AMC Global Media Inc. (AMCX) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen.

各位女士、先生，大家好。

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AMC Global Media First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

感謝各位等候。歡迎參加 AMC Global Media 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

敬請注意，今天的會議將被錄音。

I will now hand the conference over to the co-hosts, Nick Siebert, SPP Corporate Development and Investor relations. Nick, you may begin.

我現在將會議交由共同主持人 Nick Siebert（SPP 企業發展與投資人關係）接手。Nick，請開始。

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to the AMC Global Media First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call.

謝謝。各位早安，歡迎參加 AMC Global Media 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。

Joining us this morning are Kristen Dolan, Chief Executive Officer, Kim Kelleher, President and Chief Commercial Officer, Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, and Mike Sharon, Chief Accounting Officer.

今天早上與會的有：執行長 Kristen Dolan、總裁暨首席商務長 Kim Kelleher、首席內容長暨 AMC Studios 總裁 Dan McDermott，以及首席會計長 Mike Sharon。

We will begin with prepared remarks, and then we'll open the call for questions.

我們將先進行事先準備的發言，接著開放提問。

Today's call may include certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Requirement Act of 1,995. 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若干前瞻性陳述，其定義依據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法》。任何此類前瞻性陳述均不保證未來的表現或結果，且涉及可能導致實際結果出現差異的風險與不確定性。

Please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risks and uncertainties.

有關風險與不確定性的討論，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements made today.

公司不承擔更新今日所作任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

We'll discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call. The required definitions and reconciliations can be found in the press release we issued this morning, which is available on our website at AMC Global.

我們將在本次電話會議中討論若干非 GAAP 財務衡量指標。所需的定義與調節表可在我們今早發布的新聞稿中找到，該新聞稿可於我們的網站 AMC Global 上取得。

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

接下來，我想把電話交給 Kristin。

Thanks, Nick, and good morning, everyone. We've had a busy start to the year, with the first quarter representing yet another successful quarter of double-digit streaming revenue growth and robust free cash flow generation. We saw a notable improvement in first-quarter advertising revenue trends and remain encouraged by the progress we continue to see on that front.

謝謝你，Nick，各位早安。今年開局相當忙碌，第一季再次呈現串流營收雙位數成長的成功季度，並帶來強勁的自由現金流。我們看到第一季廣告營收趨勢明顯改善，對於我們在這方面持續看到的進展仍感到鼓舞。

We also entered into a new long-term affiliation agreement with our partners DISH and Sling TV.

我們也與合作夥伴 DISH 與 Sling TV 簽訂新的長期聯盟合作協議。

We're tracking to plan across all key metrics and are pleased to reiterate our financial outlook for the year.

我們在所有關鍵指標上均按計畫推進，並很高興重申我們對今年的財務展望。

As a reminder, our 2026 outlook contemplates consolidated revenue of approximately $2.25 billion, AOI of approximately $350 million, and free cash flow of at least $200 million.

提醒各位，我們對 2026 年的展望包含：合併營收約 22.5 億美元、AOI 約 3.5 億美元，以及自由現金流至少 2 億美元。

You may have noticed we recently changed our company name to better reflect the business we operate today.

各位可能注意到，我們最近更改了公司名稱，以更貼切反映我們目前所經營的業務。

AMC Global Media is a studio-driven owner of world-class IP. We deliver programming in more than 100 countries and territories around the world on our own platforms and reach millions more through strategic licensing agreements. Our streaming business is the world's largest collection of targeted services, bringing superfans of specific genres, a level of depth and curation they can't find anywhere else.

AMC Global Media 是一家以製片廠為驅動、擁有世界級 IP 的公司。我們透過自有平台在全球超過 100 個國家與地區提供節目內容，並透過策略性授權協議觸及更多數以百萬計的觀眾。我們的串流業務是全球最大的垂直類型服務集合，為特定類型的超級粉絲帶來他們在其他地方找不到的深度與策展內容。

In the U.S., we're reaching streaming customers through direct subscriptions and hard bundle arrangements with partners like Charter and Philo. To date, we've seen 1.8 million hard bundle activations. Later this year, DirecTV will hard bundle the ad-supported version of AMC+ into its video service.

在美國，我們透過直接訂閱以及與 Charter、Philo 等合作夥伴的硬綁方案觸及串流客戶。截至目前，我們已看到 180 萬次硬綁啟用。今年稍晚，DirecTV 將把含廣告版本的 AMC+ 以硬綁方式納入其影音服務。

We expect this universe to continue to grow as streaming and linear distribution converges, and consumer awareness of this additional value rises.

隨著串流與線性分發逐步融合、消費者對這項額外價值的認知提升，我們預期這個生態圈將持續成長。

These activations are in addition to our reported streaming subscribers of 10.1 million, which reflects our substantial retail customer base.

這些啟用數量是額外加在我們已公布的 1,010 萬名串流訂戶之上；該數字反映了我們龐大的零售客戶基礎。

We manage our business with a long-range perspective and focus on creating high-quality, enduring content, generating free cash flow, and driving shareholder value. Streaming revenue is growing and now represents our number one source of domestic revenue. We expect stable domestic subscription revenue this year.

我們以長期視角經營業務，專注於打造高品質、具長期生命力的內容，創造自由現金流，並提升股東價值。串流營收持續成長，現已成為我們在美國本土最大的營收來源。我們預期今年美國本土訂閱營收將保持穩定。

While the quality and size of our streaming subscriber base remains important to us, over the past few years, we have focused on free cash flow in lieu of subscriber targets. Because of this, we will no longer report streaming subscribers quarterly, although we will provide meaningful updates from time to time.

