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General (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Lionsgate and all of its majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to quarterly report on Form 10-Q under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of the Company’s management, all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been reflected in these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. Operating results for the three months ended June 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. The balance sheet at March 31, 2020 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read together with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

Certain amounts presented in prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. The most significant estimates made by management in the preparation of the financial statements relate to ultimate revenue and costs used for the amortization of investment in films and television programs; estimates of sales returns and other allowances and provisions for doubtful accounts; estimates related to the revenue recognition of sales or usage-based royalties; fair value of equity-based compensation; fair value of assets and liabilities for allocation of the purchase price of companies acquired; income taxes including the assessment of valuation allowances for deferred tax assets; accruals for contingent liabilities; and impairment assessments for investment in films and television programs, property and equipment, equity investments, goodwill and intangible assets. Actual results could differ from such estimates.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Guidance Adopted in Fiscal 2021

Fair Value Measurement - Changes to Disclosure Requirements: In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued guidance that eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. This guidance eliminates the requirement that entities disclose the amount of and reasons for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, but requires public companies to disclose the range and weighted average used to develop significant unobservable inputs for Level 3 fair value measurements, among other changes. This Company adopted this guidance on April 1, 2020, with no material impact to its consolidated financial statements.

Improvements to Accounting for Costs of Films and License Agreements for Program Materials: On April 1, 2020, the Company adopted, on a prospective basis, FASB guidance on the accounting for costs of films and episodic television series which aligns the accounting for capitalizing production costs of episodic television series with guidance for films. The following reflects some of the more significant changes under the new guidance:

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Classification in balance sheet: Allows for the classification of licensed program rights as long-term assets. Previously, the Company reported a portion of these rights in current assets. After adoption, the Company now classifies licensed program rights as long-term assets. Accordingly, as of April 1, 2020, the Company has classified $310.5 million of these rights as non-current assets in the balance sheet.


•	Removes capitalization constraint for episodic television: The capitalization of production costs for episodic television series is no longer constrained until persuasive evidence of secondary market revenues exists. Previously, theatrical content production costs could be fully capitalized while episodic television production costs were generally limited to the amount of contracted revenues.


•	Monetization strategy: Requires the determination of a titles' monetization strategy for purposes of amortization and testing impairment as follows:


◦	Monetized individually - lifetime value is predominantly derived from third-party revenues that are directly attributable to the specific film or television title (e.g., theatrical revenues or sales to third-party television programmers).


◦	Monetized as a film group - lifetime value is predominantly derived from third-party revenues that are attributable only to a bundle of titles, which is referred to as a "film group" in the updated guidance. A film group is defined as the lowest level at which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other films and/or license agreements.

The determination of the monetization strategy is made at commencement of production on a consolidated basis. Because the new accounting guidance is applied prospectively, the predominant monetization strategy for content released prior to the beginning of fiscal 2021 is determined based on the expected means of monetization over the remaining life of the content. The classification of content as individually monetized or monetized as part of a film group only changes if there is a significant change to the title's monetization strategy relative to its initial assessment.

For these accounting purposes, the Company generally classifies content that is initially intended for use on the Company's Media Networks services (including its linear television networks, OTT services and direct-to-consumer services) as content monetized as a film group. Content initially intended for theatrical release, home entertainment distribution, or for license to third parties, is generally classified as content monetized individually.

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Impairment testing: The new guidance requires that an entity test a film or television program for impairment, when impairment indicators are present, at a film group level when the film or license agreement is predominantly monetized with other films and/or license agreements or individually for titles monetized individually. An impairment results when the fair value of the film or film group is less than its carrying value. Under previous guidance, film and television programs accounted for under the broadcasting accounting standard (i.e., licensed product in the Company's Media Networks segment) were carried on the balance sheet at the lower of cost or net realizable value rather than fair value.

See Note 2 for further information.

Financial Instruments - Credit Losses: In June 2016, the FASB issued guidance, as amended, that changes the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments, including trade and other receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities and loans, from the incurred loss methodology under current U.S. GAAP to a new, forward-looking current expected credit loss model that would generally result in the earlier recognition of credit losses. The Company adopted this guidance on April 1, 2020 using a modified retrospective approach, with no material impact to its consolidated financial statements.

Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted

Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes: In December 2019, the FASB issued guidance that simplifies the accounting for income taxes. The guidance amends the rules for recognizing deferred taxes for investments, performing intraperiod tax allocations and calculating income taxes in interim periods. It also reduces complexity in certain areas, including the accounting for transactions that result in a step-up in the tax basis of goodwill and allocating taxes to members of a consolidated group. The guidance is effective for the Company's fiscal year beginning April 1, 2021, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this new guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.

Net Income (Loss) Per Share

Diluted net income (loss) per common share reflects share purchase options, including equity-settled share appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted share units ("RSUs") and restricted stock using the treasury stock method when dilutive, and any contingently issuable shares when dilutive.Basic net income (loss) per share is calculated based on the weighted average common shares outstanding for the period.

Investment in Films and Television Programs and Licensed Program Rights

Investment in Films and Television Programs

General. Investment in films and television programs includes the unamortized costs of films and television programs, a portion of which are monetized individually (i.e., through domestic theatrical, home entertainment, television, international or other ancillary-market distribution), and a portion of which are monetized as part of a film group (i.e., primarily content internally produced by our Television Production segment for our Media Networks segment).

