Charter Communications Inc (CHTR) 2016 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Michelle and I will be your conference operator today. At this time I would like to welcome everyone to the Charter second-quarter 2016 investor call. (Operator Instructions)

早安.我是Michelle，今天將擔任本次電話會議的接線生。現在，我謹代表Charter公司歡迎各位參加2016年第二季投資人電話會議。 （接線生操作說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Stefan Anninger. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話交給斯特凡·安寧格先生。請開始吧。

Thanks, Michelle. Good morning and welcome to Charter's second-quarter 2016 investor call.

謝謝，米歇爾。早安，歡迎參加Charter公司2016年第二季投資人電話會議。

The presentation that accompanies this call can be found on our website, ir.Charter.com, under the Financial Information section. Before we proceed I would like to remind you that there are a number of risk factors and other cautionary statements contained in our SEC filings, including our most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q. We will not review those risk factors and other cautionary statements on this call; however, we encourage you to read them carefully.

本次電話會議的簡報可在我們的網站 ir.Charter.com 的「財務資訊」欄位下找到。在會議開始之前，我想提醒各位，我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件，包括我們最新的10-K表和10-Q表，其中包含一些風險因素和其他警示性聲明。本次電話會議我們不會對此類風險因素和其他警示性聲明進行詳細討論；但我們建議您仔細閱讀這些文件。

Various remarks that we make on this call concerning expectations, predictions, plans, and prospects constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from historical or anticipated results. Any forward-looking statements reflect management's current view only, and Charter undertakes no obligation to revise or update such statements or to make additional forward-looking statements in the future.

我們在本次電話會議中就預期、預測、計畫和前景所作的各種表述均構成前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受風險和不確定性因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與歷史結果或預期結果有差異。任何前瞻性陳述僅反映管理階層目前的觀點，Charter公司不承擔任何義務修訂或更新此類陳述，也不承擔未來作出其他前瞻性陳述的義務。

During the course of today's call, we will be referring to non-GAAP measures as defined and reconciled in our earnings materials. These non-GAAP measures as defined by Charter may not be comparable to measures with similar titles used by other companies.

在今天的電話會議中，我們將提及盈利文件中定義和調整的非GAAP財務指標。 Charter定義的這些非GAAP財務指標可能與其他公司使用的類似名稱的指標不具有可比性。

On today's call, we will also refer to pro forma results. While our transactions closed on May 18, 2016, these pro forma results present information regarding the combined operations as if our transactions had closed at the beginning of the earliest period presented, in order to provide a more useful discussion of our results. Please refer to the pro forma disclosures throughout today's materials, including the reconciliations provided in Exhibit 99.1 to our Form 10-Q filed today.

在今天的電話會議上，我們也將提及備考業績。雖然我們的交易已於2016年5月18日完成，但這些備考業績反映的是假設交易在最早列示期間的期初完成的情況下合併後的運營情況，以便更有效地討論我們的業績。請參閱今天所有資料中的備考披露信息，包括我們今天提交的10-Q表格附件99.1中提供的調節表。

All growth rates noted on this call and in the presentation are calculated on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise specified.

除非另有說明，本次電話會議和簡報中提及的所有成長率均以年比計算。

Joining me on today's call are Tom Rutledge, President and CEO, and Chris Winfrey, our CFO. With that, I'll turn the call over to Tom.

今天和我一起參加電話會議的有總裁兼執行長湯姆·拉特利奇和財務長克里斯·溫弗瑞。接下來，我會把電話交給湯姆。

Thanks, Stefan. On May 18 we closed our transaction with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, creating a new Company with a bigger and a significantly more concentrated footprint, giving us the local and national scale to innovate and grow faster. Our high-capacity network now reaches nearly 49 million homes and businesses, and we have over 25 million residential and business customers in attractive markets.

謝謝，斯特凡。 5月18日，我們完成了與時代華納有線電視公司和Bright House Networks的交易，成立了一家規模更大、業務更集中的新公司，這使我們能夠擁有本地和全國範圍的規模優勢，從而更快地進行創新和發展。我們高容量的網路現在涵蓋了近4900萬個家庭和企業，在極具吸引力的市場中擁有超過2500萬住宅和商業客戶。

Our ability to use mass media effectively has increased from approximately 50% of passings at Legacy Charter to the mid-90% range today. This gives us better local sales, marketing, and branding capabilities, service delivery and field operations efficiencies, and a greater ability to reach and serve medium and long-term -- excuse me, medium and large commercial customers.

我們有效利用大眾媒體的能力已從 Legacy Charter 時期約 50% 的通過率提升至如今的 90% 以上。這使我們擁有更強的本地銷售、行銷和品牌推廣能力，更高的服務交付和現場營運效率，以及更強的觸達和服務中長期——抱歉，是中大型商業客戶的能力。

The new scale will accelerate video and advanced advertising product development and deepen our wireless service offerings over time. There are also meaningful one-time transaction synergies which will prove higher than previously outlined. Nevertheless, the execution of Charter's high-growth, customer-focused operating strategy across a larger service footprint remains the largest contributor to shareholder value in our plans.

新的規模將加速視訊和高級廣告產品的開發，並隨著時間的推移深化我們的無線服務產品。此外，一次性交易帶來的綜效也將顯著高於先前預期。儘管如此，在更大的服務覆蓋範圍內執行Charter以客戶為中心的高成長營運策略，仍然是我們計劃中股東價值提升的最大貢獻者。

Since the close, we've found what we thought we would, and we put in place a single, centralized operating and financial control structure. We're standardizing our business practices and processes, including the IT service infrastructure, which will be completed over the next two-plus years as well as our products, pricing, and packaging across all of our regions over the next year. And finally, we'll continue to develop and launch new products and services which position Charter for long-term growth.

自交易完成以來，我們實現了預期目標，並建立了單一的集中式營運和財務控制架構。我們正在規範業務實踐和流程，包括IT服務基礎設施（將在未來兩年多內完成）以及產品、定價和包裝（將在未來一年內涵蓋所有地區）。最後，我們將繼續開發和推出新產品和服務，為Charter的長期成長奠定基礎。

At closing, all of our employees were mapped to their respective business units and executives based on our operating model. Today, the bulk of our 90,000-plus employees remain in the field, inside our operating regions and call centers.

公司重組時，我們根據營運模式將所有員工分配到各自的業務部門和高階主管團隊。如今，我們9萬多名員工中的絕大多數仍然在一線工作，分佈在各個營運區域和呼叫中心。

We've already begun in-sourcing efforts for the new Company. The process of in-sourcing will take several years and will require that we hire 20,000 people, train them, and equip them with trucks, tools, and test equipment, and house them in new and expanded facilities.

我們已經開始為新公司進行內部化改造。內部化改造過程將持續數年，需要我們招募2萬名員工，對他們進行培訓，並為他們配備卡車、工具和測試設備，以及為他們提供新的或擴建的辦公室。

That process has already started, as we are building Charter's first Spanish-language call center in McAllen, Texas, with approximately 600 seats. Ultimately, with a more local workforce, we will perform higher-quality transactions with customers, which we expect will improve customer satisfaction, reduce transactions and costs, and extend average customer lives, thereby growing our customer base and cash flow efficiently.

這項進程已經啟動，我們正在德州麥卡倫市建造Charter的首個西班牙語呼叫中心，配備約600個座席。最終，憑藉更在地化的員工隊伍，我們將為客戶提供更高品質的服務，我們預計這將提升客戶滿意度，減少交易次數和成本，延長客戶平均生命週期，從而有效地擴大客戶群並改善現金流。

In the fall, we will begin to rebrand Time Warner Cable and Bright House and launch our Spectrum pricing and packaging in a number of key markets, totaling over 40% of our acquired passings, with the remainder in the first half of 2017. On the small and medium business side, we'll launch the full Spectrum Small Business product pricing and packaging in TWC and Bright House markets in early and mid-2017.

今年秋季，我們將開始對時代華納有線電視和Bright House進行品牌重塑，並在多個重點市場推出Spectrum定價和套餐，這些市場將占我們收購用戶總數的40%以上，其餘市場將於2017年上半年完成。在中小企業方面，我們將於2017年初和年中在時代華納有線電視和Bright House市場推出完整的Spectrum小型企業產品定價和套餐。

In 2017, the all-digital project at Time Warner Cable and Bright House markets will use the Charter all-digital strategy, which uses fully functioning two-way set-top boxes with video-on-demand and advanced guide functionality on every TV outlet. We expect the project to be completed by 2018.

2017年，時代華納有線電視和Bright House市場的全數位化專案將採用Charter的全數位化策略，即在所有電視介面上配備功能齊全的雙向機上盒，提供視訊點播和高級節目指南功能。我們預計該項目將於2018年完成。

We will also extend our practice of performing electronic connections instead of physical truck rolls as we go all-digital, allowing us to fully scale our self-installation and self-service practices. Our plan is to have Spectrum Guide available in most Legacy Charter markets by the end of this year. We will launch Spectrum Guide in TWC's larger markets by the middle of 2017, and other TWC and Bright House markets following through the year, and likely continuing through 2018 as we complete the all-digital project.

隨著我們全面推動數位轉型，我們將推廣電子連接方式，取代傳統的上門服務，從而全面擴展自助安裝和自助服務。我們計劃在今年底前，在大部分Charter原有市場推出Spectrum Guide服務。 2017年中期，我們將在TWC旗下較大的市場推出Spectrum Guide，隨後在年內推廣至其他TWC和Bright House市場，並可能持續到2018年，直到我們完成全數位化專案。

Now that we're closed, we're running a WiFi network in public spaces throughout the country as well as on a widely distributed indoor terrestrial wireless network which, combined with MVNO opportunities and other wireless building blocks, should allow us to create products and services with a high value proposition. Over time, we'll have more to discuss on this subject.

