AMC Networks Inc (Pre-Reincorporation) (AMCX) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AMC Networks fourth-quarter and full year 2023 earnings call.(Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加 AMC Networks 2023 年第四季和全年財報電話會議。請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

And I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Nick Seibert, Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給今天的發言人，企業發展和投資者關係副總裁尼克·塞伯特 (Nick Seibert)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to the AMC Networks fourth-quarter and full year 2023 earnings conference call.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 AMC Networks 第四季和 2023 年全年財報電話會議。

Joining us this morning are Kristin Dolan, Chief Executive Officer; Patrick O’Connell, Chief Financial Officer; Kim Kelleher, Chief Commercial Officer; and Dan McDermott, President of Entertainment and AMC Studios. Today's press release is available on our website at amcnetworks.com. We will begin with prepared remarks, and then, we'll open the call for questions.

今天早上加入我們的是執行長 Kristin Dolan；派崔克‧奧康奈爾，財務長； Kim Kelleher，商務長；以及娛樂和 AM​​C 工作室總裁 Dan McDermott。今天的新聞稿可在我們的網站 amcnetworks.com 上取得。我們將從準備好的發言開始，然後開始提問。

Today's call may include certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ.

今天的電話會議可能包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的某些前瞻性陳述。任何此類前瞻性陳述都不是對未來績效或結果的保證，並且涉及可能導致實際結果不同的風險和不確定性。

Please refer to AMC Network's SEC filings for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements made on this call. Today, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures.

請參閱 AMC Network 向 SEC 提交的文件，以了解有關風險和不確定性的討論。本公司不承擔更新本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述的義務。今天，我們將討論某些非公認會計準則財務指標。

The required definitions and reconciliations can be found in today's press release.

所需的定義和調節可以在今天的新聞稿中找到。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Kristin.

說到這裡，我想把電話轉給克莉絲汀。

Thanks, Nick, and good morning, everyone. It's been nearly a year since I joined AMC Networks as CEO, and I'm proud of the progress we've made in a fast-changing and challenging environment, both internally and in the way we engage with viewers and our commercial and creative partners.

謝謝尼克，大家早安。自從我加入AMC Networks 擔任執行長已經近一年了，我對我們在快速變化和充滿挑戰的環境中所取得的進步感到自豪，無論是在內部還是在與觀眾以及商業和創意合作夥伴互動的方式上。

In the fourth quarter and across 2023, we continue to see success in the areas that will drive this company forward, programming, partnerships and profitability. I'm encouraged that we were able to grow streaming revenue, strengthen our subscriber base and expand our consolidated AOI margin to 25%, while meaningfully growing our free cash flow.

在第四季和整個 2023 年，我們將繼續看到在推動公司發展、規劃、合作夥伴關係和獲利能力等領域取得的成功。令我感到鼓舞的是，我們能夠增加串流媒體收入，加強我們的用戶基礎，並將我們的綜合 AOI 利潤率擴大到 25%，同時顯著增加我們的自由現金流。

In a moment, Patrick will provide a detailed look at our financial results for the most recent quarter and the full year, including our enthusiasm for the free cash flow potential of this business going forward. There has long been a saying in this industry that content is king. We believe that if content is king, cash is queen, and we are on a path that prioritizes both.

稍後，帕特里克將詳細介紹我們最近一個季度和全年的財務業績，包括我們對該業務未來自由現金流潛力的熱情。這個行業一直有一句話，內容為王。我們相信，如果內容為王，那麼現金就是王后，我們正走在一條優先考慮兩者的道路上。

In discussions around media and content companies these days, it's hard to miss the fascination with scale. From our perspective, we see strength in being nimble and independent and value the flexibility this provides us in the marketplace.

如今，在圍繞媒體和內容公司的討論中，很難忽視對規模的迷戀。從我們的角度來看，我們看到了靈活和獨立的優勢，並重視這為我們在市場上提供的靈活性。

We have opportunities that are frankly not possible for non-vertically integrated programmers who are tied to broadcast networks, or large distribution businesses. We truly can dance with anyone and are enthusiastic about using the structural advantage that comes with this independence to better serve viewers and our commercial partners.

坦白說，我們擁有的機會對於與廣播網路或大型發行業務相關的非垂直整合程式設計師來說是不可能的。我們確實可以與任何人一起跳舞，並熱衷於利用這種獨立性帶來的結構優勢，更好地為觀眾和我們的商業合作夥伴服務。

With the introduction late last year of an ad supported version of AMC+, we now have a fully ad supported distribution ecosystem that includes our five linear networks, several targeted streaming services and programming carriage of approximately 100 channel feeds on partner fast and CTV platforms. Our presence in all of these places is important for several reasons.

隨著去年年底推出支援廣告的AMC+ 版本，我們現在擁有了一個完全支援廣告的分發生態系統，其中包括我們的五個線性網路、多個有針對性的串流媒體服務以及合作夥伴Fast 和CTV 平台上約100 個頻道來源的節目傳輸。我們在所有這些地方的存在都很重要，原因有幾個。

Number one, we're able to reach viewers and make our content available wherever and however they might choose to watch. Secondly, and very much in line with that first objective, we use viewership insights and library management to Window our shows and films across these brands and unique audiences to expand viewership and engagement in a cost effective and responsible way. And third, we seamlessly work with our commercial partners across all of these platforms, which delivers value and functional benefits that wouldn't be possible if our presence was limited, either to just linear or just streaming.

第一，我們能夠接觸到觀眾，並讓他們可以在任何地方以任何方式觀看我們的內容。其次，與第一個目標非常一致，我們利用收視率洞察和圖書館管理來跨這些品牌和獨特觀眾展示我們的節目和電影，以經濟有效且負責任的方式擴大收視率和參與度。第三，我們與所有這些平台上的商業合作夥伴無縫合作，這提供了價值和功能優勢，如果我們的存在僅限於線性或串流媒體，這是不可能的。

We continue to be very bullish on new offerings like Xumo from Comcast and Charter that converge linear and streaming consumption at scale, with dedicated customer service and technical support for viewers. The companies behind this new offering are some of our most important and long-standing commercial partners. We're pleased to have been with them on Xumo from the beginning and see great opportunity as they continue to roll out this new offering.

我們繼續非常看好 Comcast 和 Charter 的 Xumo 等新產品，它們大規模融合線性和串流媒體消費，並為觀眾提供專門的客戶服務和技術支援。這項新產品背後的公司是我們最重要、最長期的商業夥伴。我們很高興從一開始就在 Xumo 上與他們合作，並在他們繼續推出這項新產品時看到了巨大的機會。

In other affiliate news, we recently completed an agreement with Philo that will launch early this year. It will make the ad supported version of AMC+ part of Philo's based video offering. Just another example of how the ad supported tier gives customers additional flexibility but also boosts our commercial revenue partnerships and potential for bundling, while getting our shows and films in front of more viewers.

在其他附屬新聞中，我們最近與 Philo 達成了一項協議，該協議將於今年年初啟動。它將使得 AMC+ 的廣告支援版本成為 Philo 視訊產品的一部分。這只是廣告支援層如何為客戶提供額外靈活性的另一個例子，同時也提高了我們的商業收入合作夥伴關係和捆綁潛力，同時讓我們的節目和電影呈現在更多觀眾面前。

It's early days, but we are very pleased with the response to the ad supported version of AMC+, and we have an established runway for growth as more partners add the option this year. We still put high-quality original shows on AMC every Sunday night of the year and increasingly rare approach that drives value for our traditional affiliate partners. But importantly, this is not the only place we put these shows are the only way we work with our partners.

現在還處於早期階段，但我們對 AMC+ 廣告支援版本的反應感到非常滿意，隨著今年更多合作夥伴添加該選項，我們已經建立了增長跑道。我們仍然在每年的每個週日晚上在 AMC 上播放高品質的原創節目，並採用越來越罕見的方法來為我們的傳統聯盟合作夥伴帶來價值。但重要的是，這並不是我們舉辦這些節目的唯一場所，也是我們與合作夥伴合作的唯一方式。

Yes, we ended the year with five of the top 20 dramas on cable, and three of the top six new cable dramas. But just as importantly, the cable companies that are seeing the benefits of that linear performance also carry AMC+ on their own systems as an integrated offering to their customers. We drive viewership in both places.

