Charter 2013 Annual Report Download - page 117

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CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2013, 2012 AND 2011
(dollars in millions, except share or per share data or where indicated)
F- 35
Stock Repurchases
See “Note 9. Treasury Stock” for the description of Charter’s purchase of shares of its Class A common stock from Franklin
Advisers, Inc., Oaktree and Apollo. At the time of the purchase, funds advised by Franklin Advisers, Inc., Oaktree and Apollo
beneficially each held more than 10% of Charter’s Class A common stock.
18. Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments
The following table summarizes the Company’s payment obligations as of December 31, 2013 for its contractual obligations.
Total 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Thereafter
Contractual Obligations
Capital and Operating Lease Obligations (1) $ 136 $ 35 $ 30 $ 26 $ 22 13 $ 10
Programming Minimum Commitments (2) 970 227 236 239 236 9 23
Other (3) 562 535 22 5 — — —
Total $ 1,668 $ 797 $ 288 $ 270 $ 258 $ 22 $ 33
(1) The Company leases certain facilities and equipment under non-cancelable operating leases. Leases and rental costs charged
to expense for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012 and 2011 were $34 million, $28 million, $27 million, respectively.
(2) The Company pays programming fees under multi-year contracts ranging from three to ten years, typically based on a flat fee
per customer, which may be fixed for the term, or may in some cases escalate over the term. Programming costs included in
the accompanying statement of operations were $2.1 billion, $2.0 billion and $1.9 billion for the years ended December 31,
2013, 2012, and 2011 respectively. Certain of the Company’s programming agreements are based on a flat fee per month or
have guaranteed minimum payments. The table sets forth the aggregate guaranteed minimum commitments under the
Company’s programming contracts.
(3) “Other” represents other guaranteed minimum commitments, which consist primarily of commitments to the Company's
customer premise equipment vendors.
The following items are not included in the contractual obligation table due to various factors discussed below. However, the
Company incurs these costs as part of its operations:
• The Company rents utility poles used in its operations. Generally, pole rentals are cancelable on short notice, but the
Company anticipates that such rentals will recur. Rent expense incurred for pole rental attachments for the years ended
December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 was $49 million, $47 million, and $49 million, respectively.
• The Company pays franchise fees under multi-year franchise agreements based on a percentage of revenues generated
from video service per year. The Company also pays other franchise related costs, such as public education grants, under
multi-year agreements. Franchise fees and other franchise-related costs included in the accompanying statement of
operations were $190 million, $176 million, and $174 million for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011
respectively.
• The Company also has $73 million in letters of credit, primarily to its various worker’s compensation, property and
casualty, and general liability carriers, as collateral for reimbursement of claims.