雖然串流訂戶基礎的品質與規模對我們仍然重要，但過去幾年我們已將重心放在自由現金流，而非訂戶目標。因此，我們將不再按季公布串流訂戶數，不過仍會不定期提供具意義的更新。

We continue to grow our strong presence on CTVs. FAST is a key component of our digital strategy and also provides promotional and marketing opportunities for our pay platforms.

我們持續擴大在 CTV 上的強勢布局。FAST 是我們數位策略的關鍵組成，也為我們的付費平台提供宣傳與行銷機會。

We have more than 40 FAST channels today and will launch a dozen more in the coming months. We're also growing internationally as we expand our FAST presence in the UK, Latam, and Spain.

目前我們擁有超過 40 個 FAST 頻道，並將在未來幾個月再推出 12 個。隨著我們在英國、拉丁美洲與西班牙擴展 FAST 版圖，我們也在加速國際成長。

As we said last quarter, the streaming rights for one of the most watched shows in history, The Walking Dead, return to us early next year.

如同我們上季所說，史上收視最高的影集之一《陰屍路》（The Walking Dead）的串流權利將於明年初回到我們手上。

We've aligned our rights to January 2027 and envision licensing The Walking Dead universe, which spans seven series and 352 episodes and counting co-exclusively.

我們已將權利安排至 2027 年 1 月，並構想以共同獨家（co-exclusively）的方式授權《陰屍路》宇宙；該宇宙涵蓋 7 部影集、352 集，且仍在持續增加。

We're seeing significant interest for this enduring franchise and are actively engaged in discussions with several major platforms.

我們看到市場對這個長青系列有顯著興趣，並正與數個主要平台積極洽談。

Last week, we had our annual upfront content showcase attended by our most important commercial and creative partners. It was great to come together to discuss new commercial opportunities and the content that will drive these relationships over the next year and beyond.

上週我們舉辦年度 upfront 內容展示會，最重要的商務與創意合作夥伴皆出席。能夠齊聚一堂，討論新的商業機會，以及未來一年乃至更長時間將推動這些合作關係的內容，令人振奮。

We made a number of announcements, including that we've greenlit our next big original series for AMC and AMC+, a multi-generational racing drama produced in partnership with NASCAR called Thunder Road.

我們發布多項公告，包括已核准（greenlit）下一部為 AMC 與 AMC+ 打造的大型原創影集：與 NASCAR 合作製作的跨世代賽車劇《Thunder Road》。

Dennis Quaid will play the lead character, and we are already seeing notable inbound interest from advertising partners on this series.

Dennis Quaid 將飾演主角，而我們已看到廣告合作夥伴對本劇有相當明顯的主動洽詢意願。

We also renewed our sports docuseries, Rise, in partnership with the NFL and Skydance Sports. Building on the success of the first season, which featured the San Francisco 49ers, Rise of the Saints will focus on the New Orleans Saints and the team's historic run in the years following Hurricane Katrina.

我們也與 NFL 與 Skydance Sports 合作，續訂體育紀錄影集《Rise》。延續第一季（聚焦舊金山 49 人隊）的成功，《Rise of the Saints》將聚焦紐奧良聖徒隊，以及卡崔娜颶風後數年間球隊的歷史性征程。

Eli Manning and his father, legendary Saints quarterback Archie Manning, are both partners and will appear on the show, which will premiere early next year.

Eli Manning 與其父親、聖徒隊傳奇四分衛 Archie Manning 皆為合作夥伴並將在節目中亮相；該節目將於明年初首播。

And we announced a new partnership with Meta to make a number of our streaming apps available on the Meta Quest headset, starting with AMC+ later this year. We're excited to meet fans on this immersive new platform.

此外，我們宣布與 Meta 建立新合作夥伴關係，將讓多款串流 App 登上 Meta Quest 頭戴式裝置，今年稍晚將先從 AMC+ 開始。我們很期待在這個沉浸式新平台與粉絲相見。

This month marks ACORN TV's second annual Murder Mystery May. Last year, this programming event drove ACORN to its biggest month ever. This year's major title is the new Brooke Shields series, You're Killing Me, premiering May 18th. We're also in production on a second season of Irish Blood starring Alicia Silverstone, which last year became the strongest show in terms of acquisition in ACORN history.

本月是 ACORN TV 第二屆年度「Murder Mystery May」。去年，這項節目活動帶動 ACORN 創下史上最佳單月表現。今年的重點作品是 Brooke Shields 全新影集《You're Killing Me》，將於 5 月 18 日首播。我們也正在製作由 Alicia Silverstone 主演的《Irish Blood》第二季；該劇去年成為 ACORN 歷史上在拉新（acquisition）表現最強的作品。

All Reality, our newest targeted streaming service, is seeing strong initial growth driven by the Love After Lockup, Mama June, and Bridevilla franchises. The service launched on Amazon late last year and is now also available through Roku and Apple.

All Reality（我們最新的定向串流服務）在《Love After Lockup》、《Mama June》與《Bridevilla》等系列帶動下，初期成長強勁。該服務於去年年底在 Amazon 上線，目前也可透過 Roku 與 Apple 取得。

All Reality is a great example of how we continue to manage and adjust our streaming business to find and serve fans.

All Reality 是一個很好的例子，展現我們如何持續管理並調整串流業務，以找出並服務粉絲族群。

A few recent content highlights to note.

以下是幾項近期值得注意的內容亮點。

We launched the Audacity, AMC's newest prestige drama, and we go into production on a second season next month.

我們推出了《Audacity》，這是 AMC 最新的高端劇集，並將於下個月開始製作第二季。

We debuted a new season of our popular anthology series, The Terror, with The Terror, Devil in Silver.

我們推出了廣受歡迎的選集影集《The Terror》的新一季：《The Terror, Devil in Silver》。

We've had a number of notable film releases over the last few weeks, including Forbidden Fruits, Faces of Death, and Over Your Dead Body, three very different titles that demonstrate the strength and breadth of our film business.