現在我們雖然暫停了線下營業，但我們在全國各地的公共場所經營WiFi網絡，同時也經營著覆蓋廣泛的室內地面無線網路。結合行動虛擬網路營運商（MVNO）的機會和其他無線技術，我們應該能夠打造出具有高價值的產品和服務。未來，我們將就此主題展開更多討論。

Chris will cover the second-quarter results in more detail in a moment, but the overview is that Legacy Charter continued to perform very well in the quarter, with better subscriber growth than the prior year. And on a standalone basis through closing, Legacy Charter continued to show double-digit and improving EBITDA growth.

克里斯稍後會更詳細地介紹第二季業績，但總體而言，Legacy Charter 在本季持續保持強勁成長勢頭，用戶成長優於去年同期。截至交易完成時，Legacy Charter 的獨立 EBITDA 也持續保持兩位數成長，並且還在持續提升中。

Bright House also improved its customer performance year-over-year. While Bright House has benefited from Frontier's acquisition of certain FiOS properties, it should be noted that because most of its footprint is in Florida it is subject to greater second-quarter seasonality than both Charter and Time Warner Cable.

Bright House的客戶滿意度也實現了年比提升。雖然Bright House受益於Frontier收購部分FiOS資產，但值得注意的是，由於其業務主要集中在佛羅裡達州，因此受第二季季節性波動的影響比Charter和時代華納有線電視公司更大。

Legacy Time Warner Cable is in better shape than just a couple of years ago, with growth in customer relationships. During the second quarter last year, Time Warner had a very aggressive voice promotion, making voice net add comparisons with this second quarter negative. However, our second-quarter pro forma results have to be seen in context, because they reflect the continuation of previous operating strategies, much of which are different from our plan.

與幾年前相比，傳統時代華納有線電視業務的狀況有所改善，客戶關係也得到了成長。去年第二季度，時代華納開展了非常積極的語音業務推廣活動，導致今年第二季度語音業務淨增用戶數與去年同期相比為負值。然而，我們必須結合實際情況來看待第二季度的備考業績，因為這些業績反映的是先前營運策略的延續，而這些策略與我們目前的計劃存在諸多差異。

Through different metrics and stages of development we can see that TWC and, more recently Bright House, had both become reliant on rate increases and retention offers, each of which has various short- and long-term and effects, including encouraging customers to initiate more transactions. We've addressed these types of issues at Legacy Charter and will do so at TWC and Bright House during the Spectrum pricing and packaging migration. Generally, though, we're very pleased with how TWC and Bright House managed the assets through closing.

透過不同的指標和發展階段，我們可以看出，TWC 以及最近的 Bright House 都過度依賴漲價和挽留優惠，而這些措施都會產生各種短期和長期影響，包括鼓勵客戶進行更多交易。我們在前 Charter 公司已經解決了這類問題，在 Spectrum 定價和套餐遷移過程中，我們也會在 TWC 和 Bright House 解決這些問題。總的來說，我們對 TWC 和 Bright House 在交易完成前的資產管理工作感到非常滿意。

Our pro forma total customer relationships increased by 173,000 during the second quarter compared to 54,000 last year, and our year-over-year pro forma revenue growth of 6.6% and pro forma adjusted EBITDA growth of 9% in Q2 demonstrates the health of our business.

第二季度，我們的備考客戶關係總數增加了 173,000 個，而去年同期為 54,000 個；第二季度，我們的備考收入同比增長 6.6%，備考調整後 EBITDA 同比增長 9%，這表明我們業務的健康狀況良好。

We will make the necessary investments using the same approach we used at Charter to put the new assets on the right long-term growth strategy. The big difference today is that we have an established management team with experience running our operating plan, and TWC and Bright House are in better condition than Legacy Charter was four years ago. And we have meaningful transaction synergies which will help offset short-term effects and investments we need to make to create long-run operating momentum in the marketplace.

我們將沿用在Charter公司時採用的相同方法進行必要的投資，以確保新資產走上正確的長期成長策略。如今最大的不同在於，我們擁有一支經驗豐富的管理團隊，能夠有效執行我們的營運計畫；而且TWC和Bright House的狀況也比四年前的Charter公司好得多。此外，我們還擁有顯著的交易協同效應，這將有助於抵消短期影響，並支持我們為在市場中創造長期營運動力所需進行的投資。

Now I'll turn it over to Chris.

現在我把麥克風交給克里斯。

Thanks, Tom. I'll largely focus on pro forma results, as comparisons to prior year actuals aren't helpful given the size of the transactions. Before going there, though, I think it makes sense to set the baseline for the new Company by walking back through the basic building blocks.

謝謝，湯姆。鑑於交易規模，與上年實際業績進行比較意義不大，所以我主要會關注備考業績。不過，在此之前，我認為有必要回顧一下新公司的基本架構，以此為基準進行設定。

On slide 8 you should see a summary sources and uses statement for the transactions. On the left-hand side of the slide under sources you can see that the amount of debt that we issued for our transactions totaled approximately $23.8 billion, composed of $21.8 billion for the TWC transaction and $2 billion for the Bright House transaction. We also assumed approximately $22.5 billion principal value of TWC investment-grade debt already in place. And we issued approximately $33 billion in Charter stock to Legacy TWC shareholders valued at the closing date, about $10.2 billion to Advance/Newhouse in the form of preferred and common partnership units, also valued at the closing date, and $5 billion in stock to Liberty Broadband and Liberty Interactive in exchange for cash valued at the signing of the deals, all totaling about $96 billion in sources and uses for our transactions. Other than the impact of a higher Charter share price at closing, the sources and uses were essentially as we outlined at signing.

在第8張投影片上，您應該可以看到交易的資金來源和用途總結表。在幻燈片左側「資金來源」部分，您可以看到我們為這些交易發行的債務總額約為238億美元，其中TWC交易的債務為218億美元，Bright House交易的債務為20億美元。我們也承擔了TWC已有的約225億美元的投資等級債務本金。此外，我們向原TWC股東發行了價值約330億美元的Charter股票（按交割日估值），向Advance/Newhouse發行了價值約102億美元的優先股和普通合夥單位（按交割日估值），並向Liberty Broadband和Liberty Interactive發行了價值50億美元的股票，以換取在交易簽署時支付的現金。所有這些交易的資金來源和用途總計約為960億美元。除了交割時Charter股價上漲的影響外，資金來源和用途基本上與我們在簽署協議時所述一致。

From the beginning, we carefully structured our transactions with TWC and Bright House in order to achieve a number of operating, tax, and financing objectives. By providing pari passu bank loan security to investment-grade bond holders, we now have access to virtually all pockets in the debt markets, including long-dated, low-cost financing without separate financing silos.

從一開始，我們就精心設計了與TWC和Bright House的交易結構，以實現多項營運、稅務和融資目標。透過向投資等級債券持有人提供同等地位的銀行貸款擔保，我們現在幾乎可以進入債務市場的各個領域，包括長期低成本融資，而無需依賴單獨的融資管道。

The debt we issued to finance our transactions was placed in the investment-grade market, the term loan market, and in the high-yield market. And as slide 9 indicates, our total debt outstanding now stands at just over $60 billion, compared to our June 30 market cap of approximately $71 billion. Our weighted average cost of debt is 5.5%, 87% of which is fixed with an average maturity of 11.5 years and close to 90% due after 2019.

我們為交易融資而發行的債務分別在投資等級債券市場、定期貸款市場和高收益債券市場發行。如投影片9所示，我們目前的未償債務總額略高於600億美元，而截至6月30日，我們的市值約為710億美元。我們的加權平均債務成本為5.5%，其中87%為固定利率債務，平均期限為11.5年，近90%的債務將於2019年後到期。

Excluding the impact of purchase price accounting, which revalued assumed TWC debt to fair market value on the balance sheet, our total net debt to last 12-month pro forma adjusted EBITDA was 4.4 times. It was 4.2 times pro forma for year one run-rate synergy estimates.

若不計入收購物價會計處理的影響（此會計處理將假定的TWC債務以公允市價重新估價併計入資產負債表），我們的淨債務總額與過去12個月的備考調整後EBITDA之比為4.4倍。若以第一年協同效應運行率預估計算，該比率為4.2倍。

Our target leverage range remains at 4 to 4.5 times, and we'll target the lower end of that range. We've also committed to remain at 3.5 times or below at the first-lien level or at CCO, and maintain eligibility for inclusion in the investment-grade index.

我們的目標槓桿率區間仍為4至4.5倍，我們將力求達到該區間的下限。同時，我們承諾將第一順位抵押權或CCO的槓桿率維持在3.5倍或以下，並維持符合納入投資等級指數的資格。

Given our EBITDA growth profile and positive cash flow, we expect to delever rapidly, providing us with excess capacity relative to our leverage targets. We could use that excess capacity in a number of ways. But in order of priority, we'll invest in our business, including areas that provide faster and more sustainable growth; pursue accretive M&A when available and ready; return capital to shareholders in the form of share repurchases; and if we had no better use of cash or determined it prudent to reduce our target leverage, we'll pay down debt.

鑑於我們 EBITDA 的成長前景和正現金流，我們預計將迅速降低槓桿率，從而相對於我們的槓桿目標擁有過剩產能。我們可以從多個方面利用這些過剩產能。但按優先順序，我們將投資於自身業務，包括那些能夠帶來更快、更可持續增長的領域；在條件允許的情況下進行增值併購；以股票回購的形式向股東返還資本；如果找不到更好的現金用途，或者我們認為降低目標槓桿率更為審慎，我們將償還債務。

Turning to our ownership structure, slide 10 shows as of June 30 public shareholders held 68% of Charter. Liberty Broadband and Liberty Interactive together have an economic ownership stake in Charter of approximately 19%. On an as-converted and as-exchanged basis of its partnership units, Advance/Newhouse held an economic stake in Charter of approximately 13% and had governance through its corresponding B share at the corporate level.

