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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
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, 2015, the total number of NBCUniversal full-time, part-time and hourly employees on its payroll covered by collective bargaining agreements was 7,500 full-time equivalent employees. Of this total, approximately 10% o f these full-time equivalent employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements that have expired or are scheduled to expire during 2016. 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, NASCAR on the NBC Sports Network through 2024 and other programming commitments, as well as various contracts with creative talent and employme nt agreements.
As of December 31, 2015 (in millions) |  | Programming and Talent Commitments |  | Operating Leases
2016 | $ | 6,405 | $ | 452
2017 | $ | 3,788 | $ | 412
2018 | $ | 4,474 | $ | 370
2019 | $ | 3,280 | $ | 324
2020 | $ | 4,357 | $ | 284
Thereafter | $ | 23,061 | $ | 1,617
The table below presents our rental expense charged to operations.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) |  | 2015 |  | 2014 |  | 2013
Rental expense | $ | 608 | $ | 580 | $ | 616
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 statute s, 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 Ap peals, 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 certi fied 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. In April 2014, the District Court granted our unopposed motion to de-certify the Chicago Cluster class and the plaint 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 couns el requested the Boston Cluster cases be transferred to the federal court in Boston or permission to leave to amend the complaints. The District Court denied the request and dismissed the Boston Cluster case s. In December 2014, the District Court granted preliminary approval to a settl ement of the Philadelphia C luster case, and in September 2015, the District Court granted final approval of the settlement. The settlement of the Philadelphia C luster case did not have a material effect on our results of ope rations, cash flows or financial position. In addition, we are the defendant in putative class ac tions filed in federal district courts throughout the country. Twenty-three actions were consolidated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigatio n in the United States District Court for the Eastern 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 improper ly “tie” the rental of set-top boxes to the provision of premium cable services in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, various state antitrust laws and unfair/deceptive trade practices acts. 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-top boxes to the provision of digital cable services in violation of the West Virginia Antitrust Act and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protectio n 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. In July 2011, we moved to compel arbitration of most of the plaintiffs’ claims and to stay the remai ning claims pending arbitration. A comprehensive settlement agreement for all 23 cases t hat 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. The parties submitted a settlement for the claims of current and former customers who receive d service in the states of California, Washington and West Virginia in September 2015. In November 2015, the District Court did not approve the settlement, and the plaintiffs then appealed the decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. We do not expect these cases to have a material effect on our 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 busin esses. In certain of these cases other industry participants 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 applic able contractual indemnification provisions. We are also subject 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 affe ct our results of operations, cash flows or financial position, 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, 2015, the total number of full-time, part-time and hourly employees on our payroll covered by collective bargaining agreements was 7,500 full-time equivalent employees. Of this total, appro ximately 10% of these full-time equivalent employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements that have expired or are scheduled to expire during 2016. The table below summarizes our minimum annual programming and tale nt 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 throu gh 20 32, Sunday Night Football on NBC through the 2022-23 season, NASCAR on the NBC Sports Network through 2024 and other programming commitments, as well as various contracts with creative talent and employment agreements.
As of December 31, 2015 (in millions) |  | Programming and Talent Commitments |  | Operating Leases
2016 | $ | 6,391 | $ | 177
2017 | $ | 3,783 | $ | 150
2018 | $ | 4,470 | $ | 133
2019 | $ | 3,280 | $ | 126
2020 | $ | 4,357 | $ | 122
Thereafter | $ | 23,061 | $ | 1,018
The table below presents our rental expense charged to operations.
Year ended December 31 (in millions) | 2015 | 2014 | 2013
Rental expense | $ | 213 | $ | 222 | $ | 250

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