過去幾週我們也推出多部值得關注的電影作品，包括《Forbidden Fruits》、《Faces of Death》與《Over Your Dead Body》；這三部風格迥異的片名，展現了我們電影業務的實力與廣度。

We'll see the return of important franchises with Ant Rice's The Vampire Lestat premiering on June 7th on AMC and AMC Plus, and the third season of The Walking Dead City, slated for later this summer.

我們也將迎來重要系列回歸，包括 Ant Rice 的《The Vampire Lestat》將於 6 月 7 日在 AMC 與 AMC Plus 首播，以及《The Walking Dead City》第三季，預計於今年夏季稍晚推出。

Lastly, the search for a new CFO is progressing, and while we aren't announcing anything today, we will update you when we have news to share. Our Chief Accounting Officer, Mike Sharon, is joining us on the call today.

最後，新任 CFO 的遴選正在推進中；雖然今天不會宣布任何消息，但一有可分享的進展我們會更新各位。我們的首席會計官（Chief Accounting Officer）Mike Sharon 今天也會加入電話會議。

Mike's skill and leadership reflect the depth of our finance team and the executive strength across our entire company.

Mike 的專業能力與領導力，反映出我們財務團隊的深度，以及公司整體的高階管理實力。

Mike will now review our financial performance for the quarter, our outlook, and our continued focus on our capital structure, including the further debt reduction and planned additional share repurchases that we announced today.

接下來 Mike 將回顧本季的財務表現、展望，以及我們對資本結構的持續聚焦，包括我們今天宣布的進一步減債與規劃中的額外庫藏股回購。

And with that, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Mike.

那麼，我很高興把電話會議交給 Mike。

Thank you, Kristin. We are off to a solid start in 2026, and our first-quarter results are consistent with the expectations we laid out when we issued our full-year outlook earlier this year.

謝謝你，Kristin。我們在 2026 年有一個穩健的開局，第一季的結果也符合我們今年稍早發布全年展望時所提出的預期。

First-quarter consolidated net revenue declined 2% year-over-year to $542 million.

第一季合併淨營收年減 2%，至 5.42 億美元。

Consolidated AOI declined 34% to $69 million with a 13% margin.

合併 AOI 年減 34%，至 6,900 萬美元，利潤率為 13%。

We are pleased to report another quarter of healthy free cash flow generation, with first-quarter free cash flow totaling $65 million.

我們很高興再度報告一季健康的自由現金流產生，第一季自由現金流合計 6,500 萬美元。

We are on track to achieve our 2026 free cash flow outlook of at least $200 million for the full year.

我們正按計畫達成 2026 年全年自由現金流至少 2 億美元的展望。

I'll now discuss our segment results.

接下來我將說明各事業部門的表現。

Domestic operations revenue decreased 3% to $471 million.

國內營運營收年減 3%，至 4.71 億美元。

Subscription revenue decreased 3% year-over-year, with streaming revenue growth of 11%, offset by a 16% decline in affiliate revenue.

訂閱收入年減 3%；其中串流收入成長 11%，但被聯盟（affiliate）收入下滑 16%所抵銷。

The decrease in affiliate revenue was primarily a result of continued subscriber declines. We anticipate that our affiliate revenue rate of decline will improve in the second-half of the year as new agreements and contractual changes take effect.

聯盟收入下滑主要是因訂戶持續減少所致。我們預期，隨著新協議與合約變更生效，聯盟收入的下滑幅度將在下半年改善。

First-quarter streaming revenue benefited from rate initiatives implemented across our services.

第一季串流收入受惠於我們在各項服務中推行的費率措施。

We ended the quarter with 10.1 million reported streaming subscribers as compared to 10.2 million subscribers in the prior-year period.

本季結束時，我們的申報串流訂戶數為 1,010 萬，相較去年同期為 1,020 萬。

Retention in the first quarter was consistent with both the fourth quarter and first quarter of last year.

第一季的留存率與去年第四季以及去年第一季一致。

Across our portfolio, subscribers remain active and engaged. In the first quarter, we saw a five-year high in engagement, showing growth from both the prior quarter and prior year.

在我們的產品組合中，訂戶仍保持活躍並高度投入。第一季我們看到互動度創下五年新高，較前一季與去年同期皆有成長。

Moving to advertising, domestic operations advertising revenue declined 5%, primarily due to lower marketplace pricing. In the first quarter, we saw increased ratings in our scripted series within key demos and continued healthy growth in digital and advanced advertising.

接著談廣告：國內營運的廣告收入年減 5%，主要因市場定價較低。第一季我們在關鍵族群（demos）的劇情類影集收視率提升，數位與進階廣告也持續健康成長。

First quarter content licensing revenue of $53 million reflected the timing and availability of deliveries in the period and was consistent with the $54 million of licensing revenue reported in the first quarter of 2025.

第一季內容授權收入為 5,300 萬美元，反映本期交付時點與可交付內容的安排，與 2025 年第一季申報的 5,400 萬美元授權收入大致一致。

Regarding adjusted operating income for the quarter, domestic operations AOI decreased 26% to $92 million, reflecting revenue flow-through and increased technical and operating expenses, including programming amortization.

就本季調整後營業利益（AOI）而言，國內營運 AOI 年減 26%，至 9,200 萬美元，反映營收流入效應以及技術與營運費用增加（包含節目攤銷）。

Moving to international.

接下來談國際業務。

International revenues increased 3% to $72 million for the first quarter.

第一季國際營收年增 3%，至 7,200 萬美元。

Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency translation, international revenues decreased approximately 5%.

若排除外幣換算帶來的有利影響，國際營收約下降 5%。

International subscription revenue, excluding FX, decreased 5%, reflecting the wind-down of a joint venture that operated primarily in Poland and Africa.