關於股權結構，第10張投影片顯示，截至6月30日，公眾股東持有Charter 68%的股份。 Liberty Broadband和Liberty Interactive合計持有Charter約19%的經濟股權。 Advance/Newhouse以其合夥單位的轉換和交換計算，持有Charter約13%的經濟股權，並透過其對應的B股在公司層級行使治理權。

We currently have 13 Board members composed of eight unaffiliated Board members including: Tom, our Chairman; three Liberty-related Board members; and two Advance/Newhouse-affiliated Board members.

我們目前有 13 位董事會成員，其中 8 位是獨立董事會成員，包括：我們的主席 Tom；3 位與 Liberty 相關的董事會成員；以及 2 位與 Advance/Newhouse 相關的董事會成員。

On the right-hand side of slide 10, you'll see that at closing Charter had approximately 270 million shares outstanding. However, including the impact of Advance/Newhouse fully converting and exchanging its common and preferred partnership units, Charter's outstanding shares totaled 311 million.

在第10張投影片的右側，您可以看到，截至收盤時，Charter的流通股約為2.7億股。然而，考慮到Advance/Newhouse將其普通股和優先股合夥權益全部轉換和交換的影響，Charter的流通股總數為3.11億股。

Those partnership units are exchangeable at any time, so it makes sense for investors to include those partnership units on an as-converted and as-exchanged basis when evaluating Charter's total equity value and most share-based metrics. Some outlets continue to only look at the outstanding shares, which drives large differences in reported market capitalization.

這些合夥權益單位可以隨時轉換，因此，投資者在評估Charter的總股權價值和大多數基於股份的指標時，將轉換後的合夥權益單位納入考量是合理的。一些媒體仍然只關注流通股數量，這導致報告的市值有較大差異。

Turning to the presentation of our financials on slide 11, the slide lists some of the key transaction-related accounting items, some of which are one-time in nature. Starting with revenue at the top of the slide, our pro forma results eliminate a number of revenue items including, within Legacy TWC revenue, the management fee from Bright House that previously existed; and in consolidation, affiliate fees for the Dodgers and Lakers RSNs that TWC received from Charter and Bright House. Additionally, certain items like late fees, which were previously classified as contra expense at TWC and Bright House, have been reclassified into revenue at each legacy entity.

接下來，我們先來看看第11頁的財務報表。該頁列出了一些關鍵的交易相關會計項目，其中一些是一次性項目。首先是幻燈片頂部的收入部分。我們的備考業績剔除了多項收入項目，包括：在原TWC收入中，剔除了先前存在的來自Bright House的管理費；在合併報表中，剔除了TWC從Charter和Bright House收取的道奇隊和湖人隊區域體育網絡（RSN）的附屬費用。此外，一些項目，例如先前在TWC和Bright House被歸類為抵減費用的滯納金，已被重新歸類為各原實體的收入。

Turning to operating expenses, we've made the same revenue-related re-classes and mapped TWC and Bright House expenses into our operating model. We've also conformed accounting policies across the three Companies, with the largest difference being the level of capitalization at Bright House, as expected. For Legacy TWC, we also moved both gains from sale of fixed assets and noncash share-based compensation below adjusted EBITDA.

關於營運費用，我們進行了與收入相關的費用重分類，並將TWC和Bright House的費用納入了我們的營運模式。此外，我們也統一了三家公司的會計政策，其中最大的差異在於Bright House的資本化水平，這與預期相符。對於原TWC，我們也將出售固定資產的收益和非現金股權激勵費用均移至調整後EBITDA以下。

And under purchase price accounting we've posted a liability on our balance sheet to reflect an estimate of the out of market portion of TWC's RSN distribution agreement with the Dodgers. While there's no change to the cash payments, the P&L expense associated with the rights fee is already lower in Q2. That expense is included in the regulatory, connectivity, and produced content line on our P&L.

根據購買價格會計準則，我們在資產負債表上提列了一項負債，以反映TWC與道奇隊區域體育網絡（RSN）分銷協議中非市場部分的預估費用。雖然現金支付金額沒有變化，但與版權費相關的損益支出在第二季已經下降。該支出已計入損益表中的監管、連結和內容製作三項。

Below the adjusted EBITDA line there were also a number of items to note. For purchase price accounting, we stepped up the value of TWC and Bright House assets on our balance sheet to fair market value, including PP&E and customer relationships. As a result, the depreciation and amortization charges are and will be higher than the simple addition of historical D&A.

在調整後的 EBITDA 項下，還有一些項目需要注意。就收購價格會計處理而言，我們將資產負債表上 TWC 和 Bright House 的資產價值（包括固定資產和客戶關係）調整為公允市價。因此，折舊和攤提費用高於並將繼續高於歷史折舊和攤銷費用的簡單相加。

At closing, we also replaced TWC employee stock awards with Charter stock awards. The postclosing vesting of these awards increases stock compensation by reflecting the fair value of these replacement stock awards at closing instead of their original grant value.

交易完成時，我們也用Charter股票獎勵取代了TWC員工的股票獎勵。這些股票獎勵在交易完成後歸屬，將反映出這些替換股票獎勵在交易完成時的公允價值，而非其原始授予價值，從而增加股票薪酬。

We also booked a number of merger and restructuring expenses in the other operating expense line, including one-time contingent fees at close for transaction advisory, including legal M&A advisory at both TWC and Charter, and financing fees.

我們也在其他營運費用項下計入了一些合併和重組費用，包括交易完成時的一次性或有費用（包括TWC和Charter的法律併購諮詢費）以及融資費用。

And employee severance expense is roughly $3 million, nearly half of which came from the accelerated vesting of stock at the now stepped up purchase price value. The rationalization of three corporate groups will likely take a year, and so we expect to continue to see severance in the other operating expenses line for several quarters.

員工遣散費約為300萬美元，其中近一半來自加速歸屬的股票，而股票的歸屬價格已按目前上漲後的購買價格計算。三個公司集團的整合可能需要一年時間，因此我們預計未來幾季其他營運費用仍將包含遣散費。

Postclosing we announced a new retirement program across the Company which is designed to be competitive in the marketplace and give employees more control over their retirement funds through a higher defined contribution match. The Bright House defined benefit plan had already been frozen by Advance/Newhouse just prior to close and remains with Advance/Newhouse.

交易完成後，我們宣布了一項面向全公司的全新退休計劃，旨在提升公司在市場上的競爭力，並透過提高固定繳款比例，讓員工更好地掌控自己的退休資金。 Bright House的固定收益退休計畫在交易完成前已被Advance/Newhouse凍結，目前仍由Advance/Newhouse持有。

However, as part of the new retirement program at Charter, we recorded a one-time curtailment gain when we announced in June that we will freeze the TWC defined-benefit plan at the end of August. For those who are interested, this means using the ABO instead of the PBO when measuring the net liability.

然而，作為Charter新退休計畫的一部分，我們在6月宣布將於8月底凍結TWC固定收益退休金計畫時，記錄了一筆一次性縮減收益。對於有興趣的讀者，這意味著在計算淨負債時，應使用ABO（實際福利目標）而非PBO（計劃福利目標）。

Purchase price accounting also resulted in a step up in the value of acquired TWC debt to its fair market value as of the closing date. The premium between the fair value at closing and the principal amount will amortize over the remaining term of each tranche of debt, driving GAAP interest expense well below cash interest expense.

收購價格會計處理也導致所收購的TWC債務的價值在交割日提升至其公允市場價值。交割日公允價值與本金之間的溢價將在每期債務的剩餘期限內攤銷，從而使GAAP利息支出遠低於現金利息支出。

Our run rate annualized cash interest expense is $3.3 billion, whereas the Q2 pro forma P&L interest expense which [adjusted] $2.9 billion annual run rate.

我們的年化現金利息支出為 33 億美元，而第二季備考損益表利息支出（經調整）年化為 29 億美元。

We refinanced some existing Charter debt in the quarter, driving charges in the lost on extinguishment of debt line. The loss of financial instruments line reflects a one-time termination expense for TWC's interest rate swaps and a change in valuation of Legacy TWC British pound debt and related currency swaps.

本季我們對部分Charter現有債務進行了再融資，導致債務清償損失提列了額外費用。金融工具損失反映了TWC利率互換的一次性終止費用，以及TWC遺留英鎊債務和相關貨幣互換估值的變化。

Turning to tax expense, nearly all of the $3.3 billion valuation allowance against Legacy Charter's deferred tax assets was removed, given the greater visibility and certainty around the use of Legacy Charter's NOLs on our consolidated tax return. That drove a one-time tax benefit of nearly $3.2 billion in the quarter.

就稅務支出而言，鑑於Legacy Charter的淨營業虧損在合併報稅表中的使用更加清晰明確，此前針對Legacy Charter遞延所得稅資產提列的33億美元估值準備金幾乎全部被移除。這為本季帶來了近32億美元的一次性稅收優惠。

We're also now expensing a quarterly charge of approximately $38 million in preferred coupon for Advance/Newhouse's preferred partnership units. That charge is being reported on a separate line as noncontrolling interest expense, along with backing out that portion of consolidated net income attributable to Advance/Newhouse's common partnership units.

我們現在也將Advance/Newhouse優先股合夥單位約3,800萬美元的季度優先股票利息費用計入支出。此費用作為少數股東權益支出單獨列示，同時從歸屬於Advance/Newhouse普通股合夥單位的合併淨利潤中扣除相應部分。

Finally, as you review our trending schedules keep in mind that all customer and passings data that you see are based on Legacy Company definitions. In a few quarters' time, we'll recast the customer data in the trending schedules using the same set of common definitions.

最後，當您查看我們的趨勢圖時，請注意，您看到的所有乘客和過境人數數據均基於舊公司的定義。幾個季度後，我們將使用同一套通用定義重新建立趨勢圖中的乘客資料。

When we do that, the goal will be to recast all historical data as well. Until then, certain data like net adds and ARPU -- they remain relevant for legacy entity trends, but they are less helpful when comparing one entity to another.