是的，今年結束時，我們收看了前 20 部有線電視劇中的 5 部，以及前 6 部新有線電視劇中的 3 部。但同樣重要的是，看到線性性能優勢的有線電視公司也在自己的系統上搭載 AMC+，作為向客戶提供的整合產品。我們在這兩個地方都提高了收視率。

We were happy with results of our content partnership with Max late last year. Our shows performed well on their platform, and we saw associated viewership increases on AMC+ as well. We remain in discussions with a wide variety of potential partners and believe we will see additional bundling activity in the future.

我們對去年年底與 Max 的內容合作成果感到滿意。我們的節目在他們的平台上表現良好，我們也看到 AMC+ 上的相關收視率增加。我們仍在與各種潛在合作夥伴進行討論，並相信未來我們會看到更多的捆綁活動。

Across the industry, we really do need to make things easier and more cost effective for our customers. The current environment is confusing, expensive, and essentially forces consumers to recreate the cable bundle on their own at twice the price.

在整個產業中，我們確實需要讓客戶的事情變得更簡單、更具成本效益。當前的環境令人困惑、昂貴，基本上迫使消費者以兩倍的價格自行重新製作電纜束。

We saw an example of new thinking on bundling and partnerships just this week with the announcement from major industry players on a new sports bundle. I believe this industry will continue to find new approaches that will better serve consumers, distributors and content companies.

就在本週，主要產業參與者宣布推出新的體育捆綁產品，我們看到了捆綁和合作夥伴關係新思維的一個例子。我相信這個行業將繼續尋找新的方法來更好地服務消費者、分銷商和內容公司。

Turning to advertising, we've been very focused on driving new technology and capabilities that both benefit us and change how the industry does business. In the fourth quarter, we became the first programmer to enable programmatic ad buying on linear networks.

談到廣告，我們一直非常專注於推動新技術和新功能，這不僅使我們受益，也改變了產業的經營方式。在第四季度，我們成為第一個在線性網路上啟用程序化廣告購買的程式設計師。

This fall at our first of its kind deployment of fully addressable spots in our national linear programming feeds. These advances make our linear and digital inventory much more valuable and effective.

今年秋天，我們首次在國家線性節目來源中部署了完全可尋址的點。這些進步使我們的線性和數位庫存變得更加有價值和有效。

Going to market with a programmatic first approach and a fully converged linear and digital offering, lets us enter into broader and more meaningful advertising partnerships. Some of the early advertisers using our programmatic linear capabilities are seeing conversion rates that are four or five times that of linear traditional campaigns, with significant boost in incremental unduplicated reach from their conventional ad buys.

以程序化優先方法和完全整合的線性和數位產品進入市場，讓我們建立更廣泛、更有意義的廣告合作關係。一些早期使用我們的程式化線性功能的廣告商看到的轉換率是線性傳統廣告活動的四到五倍，並且傳統廣告購買的增量非重複覆蓋率顯著提高。

For the first time on linear television, advertisers can buy audience segments instead of broad demos tied to time slots with custom attribution results delivered post campaign. This is real differentiation we can bring to this year's upfront and beyond. Another area of focus for us is a technological overhaul and consolidation of our backend systems and shift to one platform supporting all of our streaming services.

在線性電視上，廣告主第一次可以購買受眾群體，而不是與時間段相關的廣泛演示，並在活動後提供自訂歸因結果。這是我們可以為今年及以後帶來的真正差異化。我們關注的另一個領域是對後端系統進行技術檢修和整合，並轉向支援所有串流媒體服務的一個平台。

This development work will carry forward in 2024 and will improve our service to customers and maximize efficiencies.

這項開發工作將在 2024 年繼續進行，並將改善我們為客戶提供的服務並最大限度地提高效率。

Leading this effort is Stephanie Mitchko, who recently joined the company as our Head of Global Media Operations and Technology. Stephanie and I worked together at Cablevision where she did award-winning work around content discovery and helped develop and deploy the industry's first cloud-based DVR. She then went on to become CTO and CEO of Kayden where she was immersed in the world of ad tech, and most recently served as CTO of Charter.

領導這項工作的是 Stephanie Mitchko，她最近加入公司擔任我們的全球媒體營運和技術主管。Stephanie 和我在 Cablevision 一起工作，她圍繞著內容發現進行了屢獲殊榮的工作，並幫助開發和部署了業界第一個基於雲端的 DVR。隨後，她成為 Kayden 的首席技術長兼首席執行官，在那裡她沉浸在廣告技術的世界中，最近擔任 Charter 的首席技術長。

We're thrilled she's here with us and leading this important evolution. As always at AMC Networks, everything we do ties back to the shows and films we're able to make and put in front of viewers. I want to close my remarks today with some results from 2023 that demonstrate our strong audience momentum and also provide a look ahead at 2024.

我們很高興她能和我們一起領導這項重要的變革。一如既往，在 AMC Networks，我們所做的一切都與我們能夠製作並呈現在觀眾面前的節目和電影息息相關。我想以 2023 年的一些結果來結束今天的發言，這些結果展示了我們強大的受眾勢頭，並展望了 2024 年。

The fourth quarter of last year was our most watched quarter ever across our streaming portfolio, which as you know, is designed to super serve fans of specific genres and content categories. AMC+ and HIDIVE achieved their number one quarters ever in terms of viewership and Shudder and Acorn TV also showed significant strength close the year.

去年第四季度是我們串流媒體產品組合中最受關注的季度，如您所知，該產品旨在為特定類型和內容類別的粉絲提供超級服務。AMC+ 和 HIDIVE 在收視率方面實現了有史以來的第一季收視率，Shudder 和 Acorn TV 在年底也展現了顯著的實力。

Programming achievements included first season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, which is now the most watched season in the history of AMC+, and that includes the final season of The Walking Dead itself. V/H/S/85 is Shudder's most watch film ever.

節目製作成就包括《陰屍路：達裡爾迪克森》第一季，該季現已成為 AMC+ 史上收視率最高的一季，其中還包括《陰屍路》的最後一季。V/H/S/85 是 Shudder 有史以來觀看次數最多的電影。

The Eminence In Shadow Season 2 is HIDIVE's the most watched season ever, and Toya & Reginae is All Blacks number one new series of all time in both viewership and customer acquisition. We had a lot of success with our shows and films last year, and the year ahead looks just says exciting.

《影子名人》第二季是 HIDIVE 有史以來收視率最高的一季，而《Toya & Reginae》則是全黑隊有史以來收視率和客戶獲取量第一的新劇集。去年我們的節目和電影取得了很大成功，未來的一年看起來令人興奮。

Earlier this week we brought a slate of new shows to the twice Annual Meeting of the Television Critics Association or TCA. Even in the wake of two strikes that shut down production for six months, I don't believe we've ever presented a more compelling and eclectic collection of shows than we did this week.

本週早些時候，我們為兩次電視評論家協會（TCA）年會帶來了一系列新節目。即使在兩次罷工導致生產停工六個月之後，我也不認為我們會比本週呈現出更引人注目、更不拘一格的節目系列。

These shows included monster speed, a critically acclaimed series starring Clive Owen as the immortal detective Sam Spade. Parrish, which is premiering at the end of March with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Giancarlo Esposito in a leading role, and the second season of the popular Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, which returns to AMC and AMC+ on May 12.

這些節目包括廣受好評的《怪獸速度》系列，由克里夫歐文飾演不朽的偵探山姆斯佩德。《帕里什》將於3 月底與《絕命毒師》和《風騷律師》首播，吉安卡洛·埃斯波西托領銜主演，而廣受歡迎的安妮·賴斯的《夜訪吸血鬼》第二季將於5 月12 日回歸AMC 和AMC+。

The latest addition to our expanding universe around the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premieres on February 25, and is focused on fan favorite characters Rick and Michonne. As we entered the final weeks of our promotional campaign, we're seeing enormous fan interest in anticipation in this continuing story. The final trailer for the series just dropped and generated 16 million plays in its first 24 hours, and nearly 33 million plays in a single week.

