Chicken Soup for The Soul Entertainment Inc (CSSE) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到靈魂娛樂2022年第四季度財報電話會議雞湯。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Zaia Lawandow, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給今天的發言人，投資者關係主管 Zaia Lawandow。請繼續。

Thank you, Kevin. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us. We'll begin with opening remarks from our Chairman and CEO, William J. Rouhana, followed by remarks from our CFO, Jason Meier. After their remarks, we'll open the call for questions.

謝謝你，凱文。早上好，感謝大家加入我們。我們將從董事長兼首席執行官 William J. Rouhana 的開場白開始，然後是我們的首席財務官 Jason Meier 的致辭。在他們發言後，我們將開始提問。

The matters discussed on this call include forward-looking statements including those regarding the performance of future fiscal years. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. This includes the factors set forth in Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and in our most recently filed quarterly report on Form 10-Q.

本次電話會議討論的事項包括前瞻性陳述，包括有關未來財政年度業績的陳述。此類聲明受到許多風險和不確定性的影響。由於各種因素，實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中描述的結果存在重大差異。這包括靈魂娛樂雞湯中關於 10-K 表格的最新年度報告和我們最近提交的 10-Q 表格季度報告中規定的因素。

The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Please refer to the earnings release under the News and Events tab in the Investor Relations section of the company's website for a discussion of certain non-GAAP forward-looking measures discussed on this call.

公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。請參閱公司網站“投資者關係”部分“新聞和事件”標籤下的收益發布，了解本次電話會議上討論的某些非 GAAP 前瞻性措施的討論。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to William Rouhana, Chairman and CEO. Bill, please go ahead.

有了這個，我將把電話轉給董事長兼首席執行官 William Rouhana。比爾，請繼續。

Thank you, Zaia. and welcome, everyone. And thank you for being flexible as we had to adjust the timing of the call in order to take advantage of the opportunity to raise a bit of capital, as you saw in our filing this morning, and I'll discuss that in greater detail in a moment.

謝謝你，扎亞。歡迎大家。並且感謝您的靈活性，因為我們不得不調整電話會議的時間，以便利用這個機會籌集一些資金，正如您在今天早上提交的文件中看到的那樣，我將在片刻。

But first, let me talk about -- a little bit about the past year. 2022 was a year of transformation, not only for our industry but for our company as well. Total annual revenue for the company was $253 million, up 129% over last year, and adjusted EBITDA was $33.5 million, up 53% in the same period. We hit our revenue run rate of $500 million in revenue and $100 million to $150 million of adjusted EBITDA as we planned.

但首先，讓我談談——關於過去一年的一點點。 2022 年是轉型的一年，不僅對我們的行業如此，對我們公司也是如此。公司年度總收入為 2.53 億美元，比去年同期增長 129%，調整後的 EBITDA 為 3350 萬美元，同期增長 53%。我們按計劃實現了 5 億美元的收入運行率和 1 億至 1.5 億美元的調整後 EBITDA。

When we started the year, we had about 170 employees. Seemingly overnight, we found ourselves with over 1,300 when we acquired Redbox. Integrating a company several times larger than us was no easy feat, particularly one dependent on the returns of theatrical releases. And despite the challenges we faced, we were able to position ourselves successfully for continued growth in 2023.

年初時，我們有大約 170 名員工。似乎一夜之間，當我們收購 Redbox 時，我們發現自己擁有超過 1,300 個。整合一家比我們大幾倍的公司絕非易事，尤其是一家依賴影院上映回報的公司。儘管我們面臨挑戰，但我們能夠成功地為 2023 年的持續增長做好準備。

As we look forward, there are many opportunities for us to scale our business further and continue growing, all driven by 3 pillars. One, the Redbox integration and the kiosk rebound that is currently underway; two, our position as a premier advertising sales platform for the broader AVOD industry; and three, efficient working capital that supports the growth we expect in 2023 and beyond.

展望未來，我們有很多機會進一步擴大業務並繼續增長，這一切都由三大支柱驅動。第一，目前正在進行的 Redbox 整合和 kiosk 反彈；第二，我們作為更廣泛的 AVOD 行業的主要廣告銷售平台的地位；第三，高效的營運資金支持我們預計在 2023 年及以後的增長。

As I'll discuss in a moment, the return of theatrical titles is firmly underway. This return, however, began in earnest months later than we had anticipated when we acquired Redbox. When looking at 2022, there was only a small trickle of big budget wide release hits that broke the year-long theatrical drought, films like Top Gun Maverick, Black Adam and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But the frequency of the releases was sporadic and very slow. We were still seeing extended weeks with no major releases.

正如我稍後將討論的那樣，戲劇片名的回歸正在穩步進行中。然而，這次回歸比我們收購 Redbox 時的預期晚了幾個月。放眼 2022 年，只有一小部分大預算上映的熱門影片打破了長達一年的影院荒，比如《壯志凌雲》、《黑亞當》和《黑豹：永遠的瓦坎達》。但是發布的頻率是零星的，而且非常緩慢。我們仍然看到沒有主要版本的延長周。

To give you some context, that's only 3 major event films from August through February. And as you all know, the kiosk depend equally on the frequency of major releases as they do on the volume of those releases. The frequency of major releases is finally here. After waiting for years, big movies are back in the theaters every week, beginning in February of this year with the theatrical release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. We expect at least one new major wide release every weekend for the rest of the year.