屆時，我們的目標將是重新整理所有歷史資料。在此之前，諸如新增用戶數和每位用戶平均收入（ARPU）等數據雖然仍與現有實體的發展趨勢相關，但在比較不同實體時作用不大。

Moving on to Q2, although second-quarter results really just reflect the sum of three different operating strategies, I wanted to provide some high-level commentary on our second-quarter customer and financial results on a pro forma basis. Total customer relationships grew year-over-year by 5.1%: 4.8% at TWC, 6.3% at Charter, and 4.1% at Bright House. During the second quarter, in which Bright House Florida seasonals amplify the normal second-quarter cable seasonality, we grew residential PSUs by 167,000 versus 201,000 on a pro forma basis last year. The lower year-over-year PSU net adds was driven by fewer voice net additions this quarter, in particular due to a low-priced voice offer in TWC markets in Q2 of last year.

接下來是第二季度，雖然第二季度業績實際上反映了三種不同營運策略的總和，但我還是想就我們第二季度的客戶和財務業績（按備考基準計算）做一些概括性的評述。客戶關係總數較去年同期成長5.1%：TWC成長4.8%，Charter成長6.3%，Bright House成長4.1%。第二季度，由於Bright House在佛羅裡達州的業務季節性因素加劇了有線電視業務正常的第二季度季節性波動，我們住宅用戶淨增16.7萬戶，而去年同期為20.1萬戶（按備考基準計算）。本季新增用戶淨增較少主要是因為語音用戶淨增較少，尤其是去年第二季TWC市場推出了低價語音服務。

In residential video, over the last year TWC was essentially flat on subscribers, Charter grew by 1% video, and Bright House lost 3.6%. Quarterly video net losses improved year-over-year at both Bright House and at Legacy Charter, while TWC's video net loss was 28,000 worse than last year, primarily driven by an increase in churn.

在住宅視訊領域，過去一年TWC的用戶數量基本上持平，Charter的視訊業務成長了1%，而Bright House則下降了3.6%。 Bright House和原Charter的季度視訊淨虧損均較上年同期有所改善，而TWC的視訊淨虧損比去年增加了2.8萬，主要原因是用戶流失率上升。

In total for Q2, we lost 152,000 residential video customers, of which about half came from normal video, normal Florida seasonal downgrades. That loss is an improvement to a loss of 170,000 total video customers in Q2 pro forma last year.

第二季度，我們總共流失了15.2萬戶住宅視訊用戶，其中約一半是由於佛羅裡達州正常的季節性降級導致的普通視訊用戶流失。此流失量較去年同期（以備考數據計算）的17萬戶視訊用戶流失量有所改善。

In residential Internet, we added a total of 236,000 customers in the quarter versus 157,000 last year. And our total Internet customer base grew by 1.6 million customers or 8.5% over the past year.

本季，我們新增住宅網路用戶23.6萬，去年同期為15.7萬。過去一年，我們的網路用戶總數增加了160萬，增幅達8.5%。

In voice, we grew customers by 83,000 versus 214,000 last year, really driven by the difference in offers in the marketplace at TWC and a higher amount of single-play Internet sell-in at Bright House.

在語音業務方面，我們的客戶數量從去年的 214,000 增加了 83,000，這主要得益於 TWC 在市場上提供的服務差異，以及 Bright House 的單次互聯網銷售量增加。

Over the last year, total pro forma residential customers grew by 1.1 million customers or by 4.8%. Over the same period, residential ARPU was up by about 1%.

過去一年，住宅用戶總數（以備考口徑計算）增加了110萬，增幅為4.8%。同期，住宅用戶平均收入（ARPU）增加了約1%。

As slide 14 shows, our customer growth combined with our ARPU growth resulted in year-over-year pro forma residential revenue growth of 5.6%. Excluding pay-per-view revenue, which included the Mayweather-Pacquiao event in Q2 of 2015 for all three Companies, consolidated residential revenue grew by 6.3% and consolidated residential ARPU by 1.7%.

如投影片 14 所示，客戶成長與 ARPU 成長相結合，使得住宅收入較去年同期成長 5.6%。若不計入按次付費收入（其中包括 2015 年第二季度三家公司梅威瑟-帕奎奧賽事的收入），則合併住宅收入增長 6.3%，合併住宅 ARPU 增長 1.7%。

Total commercial revenue, SMB and enterprise combined, grew by 13.4%. At Legacy Charter we introduced new pricing and packaging in both SMB and enterprise last year, and we're seeing the significant increase in sales and net adds we expected. We intend to make similar changes to Legacy TWC and Bright House SMB and enterprise by next year.

中小企業和大型企業合計商業總收入成長了 13.4%。去年，我們為 Legacy Charter 的中小企業和大型企業推出了新的定價和套餐方案，並看到了預期的銷售額和新增客戶的顯著成長。我們計劃明年對 Legacy TWC 和 Bright House 的中小企業和大型企業客戶進行類似的調整。

Finally, advertising was up 3.9%, with political revenue growth accounting for about half of the $[15] million growth year-over-year.

最後，廣告收入成長了 3.9%，其中政治收入成長約佔年增 1,500 萬美元的一半。

In total, second-quarter pro forma revenue was up by 6.6% year-over-year, or 7.2% excluding pay-per-view. Looking at total revenue growth at each of our legacy companies including the effect of less boxing pay-per-view, TWC revenue grew by 7.2%, although excluding the recognition of revenue associated with settlement of a contractual dispute revenue grew by 6.8%. Legacy Charter grew by 6.7%, or 7% when excluding a one-time charge for customer credits in the quarter. And Bright House revenue grew by 3.3%, or 3.0% when excluding the benefit from the same settled dispute at TWC.

第二季整體備考收入年增6.6%，若不計入付費觀看收入，則較去年成長7.2%。若將各傳統公司的總收入成長（包括拳擊付費觀看收入減少的影響）納入考量，TWC的收入成長7.2%，但若不計入與合約糾紛和解相關的收入，則成長6.8%。傳統Charter的營收成長6.7%，若不計入本季一次性客戶信用額度費用，則成長7%。 Bright House的營收成長3.3%，若不計入TWC同一糾紛和解帶來的收益，則成長3.0%。

Turning to first-quarter operating expenses and adjusted EBITDA on slide 15, we've generally mapped all TWC and Bright House operating expenses to Legacy Charter's expense categories, although there will likely be some expense remapping in subsequent quarters. On a pro forma basis, total operating expenses grew by $326 million or 5.3% year-over-year, in line with total residential and SMB customer growth of 5.1%, with transition expense accounting for $25 million of our total OpEx this quarter.

請參閱第15頁投影片，以了解第一季營運費用和調整後EBITDA。我們已將TWC和Bright House的所有營運費用大致對應到原Charter的費用類別中，但後續季度可能會進行一些費用重新分配。以備考基準計算，總營運費用年增3.26億美元，增幅為5.3%，與住宅及中小企業客戶總數5.1%的成長基本一致。本季總營運費用中，過渡費用為2500萬美元。

Programming increased 7.5% year-over-year, driven by contractual rate increases, partially offset by lower pay-per-view cost. Looking at programming this quarter really is not that representative, as we had a mid-quarter closing that drove recurring benefits in the Q2 stub period, but we also had a number of one-time nonrecurring charges at Legacy Charter including some fees which were contingent on closing.

節目製作費用較去年同期成長7.5%，主要受合約價格上漲的影響，但部分被按次付費成本的下降所抵銷。本季度節目製作情況並不具有代表性，因為我們在季度中期完成了一筆交易，這在第二季度末期帶來了持續性收益，但Legacy Charter也產生了一些一次性非經常性費用，其中包括一些與交易完成相關的費用。

As a conforming accounting policy we've also re-classed ad buy obligations to ad revenue instead of contra expense to programming on the TWC side of the ledger. Net-net I expect our programming line item and year-over-year programming comparisons to be more representative on a pro forma basis by the end of this year.

作為符合會計政策的規定，我們已將廣告購買義務重新歸類為廣告收入，而不是作為TWC帳簿上節目製作的抵減費用。總而言之，我預計到今年年底，我們的節目製作明細和同比節目製作對比數據將更具代表性。

Turning to regulatory, connectivity and produced content expense, these direct costs were virtually flat year-over-year and benefit from the purchase accounting adjustment made to the Dodgers contract that I mentioned earlier. Cost to service customers grew by 2.1% despite overall customer growth of 5.1%, which really reflects the significantly lower service transactions at Legacy Charter.

就監管、連接和內容製作費用而言，這些直接成本與去年基本持平，並受益於我之前提到的道奇隊合約的購買會計調整。儘管客戶總數增加了5.1%，但服務客戶的成本卻增加了2.1%，這實際上反映了Legacy Charter的服務交易量大幅下降。

Other expenses grew by 8.5% driven by higher corporate and administrative labor cost, again on a pro forma basis including pre-closing bonus accrual true-ups, higher IT resources at Legacy TWC, advertising sales cost, and enterprise sales and labor cost, partly offset by overhead reductions which only started in June.

其他支出增加了 8.5%，主要原因是公司和行政人員的勞動力成本增加（同樣是按備考基準計算，包括交割前獎金計提調整、舊 TWC 的 IT 資源增加、廣告銷售成本以及企業銷售和勞動力成本），部分被 6 月份才開始實施的間接費用削減所抵消。

Adjusted EBITDA, which excludes noncash share-based compensation, grew by 9%. Excluding transition costs, adjusted EBITDA grew by 9.2%.

經調整的 EBITDA（不包括非現金股權激勵）增加了 9%。在剔除過渡成本後，經調整的 EBITDA 成長了 9.2%。

There were clearly a lot of moving pieces this quarter both from an accounting treatment perspective as well as nonrecurring items. But excluding that noise, the pro forma growth rate was probably more in the 7% to 8% range. And as we make the changes Tom laid out, there will be a lot of activity impacting the financials through different subscriber vintages until we have a consistent product and service across our entire footprint.

