v2.4.1.9

Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies | Note 17: Commitments and Contingencies Commitments NBCUniversal enters into long-term commitments with third parties in the ordinary course of its business, including commitments to acquire film and television programming, creative talent and employment agreements, and various other television-related commitments. Man y of NBCUniversal’s employees, including writers, directors, actors, technical and production personnel, and others, as well as some of its on-air and creative talent, are covered by collective bargaining agreements or works councils. As of December 31, 2014, the total number of NBCUniversal full-time, part-time and hourly employees on its payroll covered by collective bargaining agreements was 7,400 full-time equivalent employees. Of this total, approximately 30% o f these full-time equivalent employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements that have expired or are scheduled to expire during 2015. W e, through Comcast-Spectacor, have employment agreements with both players and coaches of the Philadelphia Flyers. Certain of these employment agreements, which provide for payments that are guaranteed regardless of employee injury or termination, are covered by disability insurance if certain conditions are met. The table below summarizes our minimum annual p rogramming and talent commitments and our minimum annual rental commitments for office space, equipment and transponder service agreements under operating leases. Programming and talent commitments include acquired film and television programming, includin g U.S. television rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, Sunday Night Football on NBC through the 2022-23 season, and other programming commitments, as well as various contracts with creative talent and employment agreements.
As of December 31, 2014 (in millions) |  | Programming and Talent Commitments |  | Operating Leases
2015 | $ | 4,915 | $ | 399
2016 | $ | 4,657 | $ | 359
2017 | $ | 3,177 | $ | 299
2018 | $ | 3,999 | $ | 253
2019 | $ | 2,793 | $ | 197
Thereafter | $ | 26,130 | $ | 754
The table below presents our rent expense charged to operations.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) |  | 2014 |  | 2013 |  | 2012
Rent expense | $ | 580 | $ | 616 | $ | 688
Contingencies Antitrust Cases We are defendants in two purported class actions originally filed in December 2003 in the United States District Courts for the District of Massachusetts and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The potential class in the Massachusetts case, which has been transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is our customer base in the “Boston Cluster” area, and the potential class in the Pennsylvania case is our customer base in the “Philadelphia and Chicago Clusters,” as those terms are defined in the complaints. In each case, the plaintiffs allege that certain customer exchange transactions with other cable providers resulted in unlawful horizontal market restraints in those areas and seek damages under antitrust statutes, including treble damages. Classes of Chicago Cluster and Philadelphia Cluster customers were certified in October 2007 and January 2010, respectively. We appealed the class certification in the Philadelphia Cluster case to the Third Circuit Court of App eals, which affirmed the class certification in August 2011. In June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court granted our petition to review the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling and in March 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the class had been improperly certif ied and reversed the judgment of the Third Circuit. In August 2013, the plaintiffs in the Philadelphia Cluster case moved to certify a new, smaller class, which we opposed in January 2014. The parties have been discussing possible resolution of the Philade lphia Cluster case. Accordingly, in February 2014, the plaintiff filed an unopposed motion to stay the case, which the District Court granted. In April 2014, the District Court granted our unopposed motion to de-certify the Chicago Cluster class and the pl aint iffs’ unopposed motion to amend the Pennsylvania case so as to dismiss claims relating to the Chicago C luster. In April 2014, lead counsel for the Boston Cluster cases withdrew, and in June 2014, new counsel requested the Boston Cluster cases be transf erred to the federal court in Boston, which we have opposed. The District Court denied the request and dismissed the case, though the Boston p laintiffs have appealed both rulings. In December 2014, the District Court granted preliminary approval to a settl ement of the Philadelphia C luster case, which contains no admission or finding of liability. We do not expect the settlement of the Philadelphia C luster case to have a material effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial position. In addit ion, we are the defendant in 23 putative class actions filed in federal district courts throughout the country. All of these actions have been consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in the United States District Court for the Easter n District of Pennsylvania for pre-trial proceedings. In a consolidated complaint filed in November 2009 on behalf of all plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation, the plaintiffs allege that we improperly “tie” the rental