為您提供一些背景信息，這只是從 8 月到 2 月的 3 部重大事件電影。眾所周知，信息亭同樣取決於主要版本的發布頻率和這些版本的數量。主要版本的頻率終於來了。在等待多年之後，大片每週都會重返影院，從今年 2 月開始在影院上映的《蟻人與黃蜂女：量子狂熱》。我們預計在今年餘下的時間裡，每個週末至少會有一個新的主要廣泛發布。

It's like the floodgates have opened and the studios are rushing to release as many films as possible on available weekends. In fact, the 2023 theatrical slate is one of the most impressive in terms of content and volume in years. Some of the highest-grossing film franchises of all times are slated to release their latest installments this year, including films like Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, Fast X, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. And there are many, many others.

這就像閘門已經打開，製片廠急於在可用的周末發行盡可能多的電影。事實上，2023 年上映的影片在內容和數量方面是多年來最令人印象深刻的影片之一。一些有史以來票房最高的電影特許經營權將在今年發行最新一期，包括奪寶奇兵和命運轉盤、Fast X、變形金剛：野獸崛起和碟中諜：航位推算等電影。還有很多很多其他的。

We already see the positive impact on rentals as these films move from theaters to kiosks and TVOD. The average weekly rentals at the kiosks in March are nearly twice those in the month of February. Rentals per kiosk per day, our version of same-store sales, also jumped in March and are now over 40% of 2019's level, and we expect that to continue to grow. In line with our expectations, we expect to see the early impact of the theatrical rebound beginning Q2 as those films arrive in the home video window following a 4- to 6-week theatrical run.

隨著這些電影從影院轉移到電影亭和 TVOD，我們已經看到了對租金的積極影響。三月份售貨亭的平均每週租金幾乎是二月份的兩倍。每個售貨亭每天的租金，我們的同店銷售額版本，也在 3 月份躍升，目前已超過 2019 年水平的 40%，我們預計這一數字將繼續增長。與我們的預期一致，隨著這些電影在 4 到 6 週的院線放映後進入家庭視頻窗口，我們預計會看到從第二季度開始的院線反彈的早期影響。

And for those doubting the pent-up demand for audiences to watch these films in the theater, all you have to do is look at the theatrical performance of recent releases like Creed III, Scream VI and John Wick Chapter 4. All of these films set franchise record-breaking opening weekends. Creed III had the biggest opening weekend of any sports film in history. Even when looking at the Super Bowl ads this year with 11 film trailers shown, nearly double the amount during last year's Super Bowl. You could see the evidence that the theatrical business is back.

對於那些懷疑觀眾在影院觀看這些電影的被壓抑需求的人，你所要做的就是看看最近上映的電影的戲劇表演，如 Creed III、Scream VI 和 John Wick Chapter 4。所有這些電影都設定了特許經營破紀錄的開放週末。 Creed III 擁有歷史上所有體育電影中最大的開幕週末。即使在今年的超級碗廣告中展示了 11 部電影預告片，也幾乎是去年超級碗期間的兩倍。你可以看到戲劇業務回歸的證據。

As studios spent millions on P&A, marketing these sales, we stand to benefit from consumer awareness as the films leave the theatrical window and enter the home video window. By the way, it's important to highlight the value of the home video window. We are down in player in that window, which includes rentals and sales of physical DVDs and digital TVOD. An industry study recently showed that Studios generated about $7 billion a year from the home video window. Even during the pandemic, studios generated $5 billion a year, underscoring the window's resiliency.

由於製片廠在 P&A 上花費了數百萬美元來營銷這些銷售，隨著電影離開影院窗口並進入家庭視頻窗口，我們將從消費者意識中受益。順便說一句，突出家庭視頻窗口的價值很重要。我們在那個窗口中播放器，其中包括實體 DVD 和數字 TVOD 的出租和銷售。最近的一項行業研究表明，工作室每年從家庭視頻窗口中獲得約 70 億美元的收入。即使在大流行期間，電影公司每年也能產生 50 億美元的收入，這凸顯了窗口的彈性。

As we all know, studios are obligated to maximize the value of their films for stakeholders, including talent and producers, and can no longer justify skipping such a valuable window. As they realize this, we stand to benefit because we are an important participant in that window, both in physical DVDs and TVOD. And as a reminder, we operate one of the largest TVOD platforms in the industry.

眾所周知，製片廠有義務為利益相關者（包括人才和製片人）最大化其電影的價值，並且不能再以跳過如此寶貴的窗口為由。當他們意識到這一點時，我們將從中受益，因為我們是該窗口的重要參與者，無論是實體 DVD 還是 TVOD。提醒一下，我們運營著業內最大的 TVOD 平台之一。

The second pillar of growth for the year comes from our premier ad sales platform, through which we are cementing our leading position in the broader advertising ecosystem. You might have seen a press release yesterday from the IAB announcing this year's lineup at the NewFronts, and it would have included a name you might not have heard before, Crackle Connex. I'm happy to announce that we just launched Crackle Connex, a unique and fully scaled in-house media company that represents not only our own ad inventory but also that of third-party clients, what we used to call Ad Rep partners.