本季顯然有很多變動因素，無論是會計處理方面還是非經常性項目方面。但剔除這些幹擾因素後，預期成長率可能在7%到8%之間。隨著我們落實湯姆提出的調整方案，在確保所有業務板塊產品和服務一致之前，不同訂閱用戶群的財務數據將受到許多影響。

Bigger picture is Legacy Charter EBITDA growth for April and May without any synergy benefit was well into double-digit growth, reflecting the benefits of our operating model and what we intend to do with the larger set of assets long term.

從更宏觀的角度來看，Legacy Charter 4 月和 5 月的 EBITDA 成長在沒有任何協同效應的情況下達到了兩位數的成長，這反映了我們營運模式的優勢以及我們打算如何長期利用更大的資產組合。

Due to the mid-quarter closing of our transactions, there's little to talk about with respect to realized operating cost synergies in our Q2 results. We do, however, expect synergies to materialize in the second half of this year, and we'll highlight estimates of what's in the quarter going forward.

由於我們的交易在季度中期完成，因此第二季業績中關於已實現營運成本綜效的內容不多。不過，我們預期綜效將在今年下半年顯現，未來將重點介紹本季的相關預估數據。

We've already concretely identified run-rate annualized transaction-related operating expense synergies of over $600 million by the first anniversary of close. We expect our initial synergy outline of $800 million per year by year three will be exceeded.

我們已明確確定，在交易完成一週年之際，與交易相關的營運費用綜效將達到每年超過6億美元。我們預計，到第三年，我們最初設定的每年8億美元的綜效目標將會超越。

At Charter, we define transaction synergies as those which result purely from the combination of the Companies. They do not reflect operating synergies which come from operating decisions and investments that increase revenue and lower service transaction costs.

在Charter，我們將交易綜效定義為純粹由兩家公司合併所產生的綜效。它不包括營運協同效應，後者源自於能夠增加收入和降低服務交易成本的營運決策和投資。

Turning to slide 16 where we show both pro forma and actual net income for the second quarter, our actual second-quarter income statement reflects Legacy Charter's results up to May 18 plus the results of the three legacy entities from May 18 through June 30. It also includes one-time expenses that are directly tied to the closing of the transactions.

請看第 16 張投影片，其中展示了第二季的備考淨收入和實際淨收入。我們的實際第二季損益表反映了 Legacy Charter 截至 5 月 18 日的業績，以及三個原有實體從 5 月 18 日到 6 月 30 日的業績。此外，還包括與交易完成直接相關的一次性支出。

Conversely, the pro forma P&L assumes the three legacy entities had been one Company and excludes one-time expenses and benefits that are directly tied to the closing of the transactions. The background I provided on purchase accounting earlier and the detailed schedule on slide 16 should help people understand the P&L down to net income on both an actual basis and on a pro forma basis.

相反，備考損益表假設這三個原有實體已合併為一家公司，並剔除了與交易完成直接相關的一次性費用和收益。我之前提供的關於收購會計的背景知識以及第16頁幻燈片上的詳細附表應該有助於大家理解實際和備考損益表，直至淨利潤。

On our actual P&L, the biggest driver of net income is clearly the one-time benefit of the valuation allowance for lease of $3.3 billion. With TWC and Bright House income, the timing and visibility of utilizing our NOLs on a consolidated tax return is no longer uncertain from an accounting perspective. The noncontrolling interest expense line will be a recurring charge on our income statement as long as Advance/Newhouse holds an interest in the partnership.

就我們實際的損益表而言，淨利的最大驅動因素顯然是33億美元的租賃估值準備金所帶來的一次性收益。隨著TWC和Bright House的收入，從會計角度來看，在合併報稅表中利用淨營業虧損的時機和可見性已不再存在不確定性。只要Advance/Newhouse持有合夥企業的權益，少數股東權益支出項目就會成為我們損益表中的一項經常性費用。

Turning to slide 17, pro forma capital expenditures totaled $2.1 billion including $111 million of transition capital expenditures. Excluding transition CapEx, our second-quarter CapEx was up by $137 million or 7.5% year-over-year, driven primarily by the TWC MAX all-digital initiative, what looks to be some pull-forward spend on CMTS and network routers at TWC preclose in the scalable infrastructure line, investments in product development at both Charter and TWC, which also falls into scalable infrastructure, as well as previous leasehold improvement and real estate investments at TWC including data center, warehousing, and head-end initiatives which were booked in support capital.

翻到第17頁投影片，備考資本支出總額為21億美元，其中包括1.11億美元的過渡資本支出。剔除過渡資本支出後，我們第二季的資本支出年增1.37億美元，增幅為7.5%，主要得益於TWC MAX全數位化計畫、TWC交易前在可擴展基礎設施領域提前撥付的CMTS和網路路由器支出、Charter和TWC的產品開發投資（也屬於可擴展基礎設施範疇），以及TWC先前在租賃物業改良和房地產方面的投資，包括數據中心、倉儲和前端設備項目（這些項目已計入支持性資本）。

In Q2, excluding transition capital TWC spend capital of approximately 21%, Charter 18%, and Bright House 15% of revenue, respectively. Going forward, obvious we'll reduce the spend on IT, product development, and other areas which were by definition duplicative, and we should see a short-term benefit from the regrouping on the remaining all-digital projects as Tom outlined.

第二季度，若不計過渡資本，TWC、Charter 和 Bright House 的資本支出分別約佔收入的 21%、18% 和 15%。展望未來，我們顯然會削減在 IT、產品開發和其他重複領域的支出，正如 Tom 所概述的，我們應該會從剩餘全數位化專案的重組中看到短期收益。

Slide 18 shows the actual free cash flow we generated in the second quarter and only reflects Legacy Charter's results through May 17 plus the results of the three legacy entities from May 18 to June 30.

第 18 頁顯示了我們在第二季度產生的實際自由現金流，僅反映了截至 5 月 17 日的 Legacy Charter 的業績，以及 5 月 18 日至 6 月 30 日三個遺留實體的業績。

Finally turning to our tax assets on slide 19, at the closing of our transactions, and as expected, we had a change in ownership as per Section 382 of the IRS code which re-restricted the availability of our NOLs. We believe the net present value of our tax assets was not impaired. The transactions create a larger base of taxable income, ultimately accelerating the utilization of our NOLs versus their utilization pace at Legacy Charter.

最後，我們來看第19頁幻燈片中關於稅務資產的部分。如預期，在交易完成時，根據美國國稅局法典第382條的規定，我們的所有權發生了變更，這再次限制了我們淨經營虧損的可用性。我們認為，我們稅務資產的淨現值並未受到影響。這些交易擴大了應稅收入的基數，最終加快了我們淨經營虧損的利用速度，使其高於我們在原先的特許經營權時期。

Today, we're providing a preliminary updated NOL availability schedule, which you can see at the bottom left-hand side of the slide. The chart shows we expect the vast majority of our $11.5 billion of our NOLs will be available for use by the end of 2018. As of now, we don't expect to be a material cash income tax payer until at least 2018, maybe not until 2019; and even then our cash taxes as a percentage of GAAP pretax income, excluding the impact of higher depreciation and amortization from purchase price accounting, should be below statutory rates for several years thereafter.

今天，我們提供初步更新的淨營業虧損 (NOL) 可用時間表，您可以在幻燈片左下角看到。圖表顯示，我們預計到 2018 年底，我們 115 億美元的淨營業虧損中的絕大部分將可供使用。目前，我們預計至少在 2018 年之前，甚至可能要到 2019 年，才會成為重要的現金所得稅納稅人；即使到了那時，扣除因採用收購價格會計處理而導致的較高折舊和攤銷的影響後，我們按 GAAP 計算的稅前利潤計算的現金稅額佔比，在之後的幾年內仍應低於法定稅率。

With that, I'll hand it back to Tom.

說完，我就把它還給湯姆。

Thanks, Chris; thanks for getting that off your chest. Just a few final comments before turning it over to Q&A.

謝謝克里斯，謝謝你把心裡話說出來。在進入問答環節之前，我還有最後幾點要補充。

Since our closing on May 18 we've been working to integrate the three companies. While integrating three large companies comes with issues and execution risks, we're picking our way through those issues and so far we haven't seen anything that precludes us from being successful. Our track record at Charter over the last several years shows our operating model produces excellent economic value, and we'll make the right investments as quickly as possible to apply our operating practices on the new assets.

自5月18日完成交易以來，我們一直在努力整合這三家公司。儘管整合三家大型公司會面臨許多問題和執行風險，但我們正在逐步解決這些問題，目前為止，我們尚未發現任何阻礙我們成功的因素。過去幾年我們在Charter的表現表明，我們的營運模式能夠創造卓越的經濟價值，我們將盡快進行正確的投資，並將我們的營運經驗應用於新的資產。

With our newfound scale comes additional opportunities unavailable to Legacy Charter, including cost savings and purchasing opportunities, product development opportunities, commercial services opportunities, wireless service opportunities, and more. And we're ready to exploit those opportunities in order to drive greater growth and value into our business.

隨著規模的擴大，我們獲得了傳統Charter公司所不具備的更多機遇，包括成本節約和採購機會、產品開發機會、商業服務機會、無線服務機會等等。我們已做好準備，充分利用這些機遇，為公司業務帶來更大的成長和價值。

Operator, we're ready for questions.

接線員，我們已準備好回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Jessica Reif Cohen, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

（操作員說明）傑西卡·雷夫·科恩，美國銀行美林證券。

Thanks. I have two questions if that's okay. Tom, you alluded to wireless in your opening remarks, and as part of the merger you did receive Time Warner Cable's access to the Verizon MVNO. Has Time Warner Cable or you, Charter, notified them of your intentions to utilize that? And how do your rights differ from Comcast's, if they do?