of set-top boxes to the provisio n of premium cable services in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, various state antitrust laws and unfair/deceptive trade practices acts in California, Illinois and Alabama. The plaintiffs also allege a claim for unjust enrichment and see k relief on behalf of a nationwide class of our premium cable customers and on behalf of subclasses consisting of premium cable customers from California, Alabama, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington. In January 2010, we moved to compel arbitration of th e plaintiffs’ claims for unjust enrichment and violations of the unfair/deceptive trade practices acts of Illinois and Alabama. In September 2010, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging violations of additional state antitrust laws and unfair/d eceptive trade practices acts on behalf of new subclasses in Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico and West Virginia. In the amended complaint, plaintiffs omitted their unjust enrichment claim, as well as their state law claims on behalf of the Alabama, Illinois and Pennsylvania subclasses. In June 2011, the plaintiffs filed another amended complaint alleging only violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, antitrust law in Washington and unfair/deceptive trade practice s acts in California and Washington. The plaintiffs seek relief on behalf of a nationwide class of our premium cable customers and on behalf of subclasses consisting of premium cable customers from California and Washington. In July 2011, we moved to compe l arbitration of most of the plaintiffs’ claims and to stay the remaining claims pending arbitration. The West Virginia Attorney General also filed a complaint in West Virginia state court in July 2009 alleging that we improperly “tie” the rental of set-to p boxes to the provision of digital cable services in violation of the West Virginia Antitrust Act and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The Attorney General also alleges a claim for unjust enrichment/restitution. We removed the case to the United States District Court for West Virginia, and it was subsequently transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and consolidated with the multidistrict litigation described above. A comprehensive settle ment agreement for all 23 cases that had been submitted to the District Court for preliminary approval in June 2013 was withdrawn in October 2014, and we refiled our motion to compel arbitration. We do not expect these cases to have a material effect on ou r results of operations, cash flows or financial position. Other We are a defendant in several unrelated lawsuits claiming infringement of various patents relating to various aspects of our businesses. In certain of these cases other industry participant s are also defendants, and also in certain of these cases we expect that any potential liability would be in part or in whole the responsibility of our equipment and technology vendors under applicable contractual indemnification provisions. We are also su bject to other legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of our business. While the amount of ultimate liability with respect to such actions is not expected to materially affect our results of operations, cash flows or financial posit ion, any litigation resulting from any such legal proceedings or claims could be time-consuming and injure our reputation.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC [Member] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Note 16: Commitments and Contingencies Commitments We enter into long-term commitments with third parties in the ordinary course of our business, including commitments to acquire film and television programming, creative talent and employment agreements, and various other television-related commitments. Many of our employees, including writers, directors, actors, technical and production personnel, and others, as well as some of our on-air and creative talent, are covered by collective bargaini ng agreements or works councils. As of December 31, 2014, the total number of full-time, part-time and hourly employees on our payroll covered by collective bargaining agreements was 7,400 full-time equivalent employees. Of this total, appro ximately 30% of these full-time equivalent employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements that have expired or are scheduled to expire during 2015. The table below summarizes our minimum annual programming and talent commitments and our minimum annual rental commitments for office space and equipment under operating leases. Programming and talent commitments include acquired film and television programming, including U.S. television rights to the Olympic Games through 20 32, Sunday Night Football on NBC through the 2022-23 season, and other programming commitments, as well as various contracts with creative talent and employment agreements.
As of December 31, 2014 (in millions) |  | Programming and Talent Commitments |  | Operating Leases
2015 | $ | 4,898 | $ | 150
2016 | $ | 4,648 | $ | 135
2017 | $ | 3,173 | $ | 107
2018 | $ | 3,998 | $ | 89
2019 | $ | 2,793 | $ | 73
Thereafter | $ | 26,130 | $ | 402
The table below presents our rent expense charged to operations.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
Rent expense | $ | 222 | $ | 250 | $ | 317

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