Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Notes)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Content Library

Content library consists of movies and video games available for rent or purchase. We obtain our movie and video game content through revenue sharing agreements and license agreements with studios and game publishers, as well as through distributors and other suppliers. The cost of content mainly includes the cost of the movies and video games, labor, overhead, freight, and studio revenue sharing expenses. The content purchases are capitalized and amortized to their estimated salvage value as a component of direct operating expenses over the usage period. Content salvage values are estimated based on the amounts that we have historically recovered on disposal. For purchased content that we expect to sell at the end of its useful life, we determine an estimated salvage value. For licensed content that we do not expect to sell, no salvage value is provided. The useful lives and salvage value of our content library are periodically reviewed and evaluated. The amortization charges were derived utilizing rental curves based on historical performance of movies and games over their useful lives and recorded on an accelerated basis, reflecting higher rentals of movies and video games in the first few weeks after release, and substantially all of the amortization expense is recognized within one year of purchase.

In the second quarter of 2013, the Company completed a review of its content library amortization methodology and updated the methodology in order to add greater precision to product cost amortization. The previous method recognized accelerated amortization of content library costs at a rate faster than the decline in the content library's value due to the recognition of charges in addition to the normal rental curve amortization whenever individual discs were removed from kiosks, a process we define as "thinning". The Company's most recent analysis has shown that its amortization curves can reasonably capture the effect of thinning and therefore eliminates the need for additional charges at the time of thinning and provides a better correlation of costs to revenue. The modified approach to amortizing the cost of the content library is based on updated rental curves, which incorporate thinning estimates, and provides a more systematic method for recognizing the costs of movie and game titles. The Company anticipates that this new method will better align the recognition of costs with the related revenue.

The Company believes that the change in its content library amortization methodology, to be made on a prospective basis, is a change in accounting estimate that is effected by a change in accounting principle. The Company believes that the modified content library amortization methodology is preferable because it better reflects the pattern of consumption of the expected benefits of the content library. See Exhibit 18.1 for a copy of our auditor's preferability letter which we have included in this 10-Q.

The effect of this change resulted in a reduction of product costs, as reported in direct operating expenses, of approximately $21.7 million in the second quarter of 2013, with those costs shifted to primarily the third and fourth quarters and some into 2014. The change resulted in a corresponding increase to the balance of our content library. In addition, the change in amortization methodology is expected to shift product costs on titles purchased during the second half of 2013 into 2014 as amortization is less accelerated than under the prior method. Under the modified amortization methodology, substantially all of the amortization expense will continue to be recognized within one year of purchase. For the second quarter of 2013, the change resulted in a benefit to net income of $13.4 million or $0.49 in basic earnings per share and $0.47 in diluted earnings per share.