我們不斷擴展的《陰屍路》宇宙的最新成員《陰屍路：活著的人》將於 2 月 25 日首播，重點關注粉絲最喜愛的角色瑞克和米瓊恩。當我們進入促銷活動的最後幾週時，我們看到大量粉絲對這個持續的故事充滿期待。該系列的最終預告片剛剛發布，上線後 24 小時內播放量達到 1600 萬次，單週播放量接近 3300 萬次。

We're also bringing Rick and Michonne into Activision's Blockbuster video game franchise Call of Duty, proving the enduring allure of these beloved characters across the media landscape. This is meaningful indication of the continued advantage for this universe, which is important to us, given that we have second seasons of the two other character driven spin offs, Dead City and Daryl Dixon on the way.

我們也將瑞克和米瓊恩帶入動視暴視的電玩遊戲系列《決勝時刻》中，證明這些深受喜愛的角色在媒體領域具有持久的吸引力。這有意義地表明了這個宇宙的持續優勢，這對我們來說很重要，因為我們還有另外兩個角色驅動的衍生作品《死亡之城》和《達裡爾·迪克森》的第二季即將推出。

In a world in which a premier is when a viewer first decides to watch something, as opposed to when a network first decides to show it, we see a very long tail and incredible value in this beloved and expanding franchise.

在這個世界裡，首映是指觀眾第一次決定觀看某些內容，而不是電視網絡首先決定播放它，我們在這個深受喜愛且不斷擴張的系列中看到了非常長的尾巴和令人難以置信的價值。

As I look back on 2023, I'm proud of the progress our internal teams have made in transforming the company to adapt and thrive as this competitive and fast changing environment continues to take shape. We enter 2024 very much focused on programming partnerships and profitability, as our three principal drivers of the company and its continued success. And I'm energized by this work, our people and the road ahead.

回顧 2023 年，我為我們的內部團隊在公司轉型方面取得的進展感到自豪，以適應這種競爭激烈且快速變化的環境並不斷發展壯大。進入 2024 年，我們非常關注程式設計合作夥伴關係和獲利能力，這是我們公司及其持續成功的三大主要驅動力。這項工作、我們的員工和未來的道路讓我充滿活力。

And now I'll turn the call over to Patrick.

現在我將把電話轉給帕特里克。

Thank you, Kristin. I'll start by providing a high-level review of our financial results. And then I'll discuss our outlook for the year and then we'll open the call for Q&A.

謝謝你，克里斯汀。首先，我將對我們的財務業績進行高級別審查。然後我將討論我們對今年的展望，然後我們將開始問答環節。

For 2023, we are pleased to report that we achieved our full year guidance, including consolidated revenue of $2.7 billion consolidated adjusted operating income of $670 million, and most importantly, free cash flow of $169 million, excluding the impact of the $113 million, one-time cash restructuring payments, as well as the $50 million tailwind related to the Unwind of our Hulu licensing agreement, our normalized free cash flow would have been $231 million, a base which we believe we can grow in 2024.

對於2023 年，我們很高興地報告，我們實現了全年指導，包括27 億美元的綜合收入、6.7 億美元的綜合調整後營業收入，最重要的是，自由現金流為1.69 億美元，不包括1.13 億美元的影響，其中一項加上臨時現金重組付款，以及與解除Hulu 許可協議相關的5000 萬美元順風車，我們的正常化自由現金流將達到2.31 億美元，我們相信我們可以在2024 年實現這一基礎。

Looking back over the year, we're very pleased with the progress we've made and quickly reorienting the business around free cash flow generation, while balancing critical investments and programming. We'll have more to say on this when we get to our guidance for 2024.

回顧這一年，我們對所取得的進展感到非常滿意，並圍繞自由現金流產生迅速調整業務方向，同時平衡關鍵投資和規劃。當我們制定 2024 年指導時，我們將對此進行更多討論。

Before I jump into our financial results, I would like to quickly address one housekeeping item. In December, we sold our interest in 25/7 Media, which in 2023 generated $91 million in revenue, and $4 million in AOI within our international and other segments. Beginning in the first quarter of this year, this segment will be solely comprised of AMC Networks International, including visibility into this important business.

在開始討論我們的財務表現之前，我想先快速解決一項內務管理問題。去年 12 月，我們出售了 25/7 Media 的權益，該公司在 2023 年產生了 9,100 萬美元的收入，並在我們的國際和其他部門中產生了 400 萬美元的 AOI。從今年第一季開始，該部門將完全由 AMC Networks International 組成，包括對這項重要業務的可見性。

In addition, going forward, our consolidated content licensing revenues will clearly reflect the traditional core licensing revenues generated by AMC Studios, as well as our film distribution businesses. Without the lower margin production revenue we divested. Prior to the completion of the sale, we recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $20 million.

此外，展望未來，我們的綜合內容授權收入將清楚反映 AMC Studios 以及我們的電影發行業務產生的傳統核心授權收入。如果沒有利潤率較低的生產收入，我們就放棄了。在出售完成之前，我們記錄了 2000 萬美元的非現金減損費用。

Moving to our results. For the fourth quarter, consolidated revenue was $679 million. Adjusted operating income was $100 million and we generated $66 million of free cash flow.

轉向我們的結果。第四季綜合營收為 6.79 億美元。調整後的營業收入為 1 億美元，我們產生了 6,600 萬美元的自由現金流。

I'll now briefly touched on our segment financials. Domestic operations revenues decreased 13% to $2.3 billion for the full year and decreased 32% to $582 million for the fourth quarter. The decrease in revenues for the full year was attributable to lower advertising, content licensing and affiliate revenues, partly offset by streaming revenue growth.

我現在將簡要介紹我們部門的財務狀況。全年國內營運收入下降 13% 至 23 億美元，第四季下降 32% 至 5.82 億美元。全年收入下降的原因是廣告、內容授權和附屬收入減少，但部分被串流媒體收入成長所抵消。

Next, I'll break down the individual components of revenue. Full years streaming revenue increased 13% to $566 million. For the quarter, streaming revenue increased 4%. We continue to remain disciplined in our marketing spend, and we are pleased with the results of our efforts to acquire and retain higher lifetime value subscribers.

接下來，我將細分收入的各個組成部分。全年串流媒體收入成長 13%，達到 5.66 億美元。本季串流媒體收入成長 4%。我們繼續嚴格控制行銷支出，並且對我們為獲取和留住更高終身價值訂戶所做的努力所取得的成果感到滿意。

Advertising revenues declined 20% for the full year and 23% in the fourth quarter, and reflect difficult year-over-year comparisons with Q4 2022 when we had the incredible finale of The Walking Dead, as well as lower linear ratings.

全年廣告收入下降了20%，第四季度下降了23%，這反映出與2022 年第四季相比很困難，當時我們看到了《陰屍路》令人難以置信的結局，以及較低的線性收視率。

Our advertising revenues also reflect actions we took to reduce volumes of original programming, the net result of which drives higher levels of profitability. Digital growth remains robust and continues to partially offset these headwinds. That said, like our peers, we continue to experience a challenging advertising environment, particularly for scatter and direct response.

我們的廣告收入也反映了我們為減少原創節目數量而採取的行動，其最終結果推動了更高水準的獲利能力。數位成長依然強勁，並持續部分抵消這些不利因素。也就是說，與我們的同行一樣，我們繼續經歷充滿挑戰的廣告環境，特別是在分散和直接回應方面。

Content licensing revenue was $343 million for the full year and $96 million for the fourth quarter, versus $300 million in the fourth quarter last year, when we recognized $126 million of revenue related to Silo declaimed AMC studios series we produce for Apple TV, as well as significant revenues associated with the delivery of certain The Walking Dead universe titles.

全年內容授權收入為3.43 億美元，第四季為9,600 萬美元，而去年第四季為3 億美元，當時我們確認與我們為Apple TV 製作的Silo 宣稱的AMC 工作室系列相關的收入為1.26億美元與某些《陰屍路》系列作品的發行相關的巨額收入。

Affiliate revenue performance in the quarter was driven by continued declines in the basic subscriber universe and the 4% impact from the non-renewal of fubo. At the end of the fourth quarter, we fully lapped this impact, therefore fubo will not be a headwind to our year-over-year comparisons going forward.