謝謝。如果可以的話，我有兩個問題。湯姆，你在開場白中提到了無線網絡，而且作為合併的一部分，你們確實獲得了時代華納有線接入Verizon MVNO的權限。時代華納有線電視或你們Charter是否已經通知他們你們打算使用該服務？如果通知了，你們的權利與Comcast的權利有何不同？

I don't know exactly what's in Comcast rights structure, but I believe they are similar because they were created at the same time as part of the same transaction. And we have not fully exercised that right yet.

我不太清楚康卡斯特的權益結構具體是什麼，但我相信它們很相似，因為它們是在同一筆交易中同時產生的。而且我們還沒有完全行使這項權利。

Anything you want to say on timing?

關於時機安排，有什麼想說的嗎？

We're looking at what those rights are and how we'll execute or how we'll utilize them for the best benefit of the Company. But we don't have a plan yet that we're ready to roll out.

我們正在研究這些權利具體是什麼，以及如何執行或利用這些權利才能最大程度地造福公司。但我們目前還沒準備好推出的計畫。

Okay. Then the second completely different subject, but given your new footprint, your new enlarged footprint and the scale that you get in much bigger markets, can you talk a little bit about -- you also alluded to this in your opening remarks -- the advertising opportunity? You mentioned addressable advertising. What are your plans, and where does this fall on your priority list?

好的。那麼第二個主題完全不同，但鑑於你們新的、擴大的業務範圍以及在大市場中獲得的規模優勢，您能否談談——您在開場白中也提到了——廣告機會？您提到了定向廣告。你們有什麼計畫？它在您的優先事項清單中處於什麼位置？

Well, there's two parts of the scale that are interesting. One is, we're a much bigger Company, and if you just take the Charter growth strategy and apply it to a much bigger set of assets, and you do the same thing on those assets, get the same kind of growth rates, you create a lot of value.

嗯，規模上的兩個方面很有意思。一是我們公司規模大得多，如果你把Charter的成長策略應用到更大的資產組合上，並且對這些資產採取同樣的策略，獲得同樣的成長率，你就能創造巨大的價值。

But the other part of scale that comes out of this is that the footprint, the coverage of the DMA, and our ability to use mass advertising as well as sell advertising in the DMA is improved by the efficiency of our coverage of local markets. Meaning in historic terms, we're better clustered. So we have our ownership of assets by particular DMA more concentrated than we did at Charter.

但規模擴大帶來的另一個好處是，由於我們對本地市場的覆蓋效率提高，我們的業務覆蓋範圍、DMA覆蓋率以及在DMA區域內投放和銷售廣告的能力都得到了提升。這意味著，從歷史角度來看，我們的業務更加集中。因此，與Charter時期相比，我們現在在特定DMA區域的資產所有權更加集中。

That gives you two things. It gives you the opportunity to be a better seller of services and products; and it gives you the opportunity to be a better seller of advertising and targeted advertising and local products sold at -- on all the various platforms, the TV, the Internet and voice platforms, wireless platforms.

這能帶給你兩方面的好處。首先，它能讓你更好地銷售產品和服務；其次，它能讓你更好地銷售廣告、定向廣告以及在各種平台（包括電視、網路、語音平台和無線平台）上銷售的本地產品。

And it also gives you, from a commercial sales perspective, a more likely footprint to serve medium-size businesses and all the facilities those businesses pass or use within your footprint. So if you have a multi-site business, your ability to serve multi-sites with better footprint is improved, and so the commercial marketplace is also improved. So the whole footprint is more efficient.

從商業銷售的角度來看，這也有助於您更好地服務中型企業以及這些企業在您服務範圍內使用的所有設施。因此，如果您擁有多家門市，更完善的服務網絡將提升您服務多門市的能力，進而改善商業市場。最終，整體營運效率將會提升。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson.

克雷格·莫菲特，莫菲特納森森。

Hi. I wonder if you could talk about the programming agreement step-downs that you've had. There have obviously been a couple of lawsuits.

您好。我想請您談談您遇到的程式協議降級問題。顯然，這其中已經引發了幾起訴訟。

Can you talk about what you anticipated in the relationships with your programmers, and what kind of response you've had from other programming partners with respect to stepping them down onto the Time Warner Cable agreement?

您能否談談您對與程式設計師關係的預期，以及您在將其他程式設計合作夥伴納入時代華納有線電視協議方面所得到的回饋？

The nature of programming relationships hasn't fundamentally changed, and it's still a contentious contractual environment. But generally, we have good relationships with our programmers.

程式設計人員之間的關係本質並沒有發生根本性的改變，合約環境依然充滿爭議。但總的來說，我們和程式設計師的關係很好。

I think the litigation is part of the negotiation process in general, and it's going about what we thought it would go.

我認為訴訟是談判過程的一部分，事情的發展也正如我們所預期的。

That's helpful. If I could just ask one additional, much more general question, you talked about that what you found so far doesn't change your confidence at all. But can you talk about any particularly big surprises you've come across as you've finally gotten inside of Time Warner Cable and Bright House? Anything that jumped out at you as I wouldn't have expected this, and there is either real opportunity or potentially some peril here?

這很有幫助。如果可以的話，我再問一個比較一般性的問題。您提到，目前為止的發現絲毫沒有動搖您的信心。那麼，在您最終深入了解時代華納有線電視和Bright House之後，能否談談您遇到的哪些特別令人驚訝的情況？有沒有什麼事情讓您覺得完全出乎意料，既蘊藏著真正的機遇，也可能存在一些潛在的風險？

I wouldn't say that I'm surprised by anything. We have a pretty good visibility into these businesses. I have managed Time Warner assets in the past; now granted it's 15 years ago. But for instance, I knew about seasonality in Florida, having managed those assets in the past with snowbirds and so forth.

我不會說我對任何事情感到驚訝。我們對這些業務的了解相當透徹。我過去管理過時代華納的資產；當然，那是15年前的事了。但舉個例子，我對佛羅裡達州的季節性因素很了解，因為我過去曾管理過那裡的資產，包括候鳥族等等。

And I would say that the pricing and packaging and the variability of offers is the most interesting opportunity to fix quickly. It creates a lot of activity and confusion in the marketplace, both for the consumer and for the employees of the Company. So I think having a more logical, efficient selling machine will cause a lot of activity to go away quickly. And there's a lot more complexity there than even I thought was there, all of which means there's more upside.

我認為，定價、包裝和優惠活動的多樣性是最值得快速改進的地方。這些問題在市場上造成了大量的混亂和乾擾，無論是對消費者還是對公司員工都是如此。因此，我認為建立一個更合理、更有效率的銷售機制可以迅速消除許多混亂。而且，這其中的複雜性遠遠超出我的預期，這意味著還有更大的提升空間。

Bryan Kraft, Deutsche Bank.

Bryan Kraft，德意志銀行。

Hi, good morning. I wanted to ask you if you could comment on how disruptive or not you expect the rebrand (technical difficulty) pricing and repackaging of services in the acquired operations to be to your subscriber and ARPU trends? Should we expect some noise in the numbers for a while?

您好，早安。我想問一下，您認為收購業務的品牌重塑（技術難題）、定價和重新包裝服務會對您的用戶數量和ARPU趨勢造成多大的影響？我們是否應該預期一段時間內數據會出現一些波動？

And then separately, is there anything that you need to do that's significant to the plant and the acquired operations before you can deploy the Spectrum Guide? Or is that something that you can do fairly easily? Thank you.

另外，在部署頻譜指南之前，您是否需要對工廠和已收購的營運部門進行任何重要的準備工作？或者這些工作可以很容易完成？謝謝。

Right. Look, the pricing and packaging is mostly done incrementally, but it does require you to retrain your workforce and to set up processes to provide the products that you want to sell. So we need to make sure that we have an advanced video product in every market where we launch pricing and packaging, that our data speeds can be taken up to where they need to be. It's logistically complex, but not that disruptive to the consumer.

沒錯。你看，定價和包裝的調整大多是逐步進行的，但這確實需要你重新培訓員工，並建立相應的流程來提供你想銷售的產品。所以我們需要確保在每個推出定價和包裝方案的市場，我們都擁有先進的視訊產品，並且我們的資料傳輸速度能夠提升到所需的水平。這在物流方面很複雜，但對消費者來說不會造成太大的干擾。

What is disruptive to the consumer, though, is continued all-digital rollouts. That requires hardware going into consumer homes. About 40% of Time Warner assets are not all-digital currently and 50% of Bright House are not all-digital.

然而，對消費者而言，持續推動全數位化部署才是真正顛覆性的。這需要將硬體設備引入消費者家中。目前，時代華納旗下約40%的資產尚未實現全數位化，而Bright House旗下約50%的資產也尚未實現全數位化。

So those transactions are disruptive, more disruptive, but necessary in order to get you in a place where you have a superior product set relative to all your competitors.

因此，這些交易具有顛覆性，甚至更具顛覆性，但卻是必要的，目的是讓你擁有比所有競爭對手更優越的產品組合。

If you look at the history of Charter and its growth rate, and its trending schedules, as you inquire about, they're a good proxy for what we expect to happen going forward in these new assets. The difference in these assets is that physically they are in better shape, so there's probably less capital required in them. But from a consumer perspective and driving revenue and driving consumer stats, the Charter experience is a good proxy.

如果您查看Charter的歷史、成長率以及您所詢問的航班時刻表趨勢，它們可以很好地代表我們對這些新資產未來發展的預期。這些新資產的不同之處在於，它們的硬體設施狀況更好，因此所需的資本投入可能更少。但從消費者角度來看，Charter的體驗對於提升收入、改善消費者資料都具有重要意義。

With regard to your question on the Guide, yes, there are some issues around the Guide in rolling it out in the new assets. They have to do with provisioning systems.