今年的第二個增長支柱來自我們一流的廣告銷售平台，我們通過該平台鞏固了我們在更廣泛的廣告生態系統中的領先地位。您可能在昨天看到了 IAB 發布的新聞稿，其中宣布了今年 NewFronts 的陣容，其中包括一個您以前可能沒有聽說過的名字，Crackle Connex。我很高興地宣布，我們剛剛推出了 Crackle Connex，這是一家獨特且規模全面的內部媒體公司，不僅代表我們自己的廣告庫存，還代表第三方客戶的廣告庫存，我們過去稱之為廣告代表合作夥伴。

Led by our Chief Revenue Officer, Philippe Guelton, and President of Ad Sales, Darren Olive, Crackle Connex will connect brands with consumers. We also announced today a significant milestone as we accelerate our growth across the advertising ecosystem. Crackle Connex now represents 20 Ad Rep partners. And by the way, that's up from 2 last year. Together, they reached 80 million monthly active viewers, 60 million of which come from our Owned & Operated platforms, which is up from $40 million, and 20 million come from our Ad Rep partners.

在我們的首席營收官 Philippe Guelton 和廣告銷售總裁 Darren Olive 的帶領下，Crackle Connex 將品牌與消費者聯繫起來。我們今天還宣布了一個重要的里程碑，因為我們正在加速整個廣告生態系統的發展。 Crackle Connex 現在代表 20 個 Ad Rep 合作夥伴。順便說一句，這比去年的 2 個有所增加。他們共同達到了 8000 萬每月活躍觀眾，其中 6000 萬來自我們擁有和運營的平台，這比 4000 萬美元有所增加，2000 萬來自我們的廣告代表合作夥伴。

We're excited to capitalize on the growth we've seen over the year, representing our AVOD partners in the ad ecosystem. We look forward to sharing more on Crackle Connex in the coming weeks, leading to our presentation at NewFronts in May.

我們很高興能夠利用我們在過去一年中看到的增長，代表我們在廣告生態系統中的 AVOD 合作夥伴。我們期待在接下來的幾週內分享更多關於 Crackle Connex 的信息，並在 5 月份的 NewFronts 上發表演講。

During the quarter, we saw strong growth across our Owned & Operated AVOD platforms. In December, we saw our Redbox AVOD usage hit an all-time high, driven by the highly curated content slate, including The Expendables film series, which accounted for the best title performance on Redbox ever. Holiday content was also a huge hit, with our Screen Media owned film, Elliot the Littlest Reindeer, it's one of my favorites, maintaining its position as a top performing title on Redbox AVOD and Crackle AVOD.

在本季度，我們看到了我們自有和運營的 AVOD 平台的強勁增長。 12 月，我們看到我們的 Redbox AVOD 使用率創下歷史新高，這得益於精心策劃的內容板塊，包括《敢死隊》系列電影，該系列電影在 Redbox 上的表現是有史以來最好的。假日內容也大受歡迎，我們的 Screen Media 擁有的電影 Elliot the Littlest Reindeer 是我的最愛之一，它在 Redbox AVOD 和 Crackle AVOD 上保持著最佳表現的地位。

Crackle MAU growth was driven by our ongoing strategy of meeting consumers where they are across connected TVs, and Crackle and Redbox branded remotes. Finally, the Chicken Soup for the Soul AVOD continues to be our fastest-growing AVOD, with growth reflecting the launch of FAST channels and New Apps, which I'm pleased to announce just launched on Roku. Overall, direct CPMs were up modestly year-over-year and fill rates remain in the 80% to 90% range.

Crackle MAU 的增長是由我們通過聯網電視、Crackle 和 Redbox 品牌遙控器滿足消費者的持續戰略推動的。最後，心靈雞湯 AVOD 仍然是我們增長最快的 AVOD，增長反映了 FAST 頻道和新應用的推出，我很高興地宣布它們剛剛在 Roku 上推出。總體而言，直接每千次展示費用同比略有上升，填充率保持在 80% 至 90% 的範圍內。

December was about 29% over the prior December, consistent with the results we saw in Q3. We remain comfortable with the broader advertising environment, which continues to benefit from the shift of ad dollars from linear and broadcast to connected TV. And as more viewers and brands converge on AVOD, we are well positioned to continue capturing that growth this year.

12 月比上年 12 月增長約 29%，與我們在第三季度看到的結果一致。我們仍然對更廣泛的廣告環境感到滿意，該環境繼續受益於廣告收入從線性和廣播向聯網電視的轉移。隨著越來越多的觀眾和品牌聚集在 AVOD 上，我們有能力在今年繼續實現這一增長。

Our FAST networks continue to perform very well, including our Owned & Operated channels, which are syndicated to third parties like Roku and Samsung. We recently expanded our offering of third-party content by partnering with industry-leading media outlets, including QVC and Allen Media, Weather Channel, bringing a local now, bringing our total number of FAST channels to over 160, makes us one of the largest -- having one of the largest numbers of FAST channels on any service.