國際訂閱收入（排除匯率影響）下降 5%，反映我們逐步結束一項主要在波蘭與非洲營運的合資企業。

International advertising revenue, excluding FX, decreased 5% due to lower ratings and digital advertising in the UK.

國際廣告收入（排除匯率影響）下降 5%，原因是英國收視率較低以及數位廣告走弱。

International AOI for the first quarter was $5 million with an 8% margin.

第一季國際 AOI 為 500 萬美元，利潤率為 8%。

Turning to the balance sheet, we successfully retired our senior secured notes due 2029.

轉到資產負債表方面，我們已成功清償 2029 年到期的優先擔保票據。

During the quarter, we exchanged the majority of these notes for our existing 2032 notes, extending their maturity to 2032.

本季期間，我們將其中大部分票據與既有的 2032 年到期票據進行交換，將到期日延長至 2032 年。

Subsequent to quarter end, we redeemed the remaining unexchanged portion of the 2029 notes with cash.

在季後，我們以現金贖回 2029 年票據中剩餘未交換的部分。

As announced in our earnings release, we continue to focus on reducing our gross debt, which will include the paydown of our remaining Term Loan A and termination of our credit facility next week.

如同我們在財報新聞稿中所宣布的，我們持續聚焦於降低總負債，措施包括償還剩餘的 A 期定期貸款（Term Loan A），並於下週終止我們的信用融資額度。

These transactions significantly extend our debt maturity profile, with approximately three-quarters of our total debt not due until July of 2032.

這些交易大幅延長了我們的債務到期結構；約四分之三的總債務要到 2032 年 7 月才到期。

Additionally, today we announced plans to repurchase approximately $30 million of our Class A common stock through an accelerated share repurchase.

此外，我們今天也宣布，將透過加速股份回購（ASR）計畫回購約 3,000 萬美元的 A 類普通股。

Reflecting the redemption of our 2029 notes subsequent to the quarter end and the planned transactions announced today, including the Term Loan A paydown and additional share repurchase, our cash position remains healthy with approximately $428 million of balance sheet cash and pro forma net debt and finance leases of approximately $1.3 billion.

考量季後贖回 2029 年票據，以及今天宣布的規劃交易（包括償還 A 期定期貸款與額外股份回購），我們的現金部位仍然充裕：資產負債表現金約 4.28 億美元，備考（pro forma）淨負債與融資租賃約 13 億美元。

Representing pro forma net leverage of 3.5 times.

相當於備考淨槓桿倍數為 3.5 倍。

Moving on to the reiteration of our 2026 financial outlook.

接下來重申我們對 2026 年的財務展望。

Regarding our most important financial metric, free cash flow, we continue to expect to generate at least $200 million of free cash flow this year.

就我們最重要的財務指標——自由現金流而言，我們仍預期今年將產生至少 2 億美元的自由現金流。

Regarding full-year revenue in AOI, we continue to expect consolidated revenue of approximately $2.25 billion and anticipate consolidated AOI of approximately $350 million.

就全年營收與 AOI 而言，我們仍預期合併營收約 22.5 億美元，並預估合併 AOI 約 3.5 億美元。

In terms of the cadence of AOI for the remainder of the year, we anticipate that AOI will continue to be back half-weighted due to the timing of licensing revenue and streaming rate events.

至於今年剩餘期間 AOI 的節奏，我們預期 AOI 仍將偏向下半年，原因在於授權收入與串流費率事件的時點安排。

It is also worth mentioning that second-quarter AOI will represent the low point for the year due to the above-mentioned revenue dynamics and the timing of expenses, including increased marketing in the quarter related to new series premieres.

也值得一提的是，由於上述營收動能以及費用認列時點（包括本季因新影集首播而增加的行銷投入），第二季 AOI 將是全年低點。

With that, I'll hand the call back to Nick.

接下來我把電話交回給 Nick。

Thanks, Mike. Operator, please open the line for the Q&A session.

謝謝你，Mike。接線員，請開放線路進行問答環節。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. (Operator Instructions) Steven Cahal with Wells Fargo

謝謝各位女士、先生。(接線員指示) Wells Fargo 的 Steven Cahal

Thank you. Kristen, can you update us on how you're thinking about relicensing The Walking Dead? Does it make sense to do, kind of one big beautiful deal, or are the economics better to chop it up into small pieces like linear versus streaming partners, or different territories, or geos?

謝謝。Kristen，你能更新一下你們對《陰屍路》再授權（relicensing）的思考嗎？是做一筆大而完整的交易比較合理，還是把它切成小塊（例如傳統線性電視 vs 串流合作夥伴、或不同地區/市場）在經濟效益上更好？

And if we do start to see some headlines on a deal like this, any way to think about... What the residual component of that and how much drops down to AOI and free cash flow. And then, Mike, I just wanted to confirm, since I know that is a big piece of content that's potentially up to relicense, is that included in this year's AOI and free cash flow guidance, or would it be in addition to, since I know the timing is kind of unpredictable, I think it's not in the guidance, but just wanted to confirm.

另外，如果我們開始看到這類交易的新聞標題，有沒有什麼方式可以思考……其中的殘值（residual）部分，以及有多少會落到 AOI 和自由現金流。然後，Mike，我想確認一下，因為我知道這是一個可能要再授權的大型內容，這是否已包含在今年 AOI 與自由現金流的指引中，還是會額外貢獻？因為我知道時點有點難以預測，我猜可能沒有納入指引，但想確認一下。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Great. Hi, Stephen. Thanks for the question. It's a multimillion-dollar question. It's a good one to be asking to kick off the call. We've been really excited about the inbound for discussion on the licensing rights for The Walking Dead, and we're really looking at every scenario, which, there's a variety of ways to look at it.

