The following items are not included as contractual obligations due to the various factors discussed below. However, the Company incurs these costs as part of its operations:

Programming Contracts

In the normal course of business, the Company enters into numerous contracts to license programming content for which the payment obligations are fully contingent on the number of subscribers to whom it provides the content. These contracts typically have annual rate increases and term lengths of three to five years. Programming expenses are included in operating expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Legal and Other Contingencies

IPO Shareholder Class Action. Beginning in June 2018, four different plaintiffs’ firms filed five separate class-action lawsuits against WOW, certain individual defendants, and the private equity sponsors and underwriters of the May 2017 initial public offering. The actions allege violations of Sections 11, 12, and 15 of the 1933 Securities Act. The three actions filed in New York have been consolidated as Kirkland. et al. v. WideOpenWest, Inc., et al., 653248/2018. The other two actions, which were filed in Colorado state court, have been stayed by agreement until final resolution of the Kirkland action. The Plaintiffs in Kirkland allege that Defendants made or caused misstatements to be made in the Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with the IPO. Prior to an anticipated trial in 2022 or 2023, the parties undertook mediation on November 6, 2020 which, in turn, resulted in a Stipulation of Settlement, which was approved by the Court on January 20, 2022. As a consequence of the approval, the Company, along with all other defendants, has been dismissed entirely without any admission of wrongdoing in exchange for a payment of substantially less than that sought by plaintiffs, with the funding of such payment to be provided substantially from the Company’s primary D&O carrier.

Sprint Patent Infringement Claim. On March 7, 2018, Sprint Communications Company L.P (“Sprint”) filed complaints in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware alleging that the Company (and other industry participants) infringe patents purportedly relating to Sprint’s Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) services. The lawsuit is part of a pattern of litigation that was initiated as far back as 2007 by Sprint against numerous broadband and telecommunications providers. The Company has multiple legal and contractual defenses and is vigorously defending against the claims. Additionally, the Company is pursuing indemnification claims against equipment providers whose equipment is implicated by the claims. Formal discovery was completed in mid-February 2020, with the trial originally scheduled for October 2020, being moved to a yet to be determined date, with the parties undertaking settlement discussions. The Court has requested periodic status reports as to the settlement discussions as a condition to the continued stay of the litigation proceedings. The Company is unable at this time to determine whether the outcome of the litigation would have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

The Company is party to various legal proceedings (including individual, class and putative class actions) arising in the normal course of its business covering a wide range of matters and types of claims including, but not limited to, general contracts, billing disputes, rights of access, programming, taxes, fees and surcharges, consumer protection, trademark and patent infringement, employment, regulatory, tort, claims of competitors and disputes with other carriers.

In accordance with GAAP, the Company accrues an expense for pending litigation when it determines that an unfavorable outcome is probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Legal defense costs are expensed as incurred. None of the Company’s existing accruals for pending matters are material. The Company consistently monitors its pending litigation for the purpose of adjusting its accruals and revising its disclosures accordingly, in accordance with GAAP, when required. However, litigation is subject to uncertainty, and the outcome of any particular matter is not predictable. The Company will vigorously defend its interests in pending litigation, and the Company believes that the ultimate resolution of all such matters, after considering insurance coverage or other indemnities to which it is entitled, will not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.