本季聯盟行銷收入表現受到基本訂戶範圍持續下降以及 fubo 不續訂造成 4% 影響的推動。在第四季度末，我們完全接受了這一影響，因此 fubo 不會成為我們未來同比比較的阻力。

Domestic operations adjusted operating income was $713 million for the full year, and $124 million for the quarter. Continued expense management yielded margin improvements for both the full year and the fourth quarter, with margins of 31% and 21%, respectively.

國內業務全年調整後營業收入為 7.13 億美元，本季調整後營業收入為 1.24 億美元。持續的費用管理提高了全年和第四季度的利潤率，分別為 31% 和 21%。

The year-over-year decrease in AOI was largely attributable to lower revenues, which are partly offset by lower programming and marketing expenses. The results of continued cost discipline across the business.

AOI 年比下降主要歸因於收入下降，但程式設計和行銷費用的下降部分抵消了收入下降。整個企業持續實施成本紀律的結果。

Looking at our international and other segment, for the full year revenue decreased 9% to $404 million, excluding 25/7 media revenues declined 2%. Adjusted operating income was $61 million for the full year.

看看我們的國際和其他部門，全年收入下降 9% 至 4.04 億美元，不包括 25/7 媒體收入下降 2%。全年調整後營業收入為 6,100 萬美元。

Moving to the balance sheet, we ended the year with net debt of approximately $1.8 billion and a consolidated net leverage ratio of 2.7 times. We have substantial financial flexibility, with approximately $1 billion of available liquidity, including $571 million of cash on the balance sheet and our undrawn $400 million revolving credit facility.

轉向資產負債表，我們年底的淨債務約為 18 億美元，綜合淨槓桿率為 2.7 倍。我們擁有龐大的財務彈性，擁有約 10 億美元的可用流動資金，包括資產負債表上的 5.71 億美元現金和未提取的 4 億美元循環信貸額度。

In the fourth quarter, we redeemed all of our 2024 senior notes outstanding and also repurchased $25 million principal amount of our 2025 Senior notes in the open market. We continue to remain focused on maintaining the health and flexibility of our balance sheet, or reducing gross debt over time.

第四季度，我們贖回了所有已發行的 2024 年優先票據，並在公開市場回購了 2,500 萬美元本金的 2025 年優先票據。我們繼續專注於維持資產負債表的健康和靈活性，或隨著時間的推移減少總債務。

Regarding capital allocation, our philosophy remains unchanged. First, we look to support the business by creating and acquiring compelling programming that resonates with our audiences, while maintaining healthy levels of profitability and cash flow generation.

關於資本配置，我們的理念沒有改變。首先，我們希望透過製作和獲取與觀眾產生共鳴的引人注目的節目來支持業務，同時保持健康的盈利水平和現金流生成。

Second, we look to improve our balance sheet by reducing gross debt and proactively addressing upcoming maturities. Third, strategic M&A and returning capital to shareholders remain further down our current priority list. Our 2023 results, including a healthy 34% normalized free cash flow conversion ratio, and a reduction of gross debt of approximately $460 million, a reflections of these priorities which we're carrying into 2024.

其次，我們希望透過減少總債務和積極應對即將到期的債務來改善我們的資產負債表。第三，策略併購和向股東返還資本仍然是我們當前優先事項的重點。我們的 2023 年業績包括 34% 的正常化自由現金流轉換率，以及約 4.6 億美元的總債務減少，反映了我們在 2024 年執行的這些優先事項。

Moving to our outlook for 2024. We are pleased to say that we expect to grow our free cash flow year-over-year over the normalized $231 million we generated in 2023. And over the next two years, we expect to generate cumulative free cash flow of approximately $0.5 billion.

展望 2024 年。我們很高興地說，我們預計自由現金流將在 2023 年正常化的 2.31 億美元基礎上逐年成長。未來兩年，我們預計將產生約 5 億美元的累積自由現金流。

In 2023, we reaped the benefits of the difficult decisions we undertook to right size our expense base at the end of '22. This gives us additional confidence in our ability to manage the business in a fiscally prudent manner going forward.

2023 年，我們從 22 年底為調整支出基礎規模所做的艱難決定中獲益。這讓我們對未來以審慎的財務方式管理業務的能力更有信心。

Moving on to revenue, excluding $91 million in 2023 revenue from 25/7 Media and $56 million of revenue related to Silo deliveries in 2023. We expect 2024 consolidated revenue to decline approximately 6% as compared to the prior year, implying total revenue of approximately $2.4 billion.

接下來是收入，不包括 2023 年 25/7 Media 的 9,100 萬美元收入和 2023 年與 Silo 交付相關的 5,600 萬美元收入。我們預計 2024 年合併收入將比上年下降約 6%，這意味著總收入約為 24 億美元。

Now we'll unpack the details that underpin our revenue outlook. Prudent streaming growth will continue to be a focus in 2024. And we expect year-over-year streaming revenue growth in the high single-digit to low double-digit range driven by broader distribution of our offerings, selected price increases, as well as disciplined acquisition marketing efforts.

現在我們將揭開支撐我們收入前景的細節。謹慎的串流成長將繼續成為 2024 年的焦點。我們預計，在我們的產品更廣泛的分銷、有選擇的價格上漲以及嚴格的收購行銷努力的推動下，串流媒體收入的同比增長將在高個位數到低兩位數範圍內。

With respect to advertising revenue, for the linear environment continues to be challenging, the programming schedule and volume headwinds evident in 2023 will subside. We expect year-over-year domestic advertising revenue declines in the high single digit area for 2024.

就廣告收入而言，由於線性環境仍充滿挑戰，2023 年節目安排和數量上明顯的不利因素將會消退。我們預計 2024 年國內廣告收入將出現高個位數年減。

With respect to affiliate revenue, the traditional video ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, and we're leaning into efforts by traditional distributors customer-centric solutions, such as Charter and Comcast Xumo. With that said, our near-term expectation regarding linear subscriber trends for this year remains unchanged. And we expect full year domestic affiliate revenue to decline approximately 10% compared with 2023.

就聯盟收入而言，傳統視訊生態系統繼續快速發展，我們正在傾向於傳統分銷商以客戶為中心的解決方案的努力，例如 Charter 和 Comcast Xumo。話雖如此，我們對今年線性用戶趨勢的近期預期保持不變。我們預計全年國內聯營公司營收將較 2023 年下降約 10%。

Content licensing remains a priority for us and we continue to be innovative, aggressive and discipline regarding this crucial revenue stream. In 2024, we don't expect shows like The Walking Dead, and Fear the Walking Dead to contribute as much as they have in the past to our content licensing revenues. Nor do we expect material production revenue from projects like Silo for Apple TV.

內容許可仍然是我們的首要任務，我們將繼續在這一關鍵收入來源方面保持創新、進取和嚴格的紀律。到 2024 年，我們預計《陰屍路》和《陰屍路》等節目不會像過去那樣為我們的內容授權收入做出貢獻。我們也不期望從 Apple TV 的 Silo 等項目中獲得材料生產收入。

Taking account of these year-over-year dynamics, we expect domestic licensing revenue to be in the $225 million area for 2024. And while content licensing revenues are notoriously lumpy and often impacted by shipping delivery schedules, this level of revenue reflects our current level of production and as such a good baseline going forward.

考慮到這些同比動態，我們預計 2024 年國內授權收入將達到 2.25 億美元。雖然內容授權收入眾所周知不穩定，並且經常受到運輸交付時間表的影響，但這一收入水平反映了我們當前的製作水平，因此是一個良好的未來基線。

Owning the content we produce comes with significant optionality. And we look forward to the opportunity around the return of international rights to shows like The Walking Dead in 2025.

擁有我們製作的內容具有很大的選擇性。我們期待 2025 年《行屍走肉》等劇集的國際版權回歸的機會。

Moving on to our international segment, as we have divested 25/7 Media business, this segment will consist solely of our AMC Networks international business. For AMC Networks International, excluding 25/7 Media, we anticipate declines in distribution revenue to be partly offset by advertising revenue growth, yielding approximately $300 million in revenue on our international segment for 2024.