很好。嗨，Stephen。謝謝你的問題。這是一個數百萬美元等級的問題。拿來作為電話會議的開場問題很適合。我們對於《陰屍路》授權權利的洽談邀約（inbound）感到非常振奮，我們也在評估各種情境，因為有很多不同的切入方式。

We definitely feel it's important to keep some of the content for ourselves co-exclusively, so we're emphasizing the fact that we're looking predominantly at co-exclusive deals, but there are some very.

我們確實認為保留部分內容供我們自己以共同獨家（co-exclusive）的方式使用很重要，因此我們強調目前主要在看共同獨家交易，但也有一些非常……

Very large and enthusiastic partners in the bidding process right now. And so, we're really looking at any variety of construct, but the key thing for us is co-exclusivity. And then, we may chunk it up and they all go to one person, domestic versus international. Like, there's many ways to skin this cat. So, there's been a lot of activity at the company in working with potential partners and really looking at different scenarios. So.

目前競標流程中有非常大型且熱情的合作夥伴。因此，我們正在評估各種可能的架構，但對我們而言關鍵是共同獨家。另外，我們也可能把它切分，最後可能都給同一個對象，例如國內 vs 國際。做法很多。所以公司這段時間一直很忙，與潛在合作夥伴合作並仔細評估不同情境。所以。

Stay tuned. But as far as the residuals and the other stuff, I'll put that to the finance guys.

敬請期待。至於殘值和其他部分，我把問題交給財務團隊。

Hi, Steve. This is Mike. I can tell you that for 2026, the Walking Dead rights would not be included in the estimated AOI of $350 million.

嗨，Steve。我是 Mike。我可以告訴你，針對 2026 年，《陰屍路》的權利不會納入預估的 3.5 億美元 AOI。

Great. And then just a quick follow-up on streaming. If I caught that right, Mike, I think you said that there could be a rate event coming. I guess big picture is, would you expect streaming revenue growth to accelerate in the back half of the year? I think it's decelerated a little bit the last couple of quarters.

很好。再追問一個關於串流的問題。如果我沒聽錯的話，Mike，我想你提到可能會有一次費率事件（rate event）發生。從大方向來看，你是否預期今年下半年串流營收成長會加速？我覺得過去幾季似乎稍微放緩了一點。

Yeah. Hey, Steve, it's Nick. Kind of as we look forward, the way I think about it is kind of looking at double-digits kind of for the year, kind of building throughout the year.

是的。嗨，Steve，我是 Nick。往前看，我的思考方式是：全年大概是雙位數成長，並且在一年當中逐步走高。

Gets you to the kind of flat subscription revenue growth.

這樣就會帶來訂閱營收成長大致持平。

Great.

很好。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question coming from the line of John Diffley with Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open.

謝謝。下一個問題來自 Morgan Stanley 的 John Diffley。您的線路已開通。

Great. Thanks very much, team. So another one on The Walking Dead, right? Just.

很好。非常感謝，各位。那再問一個關於《陰屍路》的問題，對吧？就是。

Obviously, Netflix knows the value of this IP really well. Are there other considerations beyond just monetary that would factor into your analysis of where they go and how you chop them up? And then second question, obviously, it looks like advertising was a good amount better.

顯然 Netflix 非常清楚這個 IP 的價值。除了金錢之外，還有沒有其他考量會影響你們對於要把它放在哪裡、以及如何切分的分析？第二個問題，顯然看起來廣告表現好不少。

What's going on there? Is there anything to call out that's driving the better results? And then on the flip side, affiliate was a bit worse than us in the quarter. Obviously, sub declines in the ecosystem matter, but it looks like you're calling for an improvement. In the back half, maybe just some of the drivers there. I think you called out, new agreements, but anything to assume on underlying cord cutting trends in there as well. Thanks very much.

那邊發生了什麼事？有沒有什麼值得特別指出、推動更好結果的因素？另一方面，本季聯盟分潤（affiliate）比我們預期差一些。顯然生態系的訂戶下滑會有影響，但看起來你們預期下半年會改善。能否談談一些驅動因素？我想你提到新協議，但其中對於底層剪線（cord cutting）趨勢也有什麼假設嗎？非常感謝。

Great. I think I'm going to kick all three of those questions over to Kim. Thanks, John.

很好。我想我會把這三個問題都交給 Kim。謝謝你，John。

Sure. Thanks for the questions.

好的。謝謝你的提問。

On your first question regarding Walking Dead licensing, I would just say, of course, we consider the customer experience and discoverability when we're looking for what our co-exclusive partnerships are going to be going forward. We have several partners around the world for The Walking Dead right now, and we're engaged with all of them about the future.

關於你第一個有關《陰屍路》授權的問題，我想說的是，當我們評估未來共同獨家合作夥伴會是哪些時，當然也會考量客戶體驗與可被發現性（discoverability）。目前《陰屍路》在全球有多個合作夥伴，我們也正與他們所有人就未來進行討論。

On advertising, I have to say, we're pleased with the ad revenue trend in Q1, and we're seeing this continue into Q2. So we've really embraced the viewership changes that have come with streaming and FAST and AVOD and have seen growth across all areas.

關於廣告，我必須說，我們對第一季的廣告營收趨勢感到滿意，而且我們看到這個趨勢延續到第二季。因此，我們確實擁抱了串流、FAST 與 AVOD 帶來的收視變化，並在各個領域都看到成長。

The commercial revenue team continues to optimize their digital delivery and performance across all the platforms real-time, really focusing on yield.

商業營收團隊持續在所有平台上即時優化其數位投放與成效，並真正聚焦於提升收益率（yield）。

And like I said, we're excited to see the momentum that started in really second-half of '25 continue into '26.

如我所說，我們很高興看到在 2025 年下半年開始的動能延續到 2026 年。

In the first quarter, we saw strong digital growth, in particular up 44% versus Q1 2025.