我們的 FAST 網絡繼續表現良好，包括我們的自有和運營渠道，這些渠道與 Roku 和三星等第三方聯合。我們最近通過與 QVC 和 Allen Media、Weather Channel 等行業領先的媒體機構合作，擴展了我們提供的第三方內容，帶來了本地化，使我們的 FAST 頻道總數超過 160 個，使我們成為最大的頻道之一-- 在所有服務中擁有數量最多的 FAST 頻道之一。

Our TVOD business is already benefiting from the return of theatrical titles. In fact, this past Tuesday was our biggest day in TVOD ever, driven by the release of Avatar: The Way of Water. TVOD orders in the fourth quarter were up 6% year-over-year and up 13% sequentially from the third quarter. We continue to refine our strategy on our TVOD offering as we do with our kiosks to merchandise previous titles in a franchise around the release of the latest installments. We did this when we merchandised the kiosk and TVOD with Knives Out, around Netflix's release of Glass Onion. We also did it with Scream, and it's a meaningful way to capture audience demand around new releases.

我們的 TVOD 業務已經從影院影片的回歸中受益。事實上，在《阿凡達：水之道》的發布推動下，上週二是我們 TVOD 有史以來最重要的一天。第四季度 TVOD 訂單同比增長 6%，環比增長 13%。我們繼續完善我們的 TVOD 產品戰略，就像我們在售貨亭上所做的那樣，在最新一期的發行前後銷售特許經營權中的以前的標題。當我們在 Netflix 發布 Glass Onion 時通過 Knives Out 銷售售貨亭和 TVOD 時，我們就這樣做了。我們還用 Scream 做到了這一點，這是一種有意義的方式來捕捉觀眾對新版本的需求。

In fact, just recently, John Wick Chapters 1 and 3 were our top 2 catalog titles in kiosks over the past 2 weeks coinciding with the theatrical release of John Wick Chapter 4.

事實上，就在最近，約翰威克第 1 章和第 3 章是過去 2 週我們在售貨亭中排名前 2 位的目錄標題，恰逢約翰威克第 4 章的戲劇發行。

Turning finally to the third pillar. We have adapted our approach to taking -- we have adapted our approach to take into account the challenging macro financial environment we're living in, with rising rates, inflation, bank problems, among other challenges. We've attacked these issues head on. First, by achieving the synergies we identified when we entered the Redbox transaction. But we did not stop there. We continued by looking at all the commitments Redbox made to make sure that they were things we thought made sense for the business. If we found they weren't, we changed them.

最後轉向第三個支柱。我們已經調整了採取的方法——我們已經調整了我們的方法來考慮我們所處的具有挑戰性的宏觀金融環境，包括利率上升、通貨膨脹、銀行問題以及其他挑戰。我們已經直面這些問題。首先，通過實現我們在進入 Redbox 交易時確定的協同效應。但我們並沒有就此止步。我們繼續查看 Redbox 做出的所有承諾，以確保它們是我們認為對業務有意義的事情。如果我們發現它們不是，我們就會改變它們。

In addition, we made further cost cuts than we initially anticipated and deferred further expenses such as executive bonuses to tie them more closely to our expectations for free cash flow. And we recently licensed content that we weren't fully utilizing to the tune of $8 million. We have begun the integration of our Ad Rep business, O&O networks and SaaS platforms to generate contribution margin that we use to invest in the growth of our Owned & Operated networks. This should allow us to continue to grow that integrated business with less capital needs.

此外，我們比最初預期進一步削減了成本，並推遲了高管獎金等進一步支出，以使其更符合我們對自由現金流的預期。我們最近獲得了 800 萬美元的許可，但我們並未充分利用這些內容。我們已經開始整合我們的廣告代表業務、O&O 網絡和 SaaS 平台，以產生我們用來投資於我們自有和運營網絡增長的邊際收益。這將使我們能夠以更少的資本需求繼續發展綜合業務。

And finally, yesterday, we did a small public offering to begin the process of strengthening our balance sheet. We raised $10.8 million from investors, including our parent company, and worked out an arrangement with our parent company to reduce future cash payments starting January 1 relating to the management of license agreements through a stock purchase commitment. In addition, we're looking at certain assets that are not strategic to our go-forward strategy, which we intend to sell. We believe that this will help us reduce debt more quickly than anticipated. And of course, we plan to finalize our working capital loan with our accounts receivable in the near future.

最後，昨天，我們進行了一次小型公開募股，開始加強我們的資產負債表。我們從包括我們母公司在內的投資者那裡籌集了 1080 萬美元，並與我們的母公司達成了一項安排，從 1 月 1 日開始，通過股票購買承諾減少與許可協議管理相關的未來現金支付。此外，我們正在尋找對我們打算出售的前瞻性戰略不具有戰略意義的某些資產。我們相信這將幫助我們比預期更快地減少債務。當然，我們計劃在不久的將來用我們的應收賬款完成我們的營運資金貸款。

In closing, if 2022 is a year of transformation, 2023 has the potential to be a year of execution and growth. The rebound in theatrical releases is already driving rentals higher. The integration of our ad-supported businesses is already well underway. Our TVOD business is continuing to grow. Our short-term actions are focused on addressing the macro environment we're all living in, but our long-term mission remains to build the leading premium entertainment company for value-conscious consumers.

最後，如果 2022 年是轉型的一年，那麼 2023 年就有可能成為執行和增長的一年。影院上映的反彈已經推高了租金。我們的廣告支持業務的整合已經在進行中。我們的 TVOD 業務正在持續增長。我們的短期行動側重於解決我們所處的宏觀環境，但我們的長期使命仍然是為註重價值的消費者打造領先的優質娛樂公司。

With that, I'll turn it over to Jason.

