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Revenue from Contracts with Customers
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Revenue from Contracts with Customers  
Revenue from Contracts with Customers

3. Revenue from Contracts with Customers

Residential and Business Subscription Services

Residential and business subscription services revenue consists primarily of monthly recurring charges for HSD, Video, and Telephony services, including charges for equipment rentals and other regulatory fees, and non-recurring charges for optional services, such as pay-per-view, video-on-demand, and other events provided to the customer. Monthly charges for residential and business subscription services are billed in advance and recognized as revenue over the period of time the associated services are provided to the customer. Charges for optional services are generally billed in arrears and revenue is recognized at the point in time when the services are provided to the customer.

HSD revenue consists primarily of fixed monthly fees for data service, including charges for rentals of modems, and revenue recognized related to non-recurring upfront fees associated with installation and other administrative activities provided to HSD customers.
Video revenue consists of fixed monthly fees for basic, premium and digital cable television services, including charges for rentals of video converter equipment, other regulatory fees, and revenue recognized related to non-recurring upfront fees associated with installation and other administrative activities provided to video customers, as well as non-recurring charges for optional services, such as pay-per-view, video-on-demand and other events provided to the customer.
Telephony revenue consists of fixed monthly fees for local services, including certain regulatory and ancillary customer fees, and enhanced services, such as call waiting and voice mail, revenue recognized related to non-recurring upfront fees associated with installation and other administrative activities provided to telephony customers as well as charges for measured and flat rate long-distance service.

While a portion of residential customers have entered into contracts for subscription services ranging from 12 months to 24 months in length, the Company recognizes revenue for these customers on a basis that is consistent with customers that have entered into month-to-month contracts as the early termination fees within these contracts are not considered to be material. The Company’s business customers have entered into non-cancellable contracts for subscription services averaging 30 months.

The Company is required to pay certain cable franchising authorities an amount based on the percentage of gross revenue derived from video services. The Company generally passes these fees and other similar regulatory and ancillary fees on to the customer. Revenues from regulatory and other ancillary fees passed on to the customer are reported with the associated service revenue and the corresponding costs are reported as an operating expense.

Bundled Subscription Services

The Company often markets multiple subscription services as part of a bundled arrangement that may include a discount. When customers have entered into a bundled service arrangement, the total transaction price for the bundled arrangement is allocated between the separate services included in the bundle based on their relative stand-alone selling prices. The allocation of the transaction price in bundled services requires judgment, particularly in determining the stand-alone selling prices for the separate services included in the bundle. The stand-alone selling price for the majority of services are determined based on the prices at which the Company separately sells the service. For services sold on an infrequent basis and for a wide range of prices, the Company estimates stand-alone selling prices using the adjusted market assessment approach, which considers the prices of competitors for similar services.

Other Business Services Revenue

Other business services revenue consists primarily of monthly recurring charges for session initiated protocol, web hosting, metro Ethernet, wireless backhaul, broadband carrier, and cloud infrastructure services provided to business customers. Monthly charges for other business services are generally billed in advance and recognized as revenue when the associated services are provided to the customer.

Other Revenue

Other revenue consists primarily of revenue from line assurance warranty services provided to residential and business customers and revenue from advertising placement. Monthly charges for line assurance warranty services are generally billed in advance and recognized as revenue over the period of time the warranty services are provided to the customer. Charges for advertising placement are generally billed in arrears and recognized as revenue at the point in time when the advertising is distributed.

Revenue by Service Offering

The following table presents revenue by service offering:

Year ended December 31, 

2019

2018

Residential

Business

Total

Residential

Business

Total

   

Subscription

   

Subscription

   

Revenue

   

   

Subscription

   

    

Subscription

   

    

Revenue

(in millions)

HSD

$

440.7

$

80.3

$

521.0

$

393.6

$

73.5

$

467.1

Video

 

417.4

 

14.6

432.0

465.3

14.1

479.4

Telephony

 

59.9

 

42.8

102.7

74.4

41.9

116.3

Total subscription services revenue

$

918.0

$

137.7

$

1,055.7

$

933.3

$

129.5

$

1,062.8

Other business services revenue(1)

27.4

28.1

Other revenue

62.7

62.9

Total revenue

$

918.0

$

137.7

$

1,145.8

$

933.3

$

129.5

$

1,153.8

(1)Includes wholesale and colocation revenue of $21.6 million and $21.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Costs of Obtaining Contracts with Customers

The Company recognizes an asset for incremental costs of obtaining contracts with customers when it expects to recover those costs. Costs which would be incurred regardless of whether a contract is obtained are expensed as they are incurred.  Costs of obtaining contracts with customers are amortized over the expected period of benefit, which generally ranges from three to four years for residential customers and six to seven years for business customers. The current portion and the non-current portion of costs of obtaining contracts with customers are included in prepaid expenses and other and other noncurrent assets, respectively, in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. Amortization of costs of obtaining contracts with customers is included in selling, general and administrative expense in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

The following tables present the activity and current and non-current costs of obtaining contracts with customers as of the end of the corresponding periods:

    

2019

    

2018

(in millions)

Balance at beginning of year

$

26.3

$

Impact of change in accounting policy

11.4

Deferral

 

22.2

 

19.0

Amortization

 

(7.8)

 

(4.1)

Balance at end of year

$

40.7

$

26.3

Current costs of obtaining contracts with customers, end of period

$

10.0

$

6.0

Non-current costs of obtaining contracts with customers, end of period

30.7

20.3

Total costs of obtaining contracts with customers, end of period

$

40.7

$

26.3

Contract Liabilities

Monthly charges for residential and business subscription services are billed in advance and recorded as unearned service revenue. Residential and business customers may be charged non-recurring upfront fees associated with installation and other administrative activities. Charges for upfront fees associated with installation and other administrative activities are initially recorded as unearned service revenue and recognized as revenue over the expected period of benefit for residential customers, which has been estimated as five months, and over the contract term for business customers, which has been estimated as thirty months. The Company has estimated the expected period of benefit for residential customers based on consideration of quantitative and qualitative factors including the average installation fee charged, the average monthly revenue per customer, and customer behavior. The current portion and the non-current portion of contract liabilities are included in current portion of unearned service revenue and other non-current liabilities, respectively, in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet.

The following tables present the activity and current and non-current contract liabilities as of the end of the corresponding periods:

    

2019

    

2018

(in millions)

Balance at beginning of year

$

3.9

$

Impact of change in accounting policy

2.1

Deferral

 

16.1

 

17.5

Revenue recognized

 

(15.8)

 

(15.7)

Balance at end of year

$

4.2

$

3.9

Current contract liabilities, end of period

$

3.6

$

3.3

Non-current contract liabilities, end of period

0.6

0.6

Total contract liabilities, end of period

$

4.2

$

3.9

Unsatisfied Performance Obligations

Revenue from month-to-month residential subscription service contracts have historically represented a significant portion of the Company’s revenue and the Company expects that this will continue to be the case in future periods. All residential subscription service performance obligations will be satisfied within one year.

A summary of expected business subscription service revenue to be recognized in future periods related to performance obligations which have not been satisfied or are partially unsatisfied as of December 31, 2019 is set forth in the table below:

    

2020

    

2021

    

2022

    

Thereafter

    

Total

(in millions)

Subscription services

$

74.5

$

42.5

$

15.5

$

25.3

$

157.8

Other business services

 

3.6

 

2.2

 

0.9

 

0.4

 

7.1

Total expected revenue

$

78.1

$

44.7

$

16.4

$

25.7

$

164.9