第一季我們看到強勁的數位成長，特別是相較 2025 年第一季成長 44%。

And as Mike mentioned earlier in the script, on linear, we're seeing increased viewership, which reflects the strength of our programming, in particular around increased ratings around our originals, specifically in key demos.

另外，如 Mike 先前在講稿中提到，線性電視方面我們看到收視增加，反映出我們節目內容的強勢，尤其是我們自製節目在關鍵族群（key demos）的收視率提升。

In general, we're seeing a healthier ad market compared to this time last year, which is good to see as we go into the upfront marketplace.

整體而言，與去年同期相比，我們看到廣告市場更為健康；在我們進入前期（upfront）市場之際，這是個好現象。

And lastly, on affiliate, I really -- what you're seeing is timing.

最後，關於聯盟（affiliate）方面，我認為——你們看到的主要是時點因素。

Obviously, we've had some domestic subscription declines in Q1 reflected, but we see domestic subscription revenue to be overall stable for the year.

顯然，我們在第一季反映出一些美國本土訂閱數下滑，但我們預期全年美國本土訂閱收入整體將保持穩定。

Yeah, and Sean, there's a lot of kind of timing of different deals. Every deal is different with each partner and, the renewal calendar and things like that. So what we're kind of looking at for the full year is kind of the rate of decline being similar to kind of what it was last year in affiliate revenue. So I wouldn't read too much into 1Q.

是的，Sean，這裡牽涉到很多不同交易的時點差異。每個合作夥伴的每筆交易都不一樣，還有續約時程等因素。因此，我們對全年所看的，是聯盟收入的下滑速度大致與去年相近。所以我不會對第一季解讀過多。

Got it.

了解。

Thank you, guys.

謝謝各位。

Thank you. And our next question coming from the line of David Knustein with JPMorgan. Your line is now open.

謝謝。下一題來自摩根大通（JPMorgan）的 David Knustein。您的線路已開通。

Hi, thanks. Maybe as a follow-up to The Walking Dead commentary, it would be great to hear just about the health of the content licensing market generally at the moment.

嗨，謝謝。或許作為《陰屍路》（The Walking Dead）評論的延伸，也很想聽聽目前整體內容授權市場的健康狀況。

And then on the ASR, can you just speak to the backdrop of that decision, expected shares that will come back and kind of any read-throughs to long-term capital allocation?

另外關於 ASR（加速股票回購），能否談談做出該決策的背景、預期回收的股數，以及對長期資本配置是否有任何可供解讀之處？

Yeah. Hi, David. This is Kristen. I'll start with the content licensing and let Kim add more color. I mean, it's a key part of our revenue. Makeup. And we've been really opportunistic around the deep library that we have. And this year, we've actually advanced on the back end our capability to really look through the content that we have the rights to and dig deeper into the library through just better management of the inventory through software that Stephanie's helped us create. So when our teams are going out domestically and globally, they have a really good sort of suitcase of every single thing that we have available. To license. And we've been able to make, I think, a bigger dent in the opportunity over the last 18 months because we know everything that we have and because, Dan continues to make content that has strong IP and that's very attractive across the world. So content licensing is and will continue to be a really key important part of our future. But as to the specifics, I'll flip it over to Kim again.

好的。嗨，David。我是 Kristen。我先談內容授權，然後讓 Kim 補充更多細節。我的意思是，這是我們營收組成中的關鍵部分。補充一下。我們一直很善用我們擁有的深厚片庫。而今年，我們在後端能力上也有所提升，能更有效地檢視我們擁有權利的內容，並透過 Stephanie 協助我們打造的軟體，更好地以庫存管理方式深入挖掘片庫。因此，當我們的團隊在美國本土與全球市場對外洽談時，他們手上就有一個非常完整的「行李箱」，包含我們所有可用的內容。用於授權。我認為在過去 18 個月，我們能在這個機會上取得更大的進展，是因為我們清楚掌握我們擁有的一切；同時，Dan 持續製作具備強大 IP、且在全球都非常有吸引力的內容。因此，內容授權現在是、未來也將持續是我們非常關鍵且重要的一部分。至於更具體的部分，我再交給 Kim。

All great points. And I would just say we're trying to be very thoughtful about how we window in our licensing agreements, not only domestically, but around the world. And to your question very specifically, it's a very robust and competitive market right now. So it's a good time to be in market with this particular IP.

都說得很好。我只想補充，我們在授權合約的上架窗口（windowing）安排上會非常審慎，不僅在美國本土，也涵蓋全球。就您非常具體的問題而言，目前市場非常強勁且競爭激烈。所以就這個特定 IP 而言，現在是進入市場的好時機。

David, this is Mike. On the ASR question, I would say, first and foremost, our capital allocation priorities. To continue to invest in great content for the business, we remain focused on free cash flow generation and manage a balance sheet with a focus towards debt reduction and maturity extensions, and then occasionally and opportunistically, we would return capital to shareholders.

David，我是 Mike。關於 ASR 的問題，我會說，首先也是最重要的，是我們的資本配置優先順序：持續投資於能推動業務的優質內容；我們仍聚焦於自由現金流的創造，並在管理資產負債表時以降槓桿與延長到期結構為重點；然後在某些時點、以機會性方式回饋資本給股東。

And I'll just add to that, specifically in terms of the additional share repurchase and how we're affecting that.

我再補充一下，特別是關於額外的股票回購，以及我們如何執行。

We've been in the market a couple of times over the past year or so in our equity and, given the lower float and volume limitations and things like that, it just becomes kind of a grind trying to get, not a lot of dollars to work, but a lot of shares back. And this ASR structure just kind of gives us more certainty and ability to affect, roughly $30 million of share repurchases.

過去一年左右，我們曾在自家股票上進場幾次；但考量到流通股數較低、成交量限制等因素，要讓資金進場運作其實會變得相當吃力——不是說金額不大，而是要回購到大量股數很費工。而這種 ASR 架構能讓我們更有確定性，也更有能力去完成約 3,000 萬美元的股票回購。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Our next question coming from the line of David Joyce with Seaport Research Partners. Your line is Nelson.