轉向我們的國際業務，由於我們已經剝離了 25/7 Media 業務，該業務將僅由我們的 AMC Networks 國際業務組成。對於 AMC Networks International（不包括 25/7 Media），我們預計發行收入的下降將被廣告收入的成長部分抵消，2024 年我們的國際部門將產生約 3 億美元的收入。

While our guiding metric remains free cash flow, adjusted operating income is still a very important measure of profitability. And we continue to focus on maintaining healthy AOI margins. Despite the revenue headwinds, in 2023, we actually increased our AOI margin to 25%, the first year-over-year increase in margins since 2017.

雖然我們的指導指標仍然是自由現金流，但調整後的營業收入仍然是衡量獲利能力的一個非常重要的指標。我們將繼續專注於維持健康的 AOI 利潤。儘管存在收入逆風，但到 2023 年，我們實際上將 AOI 利潤率提高到了 25%，這是自 2017 年以來利潤率首次同比增長。

For 2024, despite the expected decline in revenue, our continued cost measures and prudent investments lead us to expect only a slight decline in margins to 2022 levels up 23% to 24%, implying consolidated adjusted operating income of $550 million to $575 million. Driving our 2024 AOI expectations for the revenue headwinds and our linear businesses offset by continued growth in streaming and digital advertising, as well as disciplined expense management.

對於2024 年，儘管預計收入會下降，但我們持續的成本措施和審慎投資使我們預計利潤率只會小幅下降，到2022 年的水平將上升23% 至24%，這意味著合併調整後的營業收入為5.5 億美元至5.75 億美元。推動我們 2024 年 AOI 對收入逆風的預期，我們的線性業務被串流媒體和數位廣告的持續成長以及嚴格的費用管理所抵消。

We also expect programming amortization to be similar to 2023 levels. Despite a reduction of cash programming spend from $1.1 billion in 2023, to approximately $1 billion in 2024. We will continue to be extremely disciplined on expenses, including the calibration of marketing spend to drive prudent streaming growth.

我們也預計規劃攤銷將與 2023 年的水準相似。儘管現金規劃支出從 2023 年的 11 億美元減少到 2024 年的約 10 億美元。我們將繼續嚴格控制開支，包括調整行銷支出，以推動審慎的串流成長。

Before we open it up for Q&A, I would like to reiterate what I said in the past regarding our overarching financial approach and managing through this rapidly evolving media environment. AMC Networks is employing a back to basics approach that emphasizes broad distribution of our content across available platforms, and prioritizes near term monetization, while at the same time, taking advantage of our unique position as a nimble and innovative premium programmer.

在我們開始問答之前，我想重申我過去所說的關於我們的整體財務方法以及在這個快速發展的媒體環境中進行管理的內容。AMC Networks 採用回歸基礎的方法，強調在可用平台上廣泛分發我們的內容，並優先考慮短期盈利，同時利用我們作為靈活和創新的優質程式設計師的獨特地位。

Along the way, we'll preserve capital to ensure we maintain a healthy balance sheet remained extremely disciplined on expenses and balance appropriate levels of programming investment against the available monetization opportunities. We remain pleased with the progress we've made on these fronts and look forward to delivering the strongest content slate AMC Networks has had in years in 2024.

在此過程中，我們將保留資本，以確保維持健康的資產負債表，在支出方面保持嚴格的紀律，並在適當水平的規劃投資與可用的貨幣化機會之間取得平衡。我們對在這些方面取得的進展感到滿意，並期待在 2024 年提供 AMC Networks 多年來最強大的內容。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

David Joyce, Seaport Research Partners.

大衛喬伊斯，海港研究夥伴。

Thank you. I Appreciate your commentary for the outlook this year. We're also interested in digging more into your advertising offering. Could you please help to differentiate how your programmatic approach compares and contrasts with other linear networks efforts that have been moving digital? And also, if you could layer on to digging into the fourth quarter, which was one that saw an acceleration of advertisers applying some of their budgets to the streamers add tiers, how are you also going to market with that backdrop? Thank you.

謝謝。我感謝您對今年前景的評論。我們也有興趣深入了解您的廣告產品。您能否幫助區分您的程序化方法與其他已經數位化的線性網路工作的比較和對比？此外，如果您可以深入挖掘第四季度，廣告商加速將部分預算應用於串流媒體添加層，那麼在這種背景下您將如何進行行銷？謝謝。

Hi, David. It's Kim Kelleher. Thanks for your question. I think as an industry, we continue to be an absolute leader in national linear -- addressable advertising. We're taking this difficult time, and really leaning into innovation and investment in our technologies to serve better solutions to our partners. We believe this upfront is going to be heavily leaning towards data targeted audience solutions and buys and we couldn't be more well positioned to take full advantage of that.

嗨，大衛。我是金·凱萊赫。謝謝你的提問。我認為作為一個行業，我們仍然是全國線性可尋址廣告領域的絕對領導者。我們正在度過這個困難時期，並真正致力於創新和對技術的投資，以便為我們的合作夥伴提供更好的解決方案。我們相信，這項前期工作將嚴重傾向於數據目標受眾解決方案和購買，我們處於充分利用這一點的最佳位置。

On your specific question regarding programmatic, we successfully developed and enabled the first biddable programmatic buying capabilities within our linear inventory. This is the first time in the industry, our company has been able to successfully do this. So as Kristin mentioned, we had a number of partners debut this product with us in fourth quarter, and the results were beyond promising.

關於您有關程序化的具體問題，我們在線性庫存中成功開發並啟用了第一個可出價的程序化購買功能。這在業界還是第一次，我公司能夠成功做到這一點。正如 Kristin 所提到的，我們有許多合作夥伴在第四季度與我們一起推出了這款產品，結果超出預期。

In particular, L'Oreal has quoted that, they saw increases of over 10% from expected performance. So also last year, we launched Audience+ at our upfront event. Audience+ combines all of the development we've done for the last three years to ready for this moment.

特別是，歐萊雅表示，他們的業績較預期成長了 10% 以上。去年，我們也在前期活動中推出了 Audience+。Audience+ 結合了我們過去三年所做的所有開發工作，為這一刻做好準備。

That brings our partners the most advanced targeting capabilities seamlessly. It really simplifies the transaction and offers a true cross platform targeting with all of our inventories live linear VOD, and CTV all together. So we see a huge opportunity to automate the sale of addressable going forward and thinks this will be an area of large growth and yield.

這為我們的合作夥伴帶來了最先進的無縫定位功能。它確實簡化了交易，並提供了真正的跨平台定位，將我們所有的庫存直播線性 VOD 和 CTV 結合在一起。因此，我們看到了未來可尋址自動化銷售的巨大機會，並認為這將是一個巨大成長和收益的領域。

On Q4 specifically, it was a difficult quarter, but I think you're seeing the same headwinds, most of our competitors are reporting. Yes, we're seeing revenue move into streaming categories. And we launched AMC+ ad supported right at the right time. So we launched in late September, and that product is up and running on one large partner platform, and we are adding platforms every single month. So we anticipate to be able to pace with those trends.

具體來說，第四季度是一個艱難的季度，但我認為您也看到了相同的阻力，我們的大多數競爭對手都在報告。是的，我們看到收入正在轉向串流媒體類別。我們在正確的時間推出了 AMC+ 廣告支援。因此，我們在 9 月底推出了該產品，該產品已在一個大型合作夥伴平台上啟動並運行，並且我們每個月都在添加平台。因此，我們預計能夠跟上這些趨勢。

I would just add, David, it's Kristin, on your question about programmatic on linear, like, essentially, what it means is that, the traditional digital advertisers, people that have solely bought digital or dabble in traditional television, they can now purchase our national linear inventory programmatically.

我想補充一點，大衛，我是克里斯汀，關於線性程序化的問題，本質上，這意味著傳統的數位廣告商，那些只購買數位電視或涉足傳統電視的人，他們現在可以購買我們的以程式方式進行國家線性清單。

So they're basically using the buying platforms that they always used on digital to buy linear television, which for us, and I think for most people in the business is a huge opportunity to finally swing the pendulum back from digital first to shared purchase of traditional television as well as digital to support the advertisers efforts.

因此，他們基本上使用他們一直在數位上使用的購買平台來購買線性電視，這對我們來說，我認為對於業內的大多數人來說，這是一個巨大的機會，最終將鐘擺從數位優先轉向共享購買傳統電視和數位電視都支持廣告商的努力。

Great. Thank you very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

David Karnovsky, JPMorgan.