關於您提出的指南問題，是的，在新資產中推廣指南確實存在一些問題。這些問題與配置系統有關。

So you have three different companies that talk to their hardware modems, voice devices, as well as TV set-top boxes and create the billing environment and the control environment around all of that hardware in the field, as well as the billing environment that goes over top of that. All those things are separate functions that have to be integrated and require an IT infrastructure over top of all of the existing legacies' structures to unify what products can go where.

因此，有三家不同的公司分別與他們的硬體調製解調器、語音設備以及電視機上盒通信，並圍繞現場所有這些硬體創建計費環境和控制環境，以及覆蓋其上的計費環境。所有這些都是獨立的功能，必須進行集成，並且需要在所有現有遺留架構之上建立IT基礎設施，以統一產品部署位置。

The Guide to some extent has to wait for that physical infrastructure to get put in place. We think we can do that as we roll out the all-digital strategy, and we don't think it's gating or anything like that; but it takes time and it's complicated.

在某種程度上，該指南的推出需要等待實體基礎設施的到位。我們認為，隨著全數位化策略的推進，我們可以實現這一點，而且我們並不認為這是設定門檻或採取其他類似措施；但這需要時間，而且過程也比較複雜。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Jonathan Chaplin, New Street Research.

喬納森‧查普林，新街研究公司。

Two quick ones, if I may. First, I'm wondering if you could give us a little bit more color on the higher churn you saw in the Time Warner Cable footprint, specifically for video.

能否請您快速問兩個問題？首先，我想請您詳細解釋一下您在時代華納有線電視用戶群中觀察到的較高用戶流失率，特別是視訊用戶流失率的情況。

And secondly on the synergies, Chris, I think you said by the time you hit your first-year anniversary synergies should clock in at about $600 million. Was that for that first-year period, or would that be the run rate in the second quarter of next year?

其次，關於綜效，克里斯，我記得你說過，到公司成立一周年的時候，綜效應該可以達到6億美元左右。這是第一年的數據，還是指明年第二季的預期收益？

That's the annualized run rate by the time we get to the end of the first year: $600 million. You'll recall that I think originally we had said that was about $400 million at the time of the announcement of the transaction. If I remember, I think it was $500 million for financing purposes, so it's higher than what we expected it to be at run rate by the end of the first year since close.

這是第一年結束時的年化運行率：6億美元。您可能還記得，在宣布交易時，我們最初的說法是大約4億美元。如果我沒記錯的話，出於融資目的，我們當時說的是5億美元，所以這比我們預期在交易完成後的第一年結束時的運行率要高。

Got it.

知道了。

With regard to your question on higher churn, first, we weren't managing those assets through the quarter, most of the quarter. So we don't have a direct connection to what happened or is happening.

關於您提出的客戶流失率上升的問題，首先，我們本季大部分時間都沒有管理這些資產。因此，我們無法直接確定這是否與當時的情況有關。

But it's really a function of the pricing and packaging and the way that the business has been marketed. Our view is that both Bright House and Time Warner pricing and packaging lend themselves to higher churn than the way Charter prices and packages. So until we get the business priced and packaged properly, we'll have churn rates in the legacy properties probably higher than Legacy Charter -- at least that's our expectation.

但這實際上取決於定價、套餐組合以及業務的營銷方式。我們認為，Bright House 和時代華納的定價和套餐組合都比 Charter 的定價和套餐組合更容易導致用戶流失。因此，在我們找到合適的定價和套餐組合之前，我們旗下傳統媒體的流失率可能會高於 Charter 的傳統媒體——至少我們是這麼預期的。

So as a result of that, our strategy is to change the way those businesses market their services.

因此，我們的策略是改變這些企業推銷其服務的方式。

So Tom, does that mean that you'd expect to see higher churn rates for the next several quarters as you get more of the base onto Charter-style packages?

所以湯姆，這是否意味著隨著更多基礎用戶採用 Charter 式套餐，你預計未來幾季用戶流失率會更高？

And I guess as a second follow-up, it seems like the adds were a little bit worse year-over-year. So the churn rates were maybe higher amongst that base this year than a year ago on those kinds -- on the legacy Time Warner Cable packages, I'm wondering if you have any insights at this point into what could have driven that.

其次，我想補充一點，今年的廣告投放情況似乎比去年略差。因此，今年這類用戶群（尤其是傳統時代華納有線電視套餐的用戶）的流失率可能比去年更高。我想知道您目前對造成這種情況的原因有什麼見解。

Jonathan, this is Chris. What you're getting at is actually really complex because of all the different transactions that are involved, but I'll try to simplify it a little bit.

喬納森，我是克里斯。你提出的問題其實非常複雜，因為它涉及各種不同的交易，但我會盡量簡化。

There was a higher amount of churn at Legacy TWC in Q2. A lot of that was also coming from downgrades at the point where we had promotional pricing roll off.

第二季傳統TWC的用戶流失率較高。其中很大一部分原因是促銷價格到期後用戶降級造成的。

That's a function of not having the highest-quality product that you could offer in place at the best price you could offer, and making it competitive in the marketplace, and not having a consistent way of rolling the pricing up at promotion, which means essentially that the product doesn't stick. So in terms of going forward, the more the base that you can get on pricing and packaging, the more sticky that base becomes, not only in the face of competition but also in the context of step-up in price.

這是因為你沒有提供你能提供的最高品質的產品和最優的價格，使其在市場上具有競爭力，也沒有在促銷時採用一致的定價策略，這本質上意味著產品無法留住客戶。因此，展望未來，你在價格和包裝方面建立的基礎越牢固，這個基礎就越能增強客戶黏性，不僅能夠抵禦競爭，還能在價格上漲的情況下保持競爭力。

But you're still exposed along the way to the legacy base that hasn't migrated to new pricing and packaging, as to what happens to them at roll-offs, what you allow them to roll off to, what retention offers you have in place, and how quickly you can either proactively or reactively migrate that base into the new pricing and packaging.

但在此過程中，您仍然會面臨尚未遷移到新定價和包裝的舊客戶群，他們會在套餐到期時面臨什麼情況，您允許他們遷移到什麼套餐，您有哪些留存優惠，以及您可以主動或被動地以多快的速度將該客戶群遷移到新的定價和包裝。

It's fairly complex, no different than what was done at Legacy Charter in the 2012 to 2014 time period. So we'll just manage through it the same way that we did then.

這相當複雜，和2012年至2014年間Legacy Charter的做法沒什麼兩樣。所以我們會用當時同樣的方式來應對。

Thanks, Chris.

謝謝你，克里斯。

Ben Swinburne, Morgan Stanley.

本‧斯溫伯恩，摩根士丹利。

Thank you. Good morning. I have one for Tom and one for Chris.

謝謝。早安.我為湯姆和克里斯各準備了一份。

Tom, when you look at the new footprint you've got, a lot of broadband-only customers; I think something like 7 million-plus. How are you thinking about marketing video to them maybe in a way that hasn't been done before, either at scale or in the industry? Anything at this point that you're thinking about from a product offering or technology perspective to get at that opportunity?

湯姆，看看你們新拓展的業務範圍，有很多只使用寬頻的用戶；我估計超過700萬。你們打算如何向他們推廣影片行銷？或許可以採用一種前所未有的方式，無論是大規模推廣還是產業內推廣？目前，從產品或技術角度來看，你們有沒有考慮過抓住這個機會？

And, Chris, if you go back to the expense growth in the quarter, I think you gave us pro forma growth for programming, cost of serve, and G&A and other of like 7.5%, 2%, and 8.5%. But there is a lot -- as you point out, a lot of moving pieces there.

克里斯，如果你回顧本季的支出成長情況，我認為你之前給出的節目製作、服務成本、一般及行政費用和其他費用的預期成長率分別是7.5%、2%和8.5%。但正如你所指出的，這裡面有很多變數。

Is there a way to think about either clean versions of those three numbers or even directionally whether the real underlying trend is higher or lower than these metrics you gave in the release? Just as we think about the natural cost growth trend of the business through the rest of this year, any color would be helpful if you had any.

能否提供一些更簡潔的分析方法，或者即使只是從方向性的角度分析一下，實際的潛在趨勢是高於還是低於您在新聞稿中提到的這些指標？就像我們分析公司今年剩餘時間的自然成本增長趨勢一樣，如果您能提供一些具體信息，將對我們很有幫助。

Well, Ben, I think the biggest opportunity continues to be selling against satellite. If you look at those 7 million data-only subs, a substantial portion of them are satellite customers.

嗯，本，我認為最大的機會仍然是與衛星通訊競爭。如果你看看那700萬純數據用戶，其中相當一部分都是衛星用戶。

Yes.

是的。

And that has to do with the analog nature of the video product that the cable companies sell. And by going all-digital and using your two-way interactive platform, you can build a better video product than your competitors, in my opinion; which is why I think Charter is growing its video business year-over-year.

這與有線電視公司銷售的視訊產品的類比特性有關。在我看來，透過全面數位化並利用雙向互動平台，您可以打造比競爭對手更好的視訊產品；這就是為什麼我認為Charter的視訊業務逐年增長的原因。

It's a slow process. The inertia is real in the marketplace. But I think Charter has turned the video business positively, and I think the same is possible in Time Warner and Bright House. But it requires the proper investment in a video product, which means you need a two-way product with an excellent user interface and all the functionality and features that you get from an Internet-type-like service with live, fully featured content.

這是一個緩慢的過程。市場慣性確實存在。但我認為Charter已經成功地扭轉了視訊業務的局面，我相信時代華納和Bright House也能做到這一點。但這需要對視訊產品進行適當的投資，這意味著你需要一個雙向產品，它需要擁有出色的使用者介面，以及所有類似網路服務的功能和特性，並提供即時、完整的視訊內容。

So I think there's still lots of upside selling traditional MVPD products, that cable service, to customers who have broadband only. That said, there is an income issue with television. It's very expensive to buy the whole package; it's hard to sell smaller packages that resonate in the market and are sticky and satisfy consumers.