有了這個，我會把它交給傑森。

Thank you, Bill, and good morning, everybody. We ended the year on a strong note with fourth quarter revenue of $113.6 million, up 216% year-over-year and adjusted EBITDA of $14.7 million, up 59% year-over-year. Sequentially, revenue was up 57% from the third quarter. The strong performance in the quarter reflects the continued strength of our multi-platform strategy, including library monetization and digital performance across both our Owned & Operated platforms as well as our Ad Representation business.

謝謝你，比爾，大家早上好。我們以強勁的勢頭結束了這一年，第四季度收入為 1.136 億美元，同比增長 216%，調整後的 EBITDA 為 1,470 萬美元，同比增長 59%。環比第三季度收入增長了 57%。本季度的強勁表現反映了我們多平台戰略的持續優勢，包括我們自有和運營平台以及廣告代理業務的圖書館貨幣化和數字性能。

The performance in the fourth quarter was driven by the strength in distribution and licensing on Screen Media, reflecting the demand for our premium content library, which more than offset the impact of a limited number of theatrical releases at the kiosks and on TVOD. As Bill discussed earlier, the frequency of those releases was sporadic and inconsistent, unlike what we are expecting for the remainder of 2023.

第四季度的業績是由 Screen Media 的發行和許可實力推動的，反映了對我們優質內容庫的需求，這大大抵消了在自助服務亭和 TVOD 上發布的數量有限的影院的影響。正如 Bill 之前討論的那樣，這些發布的頻率是零星且不一致的，這與我們對 2023 年剩餘時間的預期不同。

Despite the limited number of title releases in the fourth quarter, TVOD revenues were up year-over-year, driven by an increase in orders reflecting the strength of Top Gun Maverick, which was a top order new release title from October through December, demonstrating an impressive consistency unusual for a title prior to its release on the SVOD window. The other driver titles on TVOD were Black Adam and Black Panther. As the theatrical slate rebounds in 2023, we expect to see continued growth in both TVOD revenues and orders.

儘管第四季度發布的遊戲數量有限，但 TVOD 收入同比增長，這是由於訂單增加反映了 Top Gun Maverick 的實力，這是 10 月至 12 月新發布遊戲的最高訂單，表明對於在 SVOD 窗口發布之前的標題來說，令人印象深刻的一致性是不尋常的。 TVOD 上的其他車手頭銜是 Black Adam 和 Black Panther。隨著 2023 年院線數量的反彈，我們預計 TVOD 收入和訂單都將持續增長。

As Bill mentioned, we're already seeing the positive impact of the return on big theatrical titles to our kiosks in March. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever drove week-over-week rentals up 30% and on transacting customers up 23%, followed by Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a week later that drove rentals up 12% and new transacting customers up 19%. We ended the quarter with about 32,000 kiosks nationwide. As previously mentioned, we are constantly optimizing our kiosks footprint, which includes expanding relationships with our most profitable retail partners.

正如 Bill 所提到的，我們已經在 3 月份看到了我們的售貨亭回歸大型戲劇作品的積極影響。 Black Panther：Wakanda Forever 推動週租金上漲 30%，交易客戶增長 23%，其次是 Puss in Boots：The Last Wish，一周後推動租金上漲 12%，新交易客戶上漲 19%。本季度末，我們在全國擁有約 32,000 個售貨亭。如前所述，我們不斷優化我們的售貨亭足跡，其中包括擴大與我們最賺錢的零售合作夥伴的關係。

We recently announced an expanded partnership with a leading national value-conscious retailer, who will be adding 1,000 new kiosks to their stores this year and an additional 500 next year, bringing their total kiosks count to over 5,000. As always, we will continue to identify ways to drive greater profitability and customer reach. As an example, in Q1 of 2023, we began rolling out the ability for Redbox kiosk customers to utilize their loyalty rewards on our TVOD platform driving further digital engagement with the Redbox customer base.

我們最近宣布擴大與一家注重價值的全國領先零售商的合作夥伴關係，該零售商今年將在其商店中增加 1,000 個新售貨亭，明年再增加 500 個，從而使他們的售貨亭總數超過 5,000 個。一如既往，我們將繼續尋找提高盈利能力和擴大客戶範圍的方法。例如，在 2023 年第一季度，我們開始讓 Redbox 自助服務終端客戶能夠在我們的 TVOD 平台上使用他們的忠誠度獎勵，從而推動與 Redbox 客戶群的進一步數字互動。

I'd like to take a moment to provide some context around kiosk rentals and the assumptions that underpin our expectations for the remainder of 2023. Based on the early rebound in rentals we're seeing in March, along with the size and scale of the theatrical slate from now through the end of the year, our expectations of rentals return to approximately 30% of 2019 levels pre-pandemic.

我想花點時間提供一些有關自助服務亭租金的背景信息，以及支持我們對 2023 年剩餘時間的預期的假設。基於我們在 3 月份看到的早期租金反彈，以及從現在到年底，我們對影院租金的預期將恢復到 2019 年大流行前水平的 30% 左右。

Along with this, we're seeing the conversion rates at our kiosk beginning to rise towards the 45% level that they were in 2019. As the steady flow of films returns to kiosks, we expect conversion rates to rebound. In fact, over the past 2 weeks, we've seen conversion rates jump to the highest level since we acquired Redbox.