大衛卡諾夫斯基，摩根大通。

Thank you. Patrick, thanks for the two-year review on free cash flow. I wanted to see if you could walk through some of the puts and takes of the guide for the out year and any assumptions that are built into that around programming spend or anything else we should be aware of?

謝謝。派崔克，感謝您對自由現金流進行的兩年審查。我想看看您是否可以瀏覽一下本指南中今年的一些內容，以及圍繞編程支出或我們應該注意的其他任何內容內置的任何假設？

Yes, sure. Great. Thanks for the question, David. Listen, we took some tough medicine at the end of '22 to right-size, our expense base, and obviously, we're in the business of forward planning our production slate that being by far our largest expense.

是的，當然。偉大的。謝謝你的提問，大衛。聽著，我們在 22 年底採取了一些強效藥物來調整我們的支出基礎，顯然，我們正在對我們的生產計劃進行前瞻性規劃，這是迄今為止我們最大的支出。

And so the pain that we took in '22, paid dividends in '23, we were able to essentially kind of double reported cash flow from about $140 million to $280 million this year. And as we look forward to planning in '24, and '25, with the slates we have for the '25 and '26 years, this gives us really good line of sight into our ability to generate this free cash flow.

因此，我們在 22 年承受的痛苦在 23 年支付了股息，我們今年基本上能夠將報告的現金流從約 1.4 億美元翻倍至 2.8 億美元。當我們期待在 24 和 25 年進行規劃時，以及我們在 25 和 26 年的計劃中，這使我們能夠很好地了解我們產生自由現金流的能力。

We're going to be nimble and creative in terms of how those slates come together, you will have noticed late last year, we announced the deal to buy some IP from Disney in the context of a show called Nautilus, which is really neat. That being said, we continue to like our position as having ownership economics over our slate.

我們將在如何將這些石板組合在一起方面變得靈活和富有創意，你會注意到去年年底，我們宣布了一項交易，從迪士尼購買一些IP，內容是一個名為《鸚鵡螺》的節目，這真的很棒。話雖這麼說，我們仍然喜歡我們的立場，因為我們的名單上有所有權經濟學。

So you'll know that for the most part, we own most of the shows on AMC, and so that means we've got really strong optionality and success. And so, we like that model, we can be flexible. But given the medicine we've taken to drive free cash flow this year, we've got good line of sight in terms of our programming plan going forward and the rest of the expense base as well.

所以你會知道，在很大程度上，我們擁有 AMC 的大部分節目，這意味著我們擁有非常強大的選擇權和成功。所以，我們喜歡這種模式，我們可以很靈活。但考慮到我們今年為推動自由現金流所採取的藥物，我們對未來的規劃計劃以及其餘的支出基礎都有良好的視野。

So we feel really good about growing free cash flow year over year to '24. And that's why we feel confident in giving you the two-year guide and generating approximately $0.5 billion over the next two years.

因此，我們對自由現金流逐年增加到 24 年感到非常滿意。這就是為什麼我們有信心為您提供兩年指南並在未來兩年內創造約 5 億美元的收入。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Robert Fishman, MoffettNathanson.

羅伯特‧菲什曼，莫菲特‧內森森。

Hi, this is (Luke Landis) on for Robert. Thanks for taking our question. I want to know if you had any other color you share on the experiment with putting certain titles on Max and the quick effects of our news in the future. And also then furthermore, more generally, how you guys are thinking about growing licensing revenues, bouncing building a roster exclusive, exclusive for AMC+ versus renting out to third parties.

大家好，我是羅伯特（盧克蘭迪斯）。感謝您提出我們的問題。我想知道您是否有任何其他顏色可以分享關於在 Max 上放置某些標題的實驗以及我們未來新聞的快速效果。此外，更一般地說，你們如何考慮增加授權收入、建立一個專屬的、專屬的 AMC+ 的花名冊，而不是出租給第三方。

Hey, it's Kristin. I'm going to let Dan take the second question and then we'll go back to the Max partnership. Your second question around content was around sharing content between AMC+ and AMC? Is that's the question, I'm sorry.

嘿，這是克里斯汀。我將讓 Dan 回答第二個問題，然後我們將回到 Max 合作夥伴關係。您關於內容的第二個問題是關於在 AMC+ 和 AMC 之間分享內容嗎？是這個問題嗎，抱歉。

AMC+ versus licensing out.

AMC+ 與授權出去。

Yes. I'll start with the second question, Robert. So with respect to licensing, look, we're focused on -- this is Dan, by the way. We're focused on generating the best possible return from our content investments, and we appreciate the strategic advantages and optionality that our studio model has, for us, obviously, our owned IP, and beloved franchises are very desirable and sought after. So we seek to monetize them as efficiently as possible. We have five linear platforms, seven streaming platforms. So we window through our ecosystem, in the interest of maximum revenue and profit generation.

是的。我將從第二個問題開始，羅伯特。因此，就許可而言，我們的重點是——順便說一下，這是丹。我們專注於從內容投資中獲得盡可能最佳的回報，我們很欣賞工作室模式所具有的戰略優勢和選擇性，對我們來說，顯然，我們擁有的智慧財產權和深受喜愛的特許經營權是非常令人嚮往和追捧的。因此，我們尋求盡可能有效地透過它們貨幣化。我們有五個線性平台，七個串流平台。因此，我們透過我們的生態系統進行窗口，以實現收入和利潤最大化。

As far as whether or not we'll produce for third parties, like we did with Silo, for Apple, we look at ourselves as being very opportunistic, and highly selective and tactical, when we take on those opportunities, we'll do it when the risk reward makes sense.

至於我們是否會為第三方生產，就像我們為Silo 所做的那樣，為蘋果公司生產，我們認為自己非常機會主義，並且具有高度選擇性和戰術性，當我們抓住這些機會時，我們會這樣做當風險報酬有意義時。

And we typically develop a lot of content, that maybe not all of it is suitable for AMC Networks. So we do have deep and long relationships with all other platforms. So we will be out in the market, and we'll sell to third parties when appropriate. It's not our primary business. So we're not in a situation where we have to chase other platforms and are dependent upon that.

我們通常會開發大量內容，但可能並非所有內容都適合 AMC Networks。因此，我們確實與所有其他平台有著深厚而長期的關係。因此，我們將進入市場，並在適當的時候出售給第三方。這不是我們的主要業務。因此，我們並不處於必須追逐其他平台、依賴其他平台的境地。

And just to follow up on the Max partnership, I think it was a learning experience for both we were thrilled with the increases in viewership that our content received, both on Max, but then also the associated lift in the more current seasons. And for the series that we shared with Max, when we have more current seasons on AMC+.

為了跟進 Max 合作夥伴關係，我認為這對雙方來說都是一次學習經歷，我們對我們的內容在 Max 上的收視率增加感到非常興奮，而且也對當前季節的相關提升感到興奮。對於我們與 Max 分享的劇集，當我們在 AMC+ 上播放更多當前劇集時。

So we shared a lot of information in a privacy compliant way between the two companies. And I think they were pleased with hopefully some, you know, positive retention and engagement on the Max side. And we were certainly pleased with the learnings and the increased viewership that we got on AMC+ for those series.

因此，我們在兩家公司之間以符合隱私的方式共享了大量資訊。我認為他們對 Max 方面的積極保留和參與感到滿意。我們對這些系列節目在 AMC+ 上學到的知識和收視率的增加感到非常滿意。

Yes, I will just add one thing, which is that what that experiment showed us was that when we get onto a larger distribution platform and a bigger ecosystem, our content scale scales significantly, and is as appealing and more so than then even, in our own ecosystem.

是的，我只想補充一件事，那就是該實驗向我們展示的是，當我們進入更大的分發平台和更大的生態系統時，我們的內容規模會顯著擴大，並且比那時更有吸引力，甚至比那時更有吸引力。

Thomas Yeh, Morgan Stanley.

湯瑪斯葉，摩根士丹利。

Thanks. I wanted to ask about the domestic linear affiliate revenue trends. I think adjusting out the fubo headwind, it did look like core revenue declines kind of accelerated sequentially. Was that maybe some noise? I think on a going forward basis, it sounded like you still expect the subscriber trends to remain similar to what you were seeing this quarter. But any color on rate versus volume and some of the components there would be helpful.

