Commitments and Contingencies (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments

The following table summarizes the Company’s payment obligations as of December 31, 2023 for its contractual obligations which consists of guaranteed minimum commitments, including rights negotiated directly with content owners for distribution on company-owned channels or networks, commitments related to our role as an advertising and distribution sales agent for third party-owned channels or networks, commitments to our customer premise equipment and device vendors, contractual obligations related to third-party network augmentation and guaranteed minimum commitments under the Company’s programming contracts.


2024	$	3,171
2025	1,221
2026	1,092
2027	969
2028	633
Thereafter	5,586
	$	12,672

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, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $230 million, $207 million and $200 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 $664 million, $730 million and $733 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 respectively.

•The Company has $530 million in letters of credit, of which $36 million is secured under the Charter Operating credit facility, primarily to its various casualty carriers as collateral for reimbursement of workers' compensation, auto liability and general liability claims, as well as $296 million of surety bonds.

Legal Proceedings

On April 27, 2022, Entropic Communications, LLC (“Entropic”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas alleging that Charter infringed six patents relating to the deployment of certain set-top boxes, cable modems and cable modem termination systems. Entropic sought monetary damages, including future license fees. On February 10, 2023, Entropic filed a separate lawsuit against Charter in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The lawsuit alleged infringement of three patents that also relate to the deployment of certain set-top boxes and cable modems. Entropic sought monetary damages. On February 10, 2023, Entropic filed two more lawsuits against Charter in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The two lawsuits alleged infringement of a total of twelve patents that relate to certain set-top boxes. Entropic sought monetary damages, including future license fees. On December 10, 2023, Charter and Entropic executed a settlement agreement that resolved all of these matters and the litigation was dismissed with prejudice.

The California Attorney General and the Alameda County, California District Attorney are investigating whether certain of Charter’s waste disposal policies, procedures and practices are in violation of the California Business and Professions Code and the California Health and Safety Code. That investigation was commenced in January 2014. A similar investigation involving TWC was initiated in February 2012. Charter is cooperating with these investigations. While the Company is unable to predict the outcome of these investigations, it does not expect that the outcome will have a material effect on its operations, financial condition, or cash flows.

In addition to the Entropic litigation described above, the Company is a defendant or co-defendant in several lawsuits involving alleged infringement of various intellectual property relating to various aspects of its businesses. Other industry participants are also defendants in certain of these cases or related cases. In the event that a court ultimately determines that the Company infringes on any intellectual property, the Company may be subject to substantial damages and/or an injunction that could require the Company or its vendors to modify certain products and services the Company offers to its subscribers, as well as negotiate royalty or license agreements with respect to the intellectual property at issue. While the Company believes the lawsuits are without merit and intends to defend the actions vigorously, no assurance can be given that any adverse outcome would not be material to the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity. The Company cannot predict the outcome of any such claims nor can it reasonably estimate a range of possible loss.

The Company is party to other lawsuits, claims and regulatory inquiries that arise in the ordinary course of conducting its business. The ultimate outcome of these other legal matters pending against the Company cannot be predicted, and although such lawsuits and claims are not expected individually to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity, such lawsuits could have, in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Whether or not the Company ultimately prevails in any particular lawsuit or claim, litigation can be time consuming and costly and injure the Company’s reputation.