 9,636 33 504 — 10,240 
Eliminations
and other1
— — — 160 (776)1,451 10 — 845 
Latin America
Vrio— — — 3,112 — — — — 3,112 
Mexico1,376 — — — — — — 717 2,093 
Corporate and
Other
437 40 20 — — — 605 116 1,218 
Eliminations and
consolidations2
— — — (2,475)— (1,170)(233)— (3,878)
Total Operating
Revenues
$42,984 $15,985 $8,962 $33,954 $9,850 $5,136 $5,153 $12,348 $134,372 
1“Eliminations and other” of $776 included Warner Bros. content sales of approximately $310 with HBO linear and $290 with Turner.
2“Eliminations and consolidations” of $2,475 include approximately $1,340 and $1,000 of Turner and HBO linear channel distribution arrangements with the Entertainment Group, respectively.

Deferred Customer Contract Acquisition and Fulfillment Costs
Costs to acquire and fulfill customer contracts, including commissions on service activations, for our wireless, business wireline and video entertainment services, are deferred and amortized over the contract period or expected customer relationship life, which typically ranges from three years to five years. For contracts with an estimated amortization period of less than one year, we expense incremental costs immediately.
 
The following table presents the deferred customer contract acquisition and fulfillment costs included on our consolidated balance sheets:
 September 30,December 31,
Consolidated Balance Sheets20202019
Deferred Acquisition Costs  
Other current assets$2,831 $2,462 
Other Assets3,114 2,991 
Total deferred customer contract acquisition costs$5,945 $5,453 
Deferred Fulfillment Costs
Other current assets$4,234 $4,519 
Other Assets5,781 6,439 
Total deferred customer contract fulfillment costs$10,015 $10,958 

The following table presents deferred customer contract acquisition and fulfillment cost amortization included in “Other cost of revenue” for the nine months ended:
 September 30,September 30,
Consolidated Statements of Income20202019
Deferred acquisition cost amortization$1,969 $1,565 
Deferred fulfillment cost amortization3,888 3,656 

Contract Assets and Liabilities
A contract asset is recorded when revenue is recognized in advance of our right to bill and receive consideration. The contract asset will decrease as services are provided and billed. For example, when installment sales include promotional discounts (e.g., “buy one get one free”) the difference between revenue recognized and consideration received is recorded as a contract asset to be amortized over the contract term.

When consideration is received in advance of the delivery of goods or services, a contract liability is recorded for deferred revenue. Reductions in the contract liability will be recorded as we satisfy the performance obligations.
 
The following table presents contract assets and liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets:
 September 30,December 31,
Consolidated Balance Sheets20202019
Contract asset$2,817 $2,472 
Contract liability6,617 6,999 

Our beginning of period contract liability recorded as customer contract revenue during 2020 was $5,340.
 
Our consolidated balance sheets at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019 included $1,729 and $1,611, respectively, for the current portion of our contract asset in “Other current assets” and $5,762 and $5,939, respectively, for the current portion of our contract liability in “Advanced billings and customer deposits.”
 
Remaining Performance Obligations
Remaining performance obligations represent services we are required to provide to customers under bundled or discounted arrangements, which are satisfied as services are provided over the contract term. In determining the transaction price allocated, we do not include non-recurring charges and estimates for usage, nor do we consider arrangements with an original expected duration of less than one year, which are primarily prepaid wireless, video and residential internet agreements.
 
Remaining performance obligations associated with business contracts reflect recurring charges billed, adjusted to reflect estimates for sales incentives and revenue adjustments. Performance obligations associated with wireless contracts are estimated using a portfolio approach in which we review all relevant promotional activities, calculating the remaining performance obligation using the average service component for the portfolio and the average device price. As of September 30, 2020, the aggregate amount of the transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations was $39,385, of which we expect to recognize approximately 74% by the end of 2021, with the balance recognized thereafter.