謝謝。我想問一下國內線性聯盟收入趨勢。我認為，調整了伏波逆風後，核心收入的下降確實看起來有所加速。這可能是一些噪音嗎？我認為，從未來的角度來看，聽起來您仍然預計訂戶趨勢將與本季看到的情況類似。但任何關於速率與體積的顏色以及其中的一些組件都會有幫助。

Hey, Thomas. It's Patrick, thanks for the question. Yes, I would point at Q4 as being something of an anomaly domestically, believe revenue declined 16%. If you look at the full year, the revenue decline was kind of 13%. But recall, we had sort of the 3% impact from fubo. So going forward, you know, stripping out that 3% impact that informs our 10% guide on domestic affiliate revenue. Going into 2024, obviously, the vast majority of that is just the universe, there's a little bit of price in there as well, but we hold serve, most of the time.

嘿，托馬斯。我是派崔克，謝謝你的提問。是的，我認為第四季在國內有些反常，收入下降了 16%。如果你看一下全年，收入下降了 13%。但回想一下，我們受到了 fubo 3% 的影響。因此，展望未來，您知道，剔除我們 10% 國內聯盟收入指南中的 3% 影響。進入 2024 年，顯然，其中絕大多數只是宇宙，其中也有一點價格，但大多數時候我們都會守住發球局。

I would just add, it's also worth noting that in the past 12 months, we renewed more than half of our affiliates subscriber footprint. And there were some big wins in their dish sling charter. Altis, Media calm, Wow, Philo, Bell, we did a Roger show deal in Canada, amongst others.

我想補充一點，值得注意的是，在過去 12 個月中，我們更新了一半以上的聯盟訂閱者足跡。他們的碟式吊帶包機取得了一些重大勝利。阿爾蒂斯、媒體冷靜、哇、菲洛、貝爾，我們在加拿大做了羅傑演出交易，等等。

And then, also obviously, we partnered with Comcast on the now TV offering. And then we launched AMC+ plus with Charter, as you know, plus the aforementioned Philo deal. So we're feeling really positive about our relationships with distributors. And as Patrick said, pretty comfortable with how we're moving forward on the partnership side.

然後，同樣明顯的是，我們與康卡斯特合作推出了 now TV 產品。然後我們與 Charter 一起推出了 AMC+ plus，如你所知，加上前面提到的 Philo 交易。因此，我們對與經銷商的關係感到非常積極。正如帕特里克所說，我們對合作關係的進展感到非常滿意。

Great. And then just a second one with the sale of the 25/7 Media. Patrick, you mentioned, I think, shedding a little bit more light on the international core. Can you maybe talk a little bit about the future of where you see that business? I think there were some expectations that you maybe have some selective avenues of OTT launches internationally? How do you think about the balance of that relative to maintaining the core International Network?

偉大的。然後，隨著 25/7 Media 的出售，這又是第二次。派崔克，我認為你提到了更多關於國際核心的資訊。您能否談談您對該業務的未來看法？我認為有人期望你們可能有一些選擇性的 OTT 在國際上推出的途徑？您如何看待這與維持核心國際網絡之間的平衡？

Yes. We've got a great international footprint with particularly strong kind of market positions in both Southern Europe and Eastern Europe -- Eastern Central Europe. These are our businesses with deep roots in these markets, maybe not as well understood, here stateside.

是的。我們擁有廣泛的國際影響力，在南歐和東歐（東中歐）擁有特別強大的市場地位。我們的這些業務深深紮根於這些市場，但在美國本土，人們可能並沒有那麼了解。

But these are beloved bouquets of channels with, thousands of hours of original programming, really kind of part of the fabric of many of these communities. So we really like this business, we like the idea that we'll be able to shine a brighter spotlight on it, excluding some of the work for higher revenue that we recently divested.

但這些都是深受喜愛的頻道，有數千小時的原創節目，確實是許多社區結構的一部分。因此，我們真的很喜歡這項業務，我們喜歡這樣的想法，即我們將能夠更加關注它，排除我們最近剝離的一些以獲得更高收入的工作。

A couple years ago, we were able to use this as a really great platform off which to launch a number of streaming initiatives internationally, we still think it makes sense in select markets, where we have particularly strong relationships and where we're doing similar things that we're doing here in the US, which is leaning into those legacy relationships driving our linear business, but also buttressing that with digital product that, still make sense in certain select markets. For the markets where we don't have a really strong presence, we've really kind of leaned into the content licensing side.

幾年前，我們能夠利用它作為一個非常好的平台，在國際上推出許多串流媒體計劃，我們仍然認為這在特定市場是有意義的，我們在這些市場有特別牢固的關係，我們正在做類似的事情我們在美國正在做的事情，即傾向於那些推動我們線性業務的傳統關係，同時也透過數位產品來支持這一點，這些產品在某些特定市場中仍然有意義。對於我們沒有真正強大影響力的市場，我們確實傾向於內容授權方面。

Kim, it's Kristin, again. This part of the technical reworking that we're doing in order to have a consolidated back end that we can turn on streaming wherever we want globally, that's sort of the beauty of delivering over IP as opposed to traditional transmission.

金，又是克莉絲汀。我們正在做的這部分技術改造是為了擁有一個整合的後端，我們可以在全球任何我們想要的地方打開串流媒體，這就是透過 IP 傳輸而不是傳統傳輸的優點。

But particularly in Spain, I just wanted to mention that we just expanded distribution of AMC+ with Vodafone this summer, and then we've made a lot of progress with our linear networks in Spain and in Portugal, with AMC Select, so we partner individually with through Amazon there.

但特別是在西班牙，我只想提一下，今年夏天我們剛剛與沃達豐擴大了 AMC+ 的分銷範圍，然後我們通過 AMC Select 在西班牙和葡萄牙的線性網絡取得了很大進展，因此我們單獨合作通過亞馬遜那裡。

So we actually feel like there's a lot of opportunities around AVOD in certain select European markets. So you couple that opportunity with the work that we're doing technologically and we think the goal here would be, an investment like model that maximizes the overall returns of the consolidated business. So international while a small piece of our overall business is one that we feel very positive about.

因此，我們實際上覺得在某些特定的歐洲市場上 AVOD 存在著許多機會。因此，您將這個機會與我們正在做的技術工作結合起來，我們認為這裡的目標是，類似投資的模型，可以最大限度地提高合併業務的整體回報。如此國際化，雖然我們整體業務的一小部分是我們感到非常積極的。

Okay. Super helpful. Thank you so much.

好的。超有幫助。太感謝了。

Steve Cahall, Wells Fargo.

史蒂夫卡霍爾，富國銀行。

Thank you. Maybe first just kind of stepping back from it all, Kristin, you all are managing the business very, very tightly on the cost side and things are certainly improving. But I think investors are also just curious if you think you can get back to a level of growth, either at the top line or at the AOI line in the next couple of years. So just wanted to get your comments on kind of the bigger picture as to when you see the business, maybe starting to flatten out or even grow again.

謝謝。也許首先要從這一切中退一步，克里斯汀，你們都在成本方面非常非常嚴格地管理業務，而且事情肯定正在改善。但我認為投資者也只是好奇你是否認為你可以在未來幾年內恢復到成長水平，無論是在營收或 AOI 線上。因此，我只是想聽聽您對業務的整體看法，即您看到業務時可能會開始趨於平緩，甚至再次成長。

And then just one on advertising, with high single digit declines in guidance for 2024 domestic, could you help us think about what your expectation is for kind of volume delivery versus pricing. And what I'm trying to get at is, it's just been such a couple of tough years for comps, and then you have the new Walking Dead seasons this year. So is that high single digit, really a reflection of just the weaker marketplace that you talked about? Or our impression still down on a year-on-year basis, even as you cycle into some new programming? Thank you.

然後，只有一個關於廣告的問題，2024 年國內指導方針出現了大幅個位數下降，您能否幫助我們考慮一下您對交付量與定價的期望。我想表達的是，對於比賽來說，這幾年真是太艱難了，然後今年又迎來了新的《陰屍路》賽季。那麼，這個高個位數真的反映了您所說的市場疲軟嗎？或者即使你開始一些新的節目，我們的印象仍然比去年同期下降？謝謝。

Great, I'll take your first question, Steven, on the cost management and the top line. Look, we've been really clear for the last year and going forward about how we're managing the business, streamlining it, making it as efficient as possible. And Patrick's mentioned, our target, where we feel we can do a $0.5 billion in free cash flow in the next two years.