Recording Cost. Costs of acquiring and producing films and television programs and of acquired libraries are capitalized when incurred. For films and television programs produced by the Company, capitalized costs include all direct production and financing costs, capitalized interest and production overhead. For acquired films and television programs, capitalized costs consist of minimum guarantee payments to acquire the distribution rights.

Amortization. Costs of acquiring and producing films and television programs and of acquired libraries that are monetized individually are amortized using the individual-film-forecast method, whereby these costs are amortized and participations and residuals costs are accrued in the proportion that current year’s revenue bears to management’s estimate of ultimate revenue at the beginning of the current year expected to be recognized from the exploitation, exhibition or sale of the films or television programs.

For investment in films and television programs monetized as a group, see further discussion below under Licensed Program Rights, Amortization for a description of amortization of costs monetized as a group.

Ultimate Revenue. Ultimate revenue includes estimates over a period not to exceed 10 years following the date of initial release of the motion picture. For an episodic television series, the period over which ultimate revenues are estimated cannot exceed 10 years following the date of delivery of the first episode, or, if still in production, five years from the date of delivery of the most recent episode, if later. For titles included in acquired libraries, ultimate revenue includes estimates over a period not to exceed twenty years following the date of acquisition.

Development. Films and television programs in development include costs of acquiring film rights to books, stage plays or original screenplays and costs to adapt such projects. Such costs are capitalized and, upon commencement of production, are transferred to production costs. Projects in development are written off at the earlier of the date they are determined not to be recoverable or when abandoned, or three years from the date of the initial investment unless the fair value of the project exceeds its carrying cost.

Licensed Program Rights

General. Licensed program rights include content licensed from third parties that is monetized as part of a film group for distribution on Media Networks distribution platforms. Licensed content is comprised of films or series that have been previously produced by third parties and the Company retains specified airing rights over a contractual term. Program licenses typically have fixed terms and require payments during the term of the license.

Recording Cost. The cost of licensed content is capitalized when the cost is known or reasonably determinable, the license period for programs has commenced, the program materials have been accepted by the Company in accordance with the license agreements, and the programs are available for the first showing. Licensed programming rights may include rights to more than one exploitation window under the Company's output and library agreements. For films with multiple windows, the license fee is allocated between the windows based upon the proportionate estimated fair value of each window which generally results in the majority of the cost allocated to the first window on newer releases. Certain license agreements may include additional ancillary rights in addition to the pay television rights. The cost of the Media Networks’ third-party licensed content is allocated between the pay television market distributed by the Media Networks’ segment and the ancillary revenue markets (e.g., home video, digital platforms, international television, etc.) based on the estimated relative fair values of these markets. Our estimates of fair value for the pay television and ancillary markets and windows of exploitation involve uncertainty and management judgment.

Amortization. The cost of program rights for films and television programs (including original series) exhibited by the Media Networks segment are generally amortized on an accelerated or straight-line basis based on the anticipated number of exhibitions or expected and historical viewership patterns or the license period on a title-by-title or episode-by-episode basis. The number of exhibitions is estimated based on the number of exhibitions allowed in the agreement (if specified) and the expected usage of the content. Participations and residuals are expensed in line with the amortization of production costs.

Changes in management’s estimate of the anticipated exhibitions and viewership patterns of films and original series on our networks could result in the earlier recognition of our programming costs than anticipated. Conversely, scheduled exhibitions and expected viewership patterns may not capture the appropriate usage of the program rights in current periods which would lead to the write-off of additional program rights in future periods and may have a significant impact on our future results of operations and our financial position.

Impairment Assessment for Investment in Films and Television Programs and Licensed Program Rights

General. A film group or individual film or television program is evaluated for impairment when an event or change in circumstances indicates that the fair value of an individual film or film group is less than its unamortized cost. A film group represents the unit of account for impairment testing for a film or license agreement for program material when the film or license agreement is expected to be predominantly monetized with other films and/or license agreements instead of being predominantly monetized on its own. A film group is defined as the lowest level at which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other films and/or license agreements.

Content Monetized Individually. For content that is predominantly monetized individually (primarily investment in film and television programs related to the Motion Picture and Television Production segments), the unamortized costs of the individual film are compared to the estimated fair value of the individual film. The fair value is determined based on a discounted cash flow analysis of the cash flows directly attributable to the title. To the extent the unamortized costs exceed the fair value, an impairment charge is recorded for the excess.

Content Monetized as a Group. For content that is predominantly monetized as a group (primarily licensed program rights in the Media Networks segment and internally produced programming, as discussed above), the aggregate unamortized costs of the group are compared to the present value of the discounted cash flows of the group using the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are independent of other produced and licensed content. The Company's film groups are generally aligned along the Company's networks and digital content offerings domestically (i.e., Starz Networks and Other Streaming Services) and by territory or groups of territories internationally, wherein content assets are shared across the various territories and therefore, the territory or group of territories is the film group. If the unamortized costs exceed the present value of discounted cash flows, an impairment charge is recorded for the excess and allocated to individual titles based on the relative carrying value of each title in the group.

Valuation Assumptions. The discounted cash flow analysis includes cash flows estimates of ultimate revenue and costs as well as a discount rate (a Level 3 fair value measurement, see Note 6). The discount rate utilized in the discounted cash flow analysis is based on the weighted average cost of capital of the Company plus a risk premium representing the risk associated with producing a particular film or television program or film group. The fair value of any film costs associated with a film or television program that management plans to abandon is zero. Estimates of future revenue involve measurement uncertainty and it is therefore possible that reductions in the carrying value of investment in films and television programs may be required as a consequence of changes in management’s future revenue estimates.