與此同時，我們看到我們的電影亭的轉換率開始上升到 2019 年的 45% 水平。隨著電影穩定地返回電影亭，我們預計轉換率會反彈。事實上，在過去 2 週內，我們看到轉化率躍升至收購 Redbox 以來的最高水平。

Now let me turn to the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, gross profit before film library amortization expense-related costs and after Redbox product cost, was $76.6 million or 68% of net revenue as compared to $23.1 million in the prior year quarter or 64% of net revenue. On a comparable basis, CSSE's stand-alone gross profit was 30% of net revenue in the quarter, up from 22% in the third quarter of '22 and 32% in the prior year quarter. When combined with Redbox's stand-alone gross profit margin after product cost of approximately 58%, the combined business had a blended gross profit margin of 43%.

現在讓我轉到第四季度。第四季度，扣除電影庫攤銷費用相關成本和扣除 Redbox 產品成本後的毛利潤為 7660 萬美元，占淨收入的 68%，而去年同期為 2310 萬美元，占淨收入的 64%。在可比基礎上，CSSE 本季度的獨立毛利潤占淨收入的 30%，高於 2022 年第三季度的 22% 和去年同期的 32%。加上 Redbox 扣除產品成本後的獨立毛利率約為 58%，合併後的業務的綜合毛利率為 43%。

Our reported operating margin in the fourth quarter on a comparable basis to Q3, adjusted for a nonrecurring impairment charge, was 200 basis points higher or 19%. Our operating loss for the fourth quarter was $47.1 million compared to an operating loss of $19.1 million in the prior year. This variance is driven by increased compensation expense related to over the 1,000 additional heads, and other nonrecurring charges, as well as higher amortization expense and management fees, all driven by the acquisitions of Redbox and 1091.

我們報告的第四季度營業利潤率與第三季度相比，經非經常性減值費用調整後，高出 200 個基點或 19%。我們第四季度的運營虧損為 4710 萬美元，而去年同期為 1910 萬美元。這種差異是由於與 1,000 多個額外人員相關的補償費用增加、其他非經常性費用以及更高的攤銷費用和管理費用，所有這些都是由收購 Redbox 和 1091 引起的。

Our adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $14.7 million compared to $9.3 million in the same quarter in 2021, representing an increase of $5.4 million or 59%. Sequentially from the third quarter, adjusted EBITDA was up 53%. In the quarter, we continued to realize synergies related to Screen Media's original content at the Redbox kiosks and the Redbox TVOD platform. As well as savings related to leveraging Crackle's ad sales force from -- on Redbox's AVOD platform and distribution, I should say, Screen Media's distribution of Redbox's content, just to name a few.

我們調整後的第四季度 EBITDA 為 1470 萬美元，而 2021 年同期為 930 萬美元，增加了 540 萬美元或 59%。從第三季度開始，調整後的 EBITDA 增長了 53%。本季度，我們繼續在 Redbox 信息亭和 Redbox TVOD 平台上實現與 Screen Media 原創內容相關的協同效應。除了利用 Crackle 的廣告銷售人員在 Redbox 的 AVOD 平台和分發上節省費用外，我應該說，Screen Media 對 Redbox 內容的分發，僅舉幾例。

Turning to our balance sheet. As of December 31, '22, the company had $18.7 million of cash on hand. And as Bill previously discussed in his remarks, we're focused on increasing recurring free cash flow through enhancing working capital by reducing content spend, realization of synergies, and are expecting an amplified working capital improvement as the kiosk rentals rebound in 2023.

轉向我們的資產負債表。截至 22 年 12 月 31 日，公司手頭現金為 1870 萬美元。正如比爾之前在他的評論中所討論的那樣，我們專注於通過減少內容支出、實現協同效應來增加營運資金來增加經常性自由現金流，並預計隨著 2023 年自助服務亭租金的反彈，營運資金將得到進一步改善。

And with that, I'll turn it over to the operator.

有了這個，我會把它交給接線員。

Thanks. Kevin, can we open the line for questions, please?

謝謝。凱文，我們可以打開問題熱線嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Thomas Forte with D.A. Davidson.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Thomas Forte 和 D.A.戴維森。

I think I'll ask one question and get back into the queue. So Bill, basically, your results were pretty much as expected. Your outlook for the year was good, as expected, including for the first quarter. But you talked about the capital raise and you talked about that you may talk more about capital raises in general. So can you talk about, I guess, your current capital structure and how investors should think about your capital needs over the next 12 months, especially given the favorable performance both in the fourth quarter, the expectation for the first quarter and full year?

我想我會問一個問題，然後回到隊列中。所以比爾，基本上，你的結果和預期的差不多。正如預期的那樣，你們今年的前景很好，包括第一季度。但是你談到了融資，你談到了你可能會更多地談論一般的融資。那麼，我想你能談談你目前的資本結構，以及投資者應該如何看待你未來 12 個月的資本需求，特別是考慮到第四季度的良好表現，對第一季度和全年的預期？

So yes, it was -- I wanted to give you the context of the entire approach we're taking to addressing capital, working capital, those kinds of things. I mean it's a moment in time for everybody in our industry where people are attacking the questions of costs and the questions of content spend and questions of working capital and questions of capital on the balance sheet as a combined effort. And I think that's the way we need to look at what we're doing. We're not just doing one thing. We're doing many things, all of which are designed to drive cash flow faster and to improve the overall capital of the business.

