Program Rights and Obligations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Film, Disclosures [Abstract]

Programs Rights and Obligations

Program Rights and Obligations

Program Rights

Total capitalized produced and licensed content by predominant monetization strategy is as follows:

	December 31, 2023
(In thousands)	Predominantly Monetized Individually		Predominantly Monetized as a Group		Total
Owned original program rights, net:
Completed	$	139,363	$	532,839	$	672,202
In-production and in-development	—		284,455		284,455
Total owned original program rights, net	$	139,363	$	817,294	$	956,657
Licensed program rights, net:
Licensed film and acquired series	$	973	$	599,607	$	600,580
Licensed originals	1,555		169,489		171,044
Advances and other production costs	—		82,252		82,252
Total licensed program rights, net	2,528		851,348		853,876
Program rights, net	$	141,891	$	1,668,642	$	1,810,533
Current portion of program rights, net					$	7,880
Program rights, net (long-term)					1,802,653
					$	1,810,533

	December 31, 2022
(In thousands)	Predominantly Monetized Individually		Predominantly Monetized as a Group		Total
Owned original program rights, net:
Completed	$	215,496	$	322,248	$	537,744
In-production and in-development	45,098		294,086		339,184
Total owned original program rights, net	$	260,594	$	616,334	$	876,928
Licensed program rights, net:
Licensed film and acquired series	$	3,092	$	642,768	$	645,860
Licensed originals	5,373		171,418		176,791
Advances and other production costs	—		74,167		74,167
Total licensed program rights, net	8,465		888,353		896,818
Program rights, net	$	269,059	$	1,504,687	$	1,773,746
Current portion of program rights, net					$	10,807
Program rights, net (long-term)					1,762,939
					$	1,773,746

Amortization, including write-offs, of owned and licensed program rights is as follows:

	Year Ended December 31, 2023
(In thousands)	Predominantly Monetized Individually		Predominantly Monetized as a Group		Total
Owned original program rights	$	154,523	$	282,954	$	437,477
Licensed program rights	3,162		465,519		468,681
Program rights amortization	$	157,685	$	748,473	$	906,158

	Year Ended December 31, 2022
(In thousands)	Predominantly Monetized Individually		Predominantly Monetized as a Group		Total
Included in Technical and operating:
Owned original program rights	$	279,910	$	182,695	$	462,605
Licensed program rights	37,935		507,930		545,865
	$	317,845	$	690,625	$	1,008,470
Included in Restructuring and other related charges:
Owned original program rights	$	192,749	$	24,914	$	217,663
Licensed program rights	110,830		75,261		186,091
	$	303,579	$	100,175	$	403,754

The following table presents the expected amortization over each of the next three years of completed program rights on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023:

(In thousands)	2024		2025		2026
Owned original program rights:
Predominantly Monetized Individually	$	56,381	$	40,358	$	19,152
Predominantly Monetized as a Group	212,874		177,484		100,634
Licensed program rights:
Predominantly Monetized Individually	$	2,064	$	313	$	128
Predominantly Monetized as a Group	409,805		225,101		101,837

Program rights write-offs for programming that was substantively abandoned of $17.3 million were included in technical and operating expense for the year ended December 31, 2023. For the year ended December 31, 2022, there were $403.8 million of program write-offs recorded to restructuring and other related charges in connection with the Company’s strategic programming assessments. Refer to Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements for additional information. Program rights write-offs of $12.8 million were included in technical and operating expense for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Program Rights Obligations

Amounts payable subsequent to December 31, 2023 related to program rights obligations included in the consolidated balance sheet are as follows:

(In thousands)
Years Ending December 31,
2024	$	301,221
2025	98,536
2026	33,373
2027	15,039
2028	3,268
Thereafter	727
	$	452,164