太好了，史蒂文，我將回答你的第一個問題，關於成本管理和營收。聽著，我們在去年和未來都非常清楚我們如何管理業務、簡化業務、使其盡可能高效。帕特里克提到了我們的目標，我們認為我們可以在未來兩年內實現 5 億美元的自由現金流。

But on the top line, we're really waiting out what's going on in the industry. And what I'm happy about is that we continue to produce through Dan and the team, really high quality content. The TCA event this week was, we were so proud and so enthusiastic about the slate that we're putting out right now.

但從最重要的角度來看，我們確實在等待產業中發生的事情。我很高興的是，我們繼續透過 Dan 和團隊製作真正高品質的內容。本週的 TCA 活動是，我們對我們現在推出的名單感到非常自豪和熱情。

And this is part of our ongoing strategy to own and manage franchises that we can monetize over time. So as the marketplace sorts itself out, the opportunity to grow top line, in the out years continues to be there, I think it's just got to settle. So we're sort of sticking to our knitting, as you said, tight cost management, but effective utilization of the resources that we have.

這是我們持續擁有和管理特許經營權策略的一部分，我們可以隨著時間的推移將這些特許經營權貨幣化。因此，隨著市場的自我調整，未來幾年增加收入的機會仍然存在，我認為這必須解決。因此，正如您所說，我們有點堅持我們的針織，嚴格的成本管理，但有效利用我們擁有的資源。

And we're going to stick to the plan. And we're optimistic over the next, year to two years that that thing that ship will write itself in our industry, and things will open up again, but we're confident that we're doing what we've always done best, which is create great content for very select, but very passionate audiences.

我們將堅持這個計劃。我們對未來一年到兩年持樂觀態度，認為這艘船將在我們的行業中自行書寫，事情將再次開放，但我們相信我們正在做我們一直做得最好的事情，這是為非常挑剔但非常熱情的觀眾創造精彩的內容。

Hi, Steven, on your second question on volume delivery versus pricing, if we look at '24, I would actually call it impression shifting. We are very thoughtfully working towards increasing our digital inventory through the addition of AMC+ ad supported tier, our growing CTV distribution through as Kristin mentioned, we have 100 FAST speeds right now, in market across 11 platforms, we see a large Avon opportunity in 2024.

你好，史蒂文，關於你關於批量交付與定價的第二個問題，如果我們看看'24，我實際上會稱之為印象轉移。我們正在深思熟慮地努力透過增加AMC+ 廣告支援層來增加我們的數位庫存，正如Kristin 所提到的那樣，我們不斷增長的CTV 發行，我們現在在11 個平台的市場上有100 個FAST 速度，我們在2024年看到了雅芳的巨大機會。

As we convert that inventory as that, as those impressions shift to digital, we're able to get better yield and pricing out of out of those impressions. So well, while our estimate is, is not great for '24, we do actually believe that that this is moving in the right direction for the future. And we'll continue to just be very, very thoughtful about how we expand our viewership. Thank you.

當我們將庫存轉換為數位時，隨著這些印象轉向數位化，我們能夠從這些印像中獲得更好的收益和定價。所以，雖然我們的估計對於 24 年來說並不好，但我們確實相信這正在朝著未來的正確方向發展。我們將繼續非常非常仔細地考慮如何擴大我們的收視率。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Charles Wilber, Guggenheim Securities.

查爾斯‧威爾伯，古根漢證券公司。

Hi, good morning. This is Charlie on for Michael Morris. You guys mentioned and highlighted the fast expansion. I just wanted to dive in on that a little bit and see if you could help us understand the contribution from these and provide any color on how the economics of these work. Is it primarily inventory share or revenue share approach. And then, any impact or lift on the viewership and engagement, you may have seen across the portfolio that your linear and subscription services.

嗨，早安。這是邁克爾·莫里斯的查理。你們提到並強調了快速擴張。我只是想深入探討一下，看看您是否可以幫助我們了解這些的貢獻，並提供有關這些的經濟學原理的任何資訊。主要是庫存共享還是收入共享方式。然後，您可能已經在線上性和訂閱服務的產品組合中看到了對收視率和參與度的任何影響或提升。

And then, secondly, you just mentioned the potential international AVOD opportunity. Just wanted to get your thoughts on how that may extend to the fast channels business as well?

其次，您剛才提到了潛在的國際 AVOD 機會。只是想了解您對如何將其擴展到快速通路業務的想法？

Sure. Hi, Charlie. On the first part of your question, I would say it's extremely important to our strategy that we are -- we have first sales position on selling our shows. And that has been key to all of our distributions and all of our platform partners and that has been very lucrative for us and the partners. We don't break out specific contribution of this particular line of business but it is growing, we are seeing continued growth quarter-over-quarter and expect that to continue through '24 and then to the future.

當然。嗨，查理。關於你問題的第一部分，我想說，這對我們的策略極為重要——我們在銷售節目方面擁有第一銷售地位。這對我們所有的發行版和所有平台合作夥伴來說都是關鍵，這對我們和合作夥伴來說都是非常有利可圖的。我們沒有透露這條特定業務線的具體貢獻，但它正在成長，我們看到逐季度持續成長，並預計這種情況將持續到 2024 年，然後持續到未來。

On International, the only thing I lead with is, we see huge opportunity in AVOD and FAST. And it's obviously a more nascent market. But as partners like Pluto and Samsung and other global partners start looking at their continued rollout by territory, and it overlaps with the regions that we are strong players in, as Patrick mentioned before, we know we will be at the forefront of those growing businesses.

在國際方面，我唯一領先的是，我們在 AVOD 和 FAST 中看到了巨大的機會。這顯然是一個更新生的市場。但隨著 Pluto 和三星等合作夥伴以及其他全球合作夥伴開始考慮按地區繼續推出，並且與我們實力雄厚的地區重疊，正​​如帕特里克之前提到的，我們知道我們將處於這些不斷增長的業務的最前沿。

And Charlie, probably echoes to that saying, but I'll say it anyway. The advances we've made in advertising in our ability to sell segments, then it's up to the internal teams to deliver that segment across all the platforms on which we insert advertising. So whether it's FAST, or AVOD or linear or linear national addressable or programmatic, we can see the segment, and then they place as needed.

查理，可能與這句話相呼應，但無論如何我還是要說。我們在廣告方面的進步在於我們銷售細分市場的能力，然後由內部團隊在我們插入廣告的所有平台上提供該細分市場。因此，無論是 FAST、AVOD 還是線性或線性國家可尋址或編程，我們都可以看到段落，然後根據需要進行放置。

So we're getting really sophisticated, and really optimizing every single impression that we have, and the CPMs associated with it. So that's part of the reason we don't break it out because it would be nearly impossible to do that math. We put together the best construct to deliver the segment.

因此，我們變得非常複雜，並真正優化了我們的每一次印像以及與之相關的每千次展示費用。這就是我們不將其分解的部分原因，因為幾乎不可能進行數學計算。我們整合了最好的結構來交付該細分市場。

And then as we mentioned before, we're very proud of our opportunities and our ability beyond that to deliver attribution reporting and prove out to clients like L'Oreal, that they've done really well in placing their money with us and letting us distribute it in the way that best reaches their target audience. So more to come on that front. But the ability to do that beyond the US is really exciting to us.

正如我們之前提到的，我們對我們的機會和我們的能力感到非常自豪，除了提供歸因報告，並向歐萊雅這樣的客戶證明，他們在把錢交給我們並讓我們這樣做方面做得非常好以最能接觸目標受眾的方式進行分發。因此，這方面還有更多內容。但能夠在美國之外做到這一點對我們來說確實令人興奮。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Thank you. I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would like to hand the call back over to Nick Seabert for closing remarks.

謝謝。我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。我想將電話交還給尼克·西伯特（Nick Seabert）做總結發言。

Thank you for joining us today and we appreciate the interest in AMC Networks. Have a good day.

感謝您今天加入我們，我們感謝您對 AMC Networks 的興趣。祝你有美好的一天。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。