謝謝。下一題來自 Seaport Research Partners 的 David Joyce。您的線路是 Nelson。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Two questions, please. First, on distribution, there are still some linear services in the U.S. Where you don't have a carriage right now.

兩個問題，謝謝。第一個關於發行（distribution），在美國仍有一些線性服務（linear services）目前你們還沒有取得上架／傳輸（carriage）。

Like Hulu or Fubo, what is your desire to get on more linear domestically and internationally? What sort of gaming factors are there? Or are you really just more focused on building the streaming side?

例如 Hulu 或 Fubo，你們希望在美國本土與國際上擴大更多線性上架的意願如何？其中有哪些博弈因素（gaming factors）？或者你們其實更專注於打造串流端？

And then secondly, on advertising, I think you mentioned earlier that ad rates were down, but the revenue was pretty solid.

第二個關於廣告，我想你們先前提到廣告單價（ad rates）下滑，但營收表現相當穩健。

What's driving that? Are you making more inventory available, or is it a mix of the avails? What are those sort of puts and takes? Thanks.

是什麼在驅動？你們是釋出更多可售庫存（inventory），還是可售時段（avails）的組合改變？這些拉抬與抵銷（puts and takes）的因素是什麼？謝謝。

I'll take the distribution question, David. We are happy to have all of our products carried wherever we can have them carried, and they're equally important to us.

David，我來回答發行的問題。只要能上架，我們很樂意讓所有產品在各平台被承載（carried），而且對我們而言它們同等重要。

Hulu is going to be interesting as they move down their evolutionary path.

Hulu 隨著其演進路徑往下走，會很值得關注。

And then with FUBO, that was a strategic non-renewal on our part last year, but I just want to emphasize that the linear channels are still very important to us as our streaming. And I think our secret sauce is our ability to work with all of the content that we have and make sure we can deliver it to our partners who can then deliver it to customers everywhere they want to watch the shows that we create.

至於 FUBO，那是我們去年基於策略考量而選擇不續約；但我想強調，線性頻道對我們仍然非常重要，就像我們的串流業務一樣。我認為我們的獨門秘方，在於能運用我們所有內容，並確保把內容交付給合作夥伴，讓他們再把內容交付給客戶——在客戶想看的任何地方，觀看我們所創作的節目。

And then on the ad front, I just reiterate. Yes, a little bit of softness in rates, and that's really coming from the increased ratings and available inventory that we've seen come through in Q1. We've been able to capture those increases, in particular across the original inventory and key demos with pricing opportunity, but because of the largeness of the ratings. Increases. We've seen a little bit of softness tied to those tied to the overall increase in inventory, but we're in very good shape and we're very pleased with how the advertising performance went this Q1.

至於廣告方面，我再重申一次：是的，單價有些許疲弱，而這主要來自我們在第一季看到收視率提升與可售庫存增加。我們得以掌握這些增量，特別是在原創庫存與關鍵族群（key demos）上，仍有定價機會；但由於收視率的大幅提升，在整體庫存增加的情況下，我們也看到一些與之相關的單價走軟。不過我們的狀況非常好，也對第一季的廣告表現感到非常滿意。

Okay, great.

好的，很棒。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Our next question in queue coming from the line of Charles Wilbur with Guggenheim Securities. Your line is now open.

我們佇列中的下一個問題來自 Guggenheim Securities 的 Charles Wilbur。您的線路現在已開通。

Hi, good morning.

嗨，早安。

One on streaming subscribers and just the approach there. You called out the number of ad-supported AMC Plus subscribers under the hard bundles agreement this quarter. I just wanted to see if you could talk a little bit about your strategy or your approach to subscriber acquisition and maybe the difference in monetization between the approaches between the direct subscribers in these hard bundle agreements?

我想問一個關於串流訂戶，以及你們在這方面的做法。你們提到本季在硬性綑綁（hard bundles）協議下、採廣告支持的 AMC Plus 訂戶數。我想請你們多談一點你們的策略或取得訂戶的方法，以及在這些硬性綑綁協議中的直接訂戶與其他做法之間，在變現上有何差異？

Hey, Charles, it's Kristen. On streaming, because we're a smaller company, our goal is really to make the product available everywhere we can.

嗨，Charles，我是 Kristen。在串流方面，因為我們是一家規模較小的公司，我們的目標其實是盡可能讓產品在所有能觸及的地方都可取得。

And with the hard bundles, we think it really does add value because we have broader relationships with these distribution partners. So longer-term deals where, over time, their audiences are moving from linear to streaming. And so we'd like being in both places. We don't necessarily articulate specific.

而在硬性綑綁方面，我們認為這確實能增加價值，因為我們與這些發行合作夥伴有更廣泛的合作關係。也就是較長期的合約，隨著時間推移，他們的受眾會從線性電視轉向串流。因此我們希望兩邊都能佈局。我們不一定會明確說明特定的。

Revenue with each different category of content. We do overarching deals with our partners, and then we collaborate with them pretty extensively, in Charter's case and in Philo's case, to make sure that the products are represented well to the customers and they're available in whatever format. And the goal there is, as these long-term relationships continue, when the opportunities come up to reimagine the approach to revenue, then we may assign the revenue differently for streaming versus. Linear as the industry evolves. But our overall strategy, as as we've talked about for the last four years, is to optimize the availability of the content, to keep creating great content, and to work on the business so that we're very opportunistic with both how we license, where we license, who we distribute to, how we distribute, and then, and keep ourselves out in the marketplace as a small but mighty player. So it's really part of the overall evolution of the industry as well as our. Evolution as a company.

