Restructuring Charges and Other Corporate Matters

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Restructuring Charges and Other Corporate Matters

3) RESTRUCTURING CHARGES AND OTHER CORPORATE MATTERS

During the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, we recorded restructuring charges, merger-related costs, and costs for other corporate matters as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2020		2019
Severance	$	176	$	98
Exit costs	26		30
Restructuring charges	202		128
Merger-related costs	31		—
Other corporate matters	—		50
Restructuring and other corporate matters	$	233	$	178

Depreciation of abandoned technology	$	12	$	—

Restructuring Charges

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we recorded restructuring charges of $202 million associated with cost-transformation initiatives in connection with the Merger in an effort to reduce redundancies across our businesses. These charges primarily include severance costs and the acceleration of stock-based compensation. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, we recorded restructuring charges of $128 million, primarily for severance costs associated with a restructuring plan initiated in the first quarter of 2019 under which severance payments are being provided to certain eligible employees who voluntarily elected to participate. Restructuring charges for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 also included exit costs resulting from the termination of contractual obligations.

The following is a rollforward of our restructuring liability, which is recorded in “Other current liabilities” and “Other liabilities” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The remaining restructuring liability at March 31, 2020, which primarily relates to severance payments, is expected to be substantially paid by the end of 2021.



	Balance at			2020 Activity									Balance at
	December 31, 2019			Charges ^(a)		Payments				Other			March 31, 2020
TV Entertainment		$	99	$	28		$	(21	)	$	(1	)		$	105
Cable Networks		137		96			(16		)	(1		)		216
Filmed Entertainment		17		1			(3		)	1				16
Publishing		4		1			(1		)	—				4
Corporate		143		42			(58		)	(3		)		124
Total		$	400	$	168		$	(99	)	$	(4	)		$	465

(a) Excludes stock-based compensation expense of $34 million.

Merger-related Costs and Other Corporate Matters

For the three months ended March 31, 2020, in addition to the above-mentioned restructuring charges, we incurred merger-related costs of $31 million, consisting of transaction-related bonuses and professional fees mainly associated with integration activities. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, we incurred costs of $50 million, primarily in connection with the settlement of a commercial dispute and other legal proceedings involving the Company.

In addition, during the three months ended March 31, 2020, we recorded accelerated depreciation expense of $12 million resulting from the abandonment of technology in connection with synergy plans related to the Merger, which is recorded in “Depreciation and amortization” in the Consolidated Statement of Operations.