所以是的，它是 - 我想向您介紹我們為解決資本、營運資本等問題而採取的整個方法的背景。我的意思是，對於我們行業中的每個人來說，這是一個及時的時刻，人們正在共同努力解決成本問題、內容支出問題、營運資金問題和資產負債表上的資本問題。我認為這就是我們需要看待我們正在做的事情的方式。我們不只是做一件事。我們正在做很多事情，所有這些都是為了更快地推動現金流和提高企業的整體資本。

We -- I'll repeat some of the things I said earlier because they're important, we took a look at commitments that have been made. That were made by Redbox, made sure they made sense. We combined tech commitments where we could in order to reduce costs. If we found something we didn't like, we changed it. We deferred bonuses, the way I said earlier. We've also tied them more closely to what will be growing cash flow in the second, third and fourth quarters. We've been licensing content in order to make sure that we tap what I used to call our savings account, and it still is, that very large library we have is a generator of cash for us, in the last few weeks alone $8 million.

我們——我會重複我之前說過的一些事情，因為它們很重要，我們審視了已經做出的承諾。那是由 Redbox 製作的，確保它們有意義。我們盡可能結合技術承諾以降低成本。如果我們發現我們不喜歡的東西，我們會改變它。我們推遲了獎金，就像我之前說的那樣。我們還將它們更緊密地與第二、第三和第四季度的現金流增長聯繫起來。我們一直在授權內容，以確保我們利用我過去稱之為儲蓄賬戶的東西，現在仍然是，我們擁有的非常大的圖書館為我們創造了現金，僅在過去幾週就達到了 800 萬美元.

We've looked at our Ad Rep business and put it -- put our Ad Rep business and our FAST platform and on our O&O networks together and are running them with the contribution margin that's coming from the Ad Rep business and the contribution margin that's coming from the FAST platform to fund the O&O networks, that means less capital is needed for the AVOD business, all right? We didn't mention that for the 2023 year, we're anticipating only about $19 million of net content costs. So if you looked at the $100 million of EBITDA on the low end of the range that we have for the year and subtracted $15 million of interest we have to pay on our notes and our preferreds and $19 million of cash content, and throw $15 million in there for working capital ups and downs, you'd have $50 million of free cash flow this year on the low end of our range.

我們研究了我們的廣告代表業務並將其放在一起——將我們的廣告代表業務和我們的 FAST 平台以及我們的 O&O 網絡放在一起，並以來自廣告代表業務的邊際收益和即將到來的邊際收益來運行它們從 FAST 平台為 O&O 網絡提供資金，這意味著 AVOD 業務需要的資金更少，對嗎？我們沒有提到 2023 年，我們預計淨內容成本僅為 1900 萬美元左右。因此，如果您查看我們今年範圍低端的 1 億美元 EBITDA，並減去我們必須為我們的票據和優先股支付的 1500 萬美元利息以及 1900 萬美元的現金內容，並投入 1500 萬美元對於營運資金的起伏，今年您將有 5000 萬美元的自由現金流，處於我們範圍的低端。

So it's a combined effort of things. The public offering we did yesterday is the beginning of just beefing up the balance sheet. As you know, we've been working for a while and getting our working capital loan against our $110 million of accounts receivable, and that's going okay. So it's all of these things together, plus the deferral of the management fees, so that there's more cash flow for the company, that are the right way to be thinking about the business.

所以這是綜合的努力。我們昨天進行的公開募股只是加強資產負債表的開始。如您所知，我們已經工作了一段時間，並從我們的 1.1 億美元應收賬款中獲得營運資金貸款，一切進展順利。因此，所有這些因素加在一起，加上管理費的遞延，這樣公司就有更多的現金流，這是考慮業務的正確方式。

In these times, things are different. We understand that rates have risen, and we need to compensate for that. We understand that the macro environment is different than it was. But we're not alone in that. Every one of our competitors and every -- and even the big media companies are going through the exact same things as we all kind of rightsize our businesses, our capital structure. So it's not just capital structure, it's also the way we run the business. Those 2 things together are the important thing to bear in mind.

在這些時候，情況有所不同。我們知道利率已經上升，我們需要對此進行補償。我們了解到宏觀環境與以往不同。但我們並不孤單。我們的每一個競爭對手和每一個 - 甚至是大型媒體公司都在經歷完全相同的事情，因為我們都在調整我們的業務規模，我們的資本結構。因此，這不僅僅是資本結構，也是我們經營業務的方式。這兩件事放在一起是要牢記的重要事項。

And just one more thought, and I know it's a long answer, but it's a very important question, Tom. The business itself, separate from this working capital and capital structure, is really doing well. The AVOD business, that in combination of ad sales, FAST and the O&O businesses, that business is doing incredibly well. There was no slowdown in CPMs and there was no slowdown in fill rates. And that business is continuing to grow dramatically, and we're in a very good spot there. And the kiosks have turned. March was a much better month than February. We're trying to -- I think what we'll try to do is introduce this metric of rentals per day per kiosk so that everyone can do a comparative back to 2019.