各類內容在不同類別下的收入。我們與合作夥伴簽的是整體性的協議，然後我們也會與他們密切合作——以 Charter 與 Philo 為例——確保產品能良好地呈現給客戶，並以任何形式都能取得。目標是，隨著這些長期合作關係持續發展，當出現重新構想收入模式的機會時，我們可能會隨著產業演進，將串流與。線性電視的收入以不同方式分配。但我們的整體策略——如同過去四年我們一直談到的——是最佳化內容的可得性、持續製作優質內容，並在商業面上保持高度機動：包括如何授權、在哪裡授權、授權給誰、如何發行，然後，並讓我們以一家規模不大但實力強勁的玩家身分持續活躍於市場。所以這確實是產業整體演進的一部分，也同時是我們。公司自身的演進。

Great thing.

很棒。

Did you have the second-half of that or that was the bulk of it?

你還有後半段要問嗎？還是主要就是這些？

No, I mean, I think you answered it well. I just wanted to see if you could provide any color in terms of the monetization flow-through of the two, but it sounds like it's a bit of a holistic approach with your distribution partners. Is that fair to say?

沒有，我是說，我覺得你回答得很好。我只是想看看你能否就兩者的變現流轉（flow-through）提供一些補充說明，但聽起來你們是以與發行合作夥伴的整體性做法來處理。這樣說公平嗎？

You said it better than me.

你說得比我還好。

Thank you. Yes, it's predominantly blended.

謝謝。是的，主要是混合式的。

And we're going to keep looking again. We love the hard bundle scenarios, because for us, embedded in that is all the ancillary marketing that we get from partners.

而我們也會持續再觀察。我們很喜歡硬性綑綁的情境，因為對我們而言，其中包含合作夥伴提供的所有周邊行銷資源。

And then the opportunity for our content to really be seen and experienced by people all over the world.

以及讓我們的內容真正能被全球各地的人看見並體驗的機會。

Great, thank you.

很好，謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Now, next question coming from the line of Doug Chris with Citi Cowen. Neilan is now.

謝謝。接下來的問題來自 Citi Cowen 的 Doug Chris。Neilan 現在。

Hey, thank you.

嗨，謝謝。

Can you just give an update on what your plans for cash content spending are this year and if that's evolved at all since the last call?

你能否更新一下你們今年現金內容支出的規劃，以及自上次電話會議以來是否有任何變化？

Thank you.

謝謝。

Sure. We'll flip that one to Dan.

當然。這題我們交給 Dan 回答。

Thanks, Doug.

謝謝你，Doug。

Investing in our programming is clearly, the most important and meaningful thing we do.

投資我們的節目內容，顯然是我們所做最重要、也最具意義的事情。

We have an incredibly strong production team. We're committed to engaging audiences with comparable volumes of high-quality content every year. We expect the same volume and quality of content in 2026 as in 2025.

我們擁有非常強大的製作團隊。我們致力於每年以相近的量，推出高品質內容以吸引觀眾。我們預期 2026 年的內容量與品質將與 2025 年相當。

Generally, there's some variability between years due to the timing of programming commitments. But for this year, from the view we have today, we expect that from both the C&L perspective and the cash perspective, programming cash and amortization should be consistent, give or take a little bit, compared to last year.

一般而言，年度之間會因節目承諾的時點而有一些波動。但就今年而言，以我們目前掌握的情況來看，無論從損益表（C&L）角度或現金角度，節目內容的現金支出與攤銷應會與去年大致一致，可能上下略有些差異。

Just to add to that, the team is really efficient and able to make a lot of great content with not a huge amount of spend. And what we're also focused on, which Dan's team has done a great job on, is, curating the right stuff, but then also moving efficiently towards green lighting second season. So, for example, with the Audacity or with Irish Blood, like if we know something's good and generally we've been, it's sometimes it is lightning in a bottle, but a lot of. A lot of times, it's just really skilled people making great choices and working with great partners, and we've continued to bolster the library over the past couple of years under Dan's leadership, so it gives us the opportunity, because the shows are good, to move quickly on additional seasons and keep the fan base engaged and happy. Which I believe we're going to see a pretty strong fan base in June for The Vampireless Stat, our third season of Interview with the Vampire, because it's getting pretty crazy out there. So if that's the last question, I think we'll tell everybody. Make sure you tune in on June 7th to The Vampireless Stat, the next series in our Anne Rice group.

補充一下，團隊效率非常高，能以不算龐大的支出製作出很多優質內容。我們也在聚焦的另一點——Dan 的團隊做得非常好——是挑選合適的內容，並且在判斷正確後，能有效率地推進到核准開拍第二季。例如 Audacity 或 Irish Blood，如果我們知道某個作品很棒——通常我們一直以來，有時候確實是可遇不可求的爆款，但很多。很多時候，其實是專業的人做出很好的選擇、並與優秀的合作夥伴合作；在 Dan 的領導下，我們過去幾年也持續充實片庫，因此當節目表現好時，我們就有機會快速推進後續季數，讓粉絲群保持投入與滿意。我相信我們在六月會看到《The Vampireless Stat》的粉絲群相當強勁——這是《夜訪吸血鬼》的第三季——因為外界的熱度已經相當瘋狂了。所以如果這是最後一個問題，我想我們也要告訴大家。請務必在 6 月 7 日收看《The Vampireless Stat》，這是我們安妮・萊斯系列的下一部作品。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And I'm showing up for the questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Nick for any closing comments.

目前看起來沒有其他提問。我現在把電話交回給 Nick，請他做結語。

Thank you all for joining us today. We appreciate your interest in AMC Global Media. Have a nice day.

感謝各位今天加入我們。我們感謝各位對 AMC Global Media 的關注。祝各位有美好的一天。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call.

各位女士、先生，今天的電話會議到此結束。

Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

感謝各位的參與，您現在可以掛線。