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Property and Equipment | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2013
Property and Equipment | Note 7: Property and Equipment
December 31 (in millions) | Weighted-Average Original Useful Life As of December 31, 2013 |  | 2013 |  | 2012
Cable distribution system | 11 | years | $ | 30,498 | $ | 29,528
Customer premise equipment | 6 | years |  | 25,949 |  | 24,763
Other equipment | 5 | years |  | 6,826 |  | 5,909
Buildings and leasehold improvements | 21 | years |  | 8,057 |  | 5,468
Land |  | - |  | 1,084 |  | 989
Property and equipment, at cost |  |  |  | 72,414 |  | 66,657
Less: Accumulated depreciation |  |  |  | 42,574 |  | 39,425
Property and equipment, net |  |  | $ | 29,840 | $ | 27,232
Property and equipment are stated at cost. We capitalize improvements that extend asset lives and expense repairs and maintenance costs as incurred. We record depreciation using the straight-line method over the asset's estimated useful life. For assets that are sold or retired, we remove the applicable cost and accumulated depreciation and, unless the gain or loss on disposition is presented separately, we recognize it as a component of depreciation expense. We capitalize the costs associated with the construction of and improvements to our cable transmission and distribution facilities, costs associated with acquiring and deploying new customer premise equipment, and costs associated with installation of our services in accordance with accounting guidance relate d to cable television companies. Costs capitalized include all direct labor and materials, as well as various indirect costs. All costs incurred in connection with subsequent disconnects and reconnects are expensed as they are incurred. We evaluate the recoverability of our property and equipment whenever events or substantive changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. The evaluation is based on the cash flows generated by the underlying asset groups, including estimated future operating results, trends or other determinants of fair value. If the total of the expected future undiscounted cash flows were less than the carrying amount of the asset group, we would recognize an impairment charge to the extent the carrying amount of the asset group exceed ed its estimated fair value. Unless presented separately, the impairment charge is included as a component of depreciation expense. Acquisitions of Real Estate Properties Real estate acquisitions for 2013 primarily included NBCUniversal's purchase from GE of certain properties NBCUniversal occupies at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The CNBC property was previously recorded as a capital lease in our consolidated balance sheet. Other acquisitions included NBCUniversal's purchase in September 2013 of a business whose primary asset is a property located at 10 Universal City Plaza, which is adjacent to Universal Studios in Hollywood, California, and Comcast's purchase in December 2013 of an 80% interest in a business whose primary asset is our corporate headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These purchases resulted in increases of $2.2 billion in property and equipment which are included, as applicable, within the captions “building s and leasehold improvements” and “land” in the table above.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC [Member] |
Property and Equipment | Note 7: Property and Equipment
|  |  |  | Successor
December 31 (in millions) | Weighted-Average Original Useful Life As of December 31, 2013 |  | 2013 |  | 2012
Buildings and leasehold improvements | 20 | years | $ | 5,239 | $ | 3,223
Furniture, fixtures and equipment | 6 | years |  | 2,383 |  | 1,961
Construction in process |  | - |  | 828 |  | 552
Land |  | - |  | 799 |  | 728
Property and equipment, at cost |  |  |  | 9,249 |  | 6,464
Less: Accumulated depreciation |  |  |  | 1,599 |  | 1,083
Property and equipment, net |  |  | $ | 7,650 | $ | 5,381
Property and equipment are stated at cost. We capitalize improvements that extend asset lives and expense repairs and maintenance costs as incurred. We record depreciation using the straight-line method over the asset's estimated useful life. For assets that are sold or retired, we remove the applicable cost and accumulated depreciation and, unless the gain or loss on disposition is presented separately, we recognize it as a component of depreciation expense. We evaluate the recoverability of our property and equipment whenever events or substantive changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. The evaluation is based on the cash flows generated by the underlying asset groups, including estimated future operating results, trends or other determinants of fair value. If the total of the expected future undiscounted cash flows were less than the carrying amount of the asset group, we would recognize an impairment charge to the extent the carrying amount of the asset group exceeded its estimated fair value. Unless presented separately, the impairment charge is included as a component of depreciation expense. Acquisitions of Real Estate Properties Real estate acquisitions for 2013 primarily included our purchase from GE of certain properties we occupy at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The CNBC property was previously recorded as a capital lease in our consolidated balance sheet. Other acquisitions included our purchase in September 2013 of a business whose primary asset is a property located at 10 Universal City Plaza, which is adjacent to Universal Studios in Hollywood, California. These purchases resulted in increases of $1.7 billion in property and equipment which are included, as applicable, within the captions “building s and leasehold improvements” and “land” in the table above.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, accounting policies and methodology, roll forwards, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, including composite depreciation, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, useful lives and method used, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391110&loc=d3e2921-110230 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6360339&loc=d3e1361-107760 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13-14) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682 + Details
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