所以我認為，向只有寬頻的用戶銷售傳統的多頻道視訊節目分銷商（MVPD）產品，也就是有線電視服務，仍然有很大的發展空間。話雖如此，電視業務也存在收入問題。購買全套服務套餐非常昂貴；很難銷售既能引起市場共鳴、又能提高用戶黏性並滿足消費者需求的精簡套餐。

Various marketing tactics have been tried to skinny down the product. The problem is skinnying it down to the right place with the right package and satisfying people who are financially challenged. We'll continue to explore relationships with content companies to do that, but I also think that you can make a fully featured service more attractive and more worth what it does cost; and we can use that to drive into the marketplace.

我們嘗試過各種行銷策略來精簡產品。問題在於如何以合適的價格和套餐，將產品精簡到合適的價位，並滿足那些經濟拮据的用戶的需求。我們將繼續探索與內容公司合作的方式來實現這一目標，但我認為，我們也可以打造一款功能齊全、更具吸引力且物有所值的服務；我們可以利用這一點來開拓市場。

Got it.

知道了。

On the expense side, Ben, I don't want to get into the mode of providing guidance. But based on what I've already said, I think you can deduce a few things.

關於費用方面，本，我不想過度提供建議。但根據我剛才說的，我想你應該可以推斷出幾點。

Going through the three categories that you listed, programming: we only had half a quarter, in essence, of Charter being in a closed status. And in addition to that, you had a number of one-time bad guys at Legacy Charter, some of which was contingent fees that are going to be paid on closing to programmers. So by definition that means that that result improves.

就您列出的三個類別而言，就程式設計而言：實際上，只有四分之一的Charter專案處於關閉狀態。此外，Legacy Charter還有一些一次性不良項目，其中一些是將在項目完成後支付給程式設計師的或有費用。因此，從定義上講，這意味著結果有所改善。

And going against that grain over time is that if you're putting a rich video product into the marketplace and you're selling more expanded, as Tom was talking about, that's not rate-based growth of programming, that's volume-based. That's accompanied by higher revenue in its turn. So we look at the transaction piece of that as rate versus volume.

但隨著時間的推移，情況卻恰恰相反。如果你將豐富的視訊產品推向市場，並且像湯姆剛才提到的那樣，銷售更多擴展內容，那麼節目的成長並非基於單價，而是基於銷售量。這反過來又會帶來更高的收入。因此，我們從交易的角度來看這個問題，也就是單價與銷售量之間的關係。

The second piece that you highlighted was cost to serve, where the cost to serve is really benefiting from the significant operating synergies that exist at Legacy Charter as a result of having a simpler product in the marketplace, for customers knowing that when you step-up rate that is a fair rate. And not continuing to keep on calling in to do a deal reduces your call volume, reduces your churn. And in-sourced labor also being a key function as well.

您提到的第二點是服務成本。由於Legacy Charter的產品更簡潔，客戶知道漲價是合理的，因此其服務成本確實受益於顯著的營運綜效。此外，客戶無需反覆打電話洽談，從而減少了通話量，降低了客戶流失率。內部員工也是一項關鍵因素。

And going the other way, so that's Legacy Charter, which is really helping the results, we're going to continue to in-source at TWC and Bright House. It's going to create some of the same pressures that we saw at Charter in the cost to serve line at the beginning as we in-source a labor force that needs to be trained up, and you have parallel outsourced resource in place while you're doing that. So it's going to be dynamic as we go.

反過來，像Legacy Charter這樣的公司確實對業績有所幫助，我們將繼續在TWC和Bright House推行內部營運。這會為我們帶來一些與Charter初期類似的壓力，例如服務成本方面，因為我們需要培訓員工，同時也要兼顧外包資源。所以，情況會隨著我們的推進而不斷改變。

For the other category, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks this includes corporate, advertising, enterprise. And particular from a corporate perspective a lot of the headcount reductions didn't really occur or begin to occur until June, and those will be continuing on for some time. So there should be some improvements in that line item on a go-forward basis.

至於其他類別，正如我在準備好的演講稿中提到的，這包括公司、廣告和企業。尤其從公司層級來看，很多裁員直到六月才真正開始，而且這種情況還會持續一段時間。因此，這一項未來應該會有所改善。

That's very helpful.

那很有幫助。

And look, our goal here is, even if it costs us a little bit more by putting a richer product in place on programming, or whether it costs us more upfront to put in-sourcing in place for cost to serve and things like IT and whatnot, it's to generate operating leverage at the back-end by being able to scale it up-front and reduce transactions over time and make more of the revenue flow through to EBITDA.

你看，我們的目標是，即使這意味著在程式設計方面投入更多資源來打造更豐富的產品，或者意味著前期投入更多資金來降低服務成本以及 IT 等相關成本，也是為了在後端產生營運槓桿效應，透過前期擴展規模，隨著時間的推移減少交易量，並將更多收入轉化為 EBITDA。

Thanks a lot.

多謝。

Operator, I think we have time for one last question, please.

接線員，我想我們還有時間回答最後一個問題，謝謝。

Phil Cusick, JPMorgan.

Phil Cusick，摩根大通。

Thanks. Chris, you stated before you've given Charter CapEx guidance. Can you help us with CapEx expectations for the rest of the year? Should we look for some growth slowdown in the next couple of quarters before an acceleration in 2017?

謝謝。克里斯，你之前說過已經給了Charter的資本支出指引。你能幫我們預測一下今年剩餘時間的資本支出嗎？我們是否應該預期未來幾季成長放緩，然後在2017年加速成長？

We're not going to be providing CapEx guidance. But I think the thing that is clear is that one of the big drivers for spend in the first half of the year on a pro forma basis -- again, it wasn't us managing the combined CapEx; we're just reporting on it today on a pro forma basis. But there was obviously the significant amount of all-digital activity that was continuing at TWC, and that will be largely put on hold as we put it in the Charter all-digital strategy beginning at the beginning of next year.

我們不會提供資本支出指引。但我認為很明顯的是，今年上半年支出的主要驅動因素之一（按備考基準計算——再次強調，這並非我們管理的合併資本支出；我們今天只是按備考基準進行報告）是時代華納有線電視公司（TWC）持續推進的大量全數字化活動，而隨著Charter從明年年初開始實施全數字化戰略，這些活動將基本暫停。

There was also some what I believe is pull-forward of good capital, but a significant pull-forward of capital around CMTS and routers and some of that type of activity. That should slow down a little bit as well.

我認為也出現了一些優質資金的提前支取，但主要集中在CMTS、路由器以及類似領域的資金提前支取現象較為嚴重。這種情況應該也會放緩。

But the danger in providing CapEx guidance or even expectations is, frankly, if we see the opportunity to go make an investment that's going to put the Company in a position to grow faster, then we're going to do that inside of a particular quarter or inside of a particular last 12 months or fiscal year. And our view on the trends of CapEx is that capital intensity will go down significantly once we get through the all-digital program.

但坦白說，提供資本支出指引甚至預期存在的風險在於，如果我們發現有機會進行一項投資，從而使公司能夠更快地成長，那麼我們會在某個季度、過去12個月或財年內完成這項投資。我們對資本支出趨勢的看法是，一旦我們完成全數位轉型，資本密集度將會顯著下降。

But from a timing perspective, we see opportunities grow faster by investing quicker. Even though the total gross dollars invested may not be any different, we'll pull it forward as we need to. And we don't want to be beholden to slowing down the growth trajectory of the Company to meet what is, in our view, an artificial target.

但從時機掌握的角度來看，我們認為加快投資速度能更快掌握機會。即使總投資金額可能沒有變化，我們也會根據需要提前投資。我們不希望為了達到我們認為人為設定的目標而放慢公司的成長步伐。

So, no, we won't be providing an outlook for this year, but I think if you take a look at the way that we've managed capital in the past at Charter, it's meant to be efficient and to drive faster growth.

所以，不，我們不會提供今年的展望，但我認為，如果你看看Charter過去管理資本的方式，就會發現它的目的是為了提高效率並推動更快的成長。

Even at the current CapEx run rate, it seems like you're delevering very quickly and could head to that 4 turns leverage range right around the end of the year. Is that a fair way to look at it?

即使以目前的資本支出速度，你們的去槓桿化速度似乎也很快，可能在年底左右就能達到4倍槓桿水準。這樣理解是否合理？

And is there any reason you wouldn't be returning capital if you got to that point?

如果到了那個地步，你有什麼理由不回饋本金呢？

So now you're backing me into guidance. Look, the business is delevering at, call it, half a turn a year; that's what we expected. Even though CapEx was being spent at a more elevated level, and it included the duplicative portion of CapEx which is three different companies spending on IT and different types of product development and those kind of corporate expenditures, was being spent -- at least is 2 if not 3 times over. So that's another area that it should automatically get more efficient.

所以現在你又讓我不得不給指導意見了。你看，公司去槓桿化的速度，姑且稱之為每年0.5倍吧；這符合我們的預期。儘管資本支出水準較高，而且其中包含重複支出，也就是三家不同的公司在IT、不同類型的產品開發以及其他這類企業支出上的支出——至少是兩倍，甚至三倍。所以，這方面也應該自然而然地提高效率。

But yes, I think we're going to delever fast, and it's a first-class problem to have, as to where to deploy the capital, which is why I spent some time on it in the past couple calls and make sure people understand the priority of how we'll opportunistically deploy our excess free cash flow over time.

是的，我認為我們將快速去槓桿化，而如何部署資本是一個頭等大事，所以我在過去的幾次電話會議中花了一些時間討論這個問題，並確保大家理解我們將如何抓住機會，隨著時間的推移部署我們多餘的自由現金流的優先事項。

Thanks very much, Chris.

非常感謝，克里斯。

Operator, that ends our call. Thank you.

接線員，通話到此結束。謝謝。

Thanks, everyone.

謝謝大家。

Thank you all.

謝謝大家。

Thank you, everyone. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

謝謝大家。今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以斷開連線了。