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Basis of Presentation and Description of Business
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9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2014
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| Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
| Basis of Presentation and Description of Business |
Basis of Presentation and Description of Business
Presentation
Starz, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Starz, LLC, provides premium subscription video programming to United States (“U.S.”) multichannel video programming distributors (“MVPDs”), including cable operators, satellite television providers and telecommunications companies. Starz also develops, produces and acquires entertainment content and distributes this content to consumers in the U.S. and throughout the world. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Starz and its majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
The accompanying interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results for such periods have been included. The results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for the full year. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in Starz’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013.
LMC Spin-Off
In January 2013, Starz (formerly known as Liberty Media Corporation (“Old LMC”)) completed the spin off (the “LMC Spin-Off”) of its wholly-owned subsidiary Liberty Media Corporation (formerly known as Liberty Spinco, Inc. (“Liberty Media”)). Unless the context otherwise requires, Old LMC is used when events or circumstances being described occurred prior to the LMC Spin-Off and Starz is used when events or circumstances being described occurred following the LMC Spin-Off.
Business
Starz’s business operations are conducted by its wholly-owned subsidiaries Starz, LLC, Starz Entertainment, LLC (“Starz Entertainment”), Film Roman, LLC (“Film Roman”) and certain other immaterial subsidiaries, and its majority-owned (75%) subsidiary Starz Media Group, LLC (“Starz Media”). The Weinstein Company LLC (“Weinstein”) owns a 25% interest in Starz Media. Starz is managed by and organized around the following operating segments:
Starz Networks
Starz Networks’ flagship premium networks are Starz and Encore. Starz, a first-run movie service, exhibits contemporary hit movies, original series, and documentaries. Encore airs first-run movies and classic contemporary movies. Starz Networks’ third network, MoviePlex, offers a variety of art house, independent films and classic movie library content. Starz and Encore, along with MoviePlex, air across 17 linear networks complemented by on-demand and Internet services. Starz Networks’ premium networks are offered by MVPDs to their subscribers either on a fixed monthly price as part of a programming tier or package or on an a-la-carte basis.
Starz Distribution
Starz Distribution includes Starz’s Home Video, Digital Media and Worldwide Distribution businesses.
Home Video
Starz, through its majority-owned subsidiary Anchor Bay Entertainment, LLC (“Anchor Bay Entertainment”), sells or rents DVDs (standard definition and Blu-ray™) under the Anchor Bay and Manga brands, in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international territories to the extent it has rights to such content in international territories. Anchor Bay Entertainment develops and produces certain of its content and also acquires and licenses various titles from third parties. Certain of the titles produced or acquired by Anchor Bay Entertainment air on Starz Networks’ Starz and Encore networks. Anchor Bay Entertainment also distributes Starz Networks’ original programming content and Weinstein’s titles. Each of these titles are sold to and distributed by regional and national retailers and other distributors, including Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Ingram Entertainment, Amazon, Netflix and Redbox.
Digital Media
Digital Media distributes digital and on-demand content for Starz’s owned content and content for which it has licensed digital ancillary rights (i.e., pay-per-view, video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand, electronic sell-through and other digital formats) in the U.S. and throughout the world to the extent it has rights to such content in international territories. Digital Media receives fees for such services from a wide array of partners and distributors. These range from traditional MVPDs, Internet/mobile distributors, game developers/publishers and consumer electronics companies. Digital Media also distributes Starz Networks’ original programming content and Weinstein’s titles.
Worldwide Distribution
Worldwide Distribution distributes movies, television series, documentaries, children’s programming and other video content. Worldwide Distribution exploits Starz’s owned content and content for which it has licensed ancillary rights on free or pay television in the U.S. and throughout the world on free or pay television and other media to the extent it has rights to such content in international territories. It also distributes Starz Networks’ original programming content.
Starz Animation
Starz, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Film Roman, develops and produces two-dimensional animated content on a for-hire basis for various third party entertainment companies.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Starz considers amortization of program rights, the fair value of goodwill and any related impairment, the development of ultimate revenue estimates associated with released films and television programs, the assessment of investment in films and television programs for impairment and allowances for sales returns to be its most significant estimates. Actual results may differ from those estimates.
Prior Period Reclassifications
Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified for comparability with the 2014 presentation.
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