還有一個想法，我知道這是一個很長的答案，但這是一個非常重要的問題，湯姆。撇開這種營運資金和資本結構，業務本身確實做得很好。 AVOD 業務結合了廣告銷售、FAST 和 O&O 業務，該業務做得非常好。每千次展示費用沒有放緩，填充率也沒有放緩。而且該業務正在繼續急劇增長，我們在那里處於非常有利的位置。售貨亭已經轉向。三月比二月好得多。我們正在努力——我想我們會嘗試做的是引入這個每個售貨亭每天租金的指標，這樣每個人都可以對 2019 年進行比較。

And if you look at our plan for the year, that $500 million of revenue comes from us achieving 30% of what Redbox did in 2019. With 55 major event movies coming, one every weekend, we're saying all we're going to do is get back to 30% in 2019. If we do that, we get $500 million of revenue and $100 million of adjusted EBITDA. So I think it's the overall plan, Tom, that people need to understand, not just one piece of it.

如果你看一下我們今年的計劃，那 5 億美元的收入來自於我們實現了 Redbox 在 2019 年所做的 30%。有 55 部重大事件電影即將上映，每個週末一部，我們正在說我們將要做的一切要做的是在 2019 年回到 30%。如果我們這樣做，我們將獲得 5 億美元的收入和 1 億美元的調整後 EBITDA。所以我認為人們需要理解的是整體計劃，而不是其中的一部分。

Our next question comes from Eric Wold with B. Riley.

我們的下一個問題來自 Eric Wold 和 B. Riley。

So Bill, I just want to hit on that last comment you made, kind of follow-up, a couple of questions around the rental trends on Redbox. So the getting back to 30% of '19 levels kind of on a full year basis this year, I guess -- one, I guess, what would you expect kind of exit the year on? Kind of what -- can you kind of gave us the run rate for business kind of exiting last year? Kind of what would you expect that run rate to be kind of exiting next year so you can get a sense of the -- or exiting this year to get a sense of trajectory heading into next year?

所以比爾，我只想談談你最後發表的評論，有點跟進，關於 Redbox 租賃趨勢的幾個問題。因此，今年全年回到 19 年水平的 30％，我猜 - 我猜，你期望今年退出什麼？什麼樣的 - 你能給我們提供去年退出業務的運行率嗎？您希望明年的運行率是什麼樣的，這樣您就可以了解 - 或者今年退出以了解進入明年的軌跡？

And then two, on apples-to-apples basis, what is kind of the pricing and the average transaction value you're seeing now versus '19? I know you see the price increase late last year when Top Gun Maverick came out, so what do you think about that? And kind of how sensitive are consumers right now to price increases since that, how much could you take it further if you needed to?

然後兩個，在蘋果對蘋果的基礎上，你現在看到的定價和平均交易價值與 19 年相比是多少？我知道你看到去年年底 Top Gun Maverick 出現時價格上漲，你怎麼看？從那時起，消費者現在對價格上漲有多敏感，如果需要，你可以進一步提高多少？

I didn't hear the last thing that you said, Eric, could you just repeat that?

我沒聽到你說的最後一句話，埃里克，你能再重複一遍嗎？

How sensitive are customers right now, do you think? So if you needed to take price or want to take price further, what is your ability to do so?

您認為現在的客戶有多敏感？所以，如果你需要採取價格或想進一步採取價格，你有什麼能力這樣做？

Yes. I think it's hard to tell. We didn't see any noticeable change from the price rise that we did. But it was really -- it was $0.25. So even though it was 11%, it didn't seem to have much of an impact. I think we'll have a way better sense of that as we go into this next few weeks and months, and we have this really steady flow of great stuff. If somehow it doesn't materialize. I have to say, I think it's going to be above what we have planned. But if it doesn't, then maybe one of the factors could have been the price rise for all I know.

是的。我覺得很難說。我們沒有看到我們所做的價格上漲有任何明顯變化。但它真的——是 0.25 美元。所以雖然是11%，但似乎並沒有太大的影響。我認為在接下來的幾周和幾個月裡，我們會對這一點有更好的認識，而且我們擁有真正源源不斷的好東西。如果不知何故它沒有實現。我不得不說，我認為它會超出我們的計劃。但如果沒有，那麼就我所知，價格上漲可能是其中一個因素。

I don't think we'll do another price increase for a bit, maybe next year sometime. But it depends -- I think it depends overall, Eric, on inflation in general. If inflation drops and sort of calms down, as I know all of us are hoping for on a macro level, then it's less likely. But if it continues at a fast pace, then we should keep up. We really should keep our share where it is.

我認為我們暫時不會再漲價，也許明年某個時候。但這取決於——埃里克，我認為這總體上取決於通貨膨脹。如果通貨膨脹率下降並在某種程度上平靜下來，正如我知道我們所有人都希望在宏觀層面上所希望的那樣，那麼這種可能性就會降低。但如果它繼續快速發展，那麼我們應該跟上。我們真的應該保持我們的份額。

The question you asked about leaving the year, so we've modeled, as I said, the business, so that it will achieve 30% of 2019 by the end of the year. What we would think would happen in 2024 would be we'd rise to 50%. And so -- and that's where we think the business will end up being, around 50% of that level. At the 50% level, the EBITDA from the kiosks alone will approach $150 million a year, plus the EBITDA that we're generating across the rest of the company, which, as you know, has been considerable.

你問的關於離開今年的問題，所以我們已經對業務進行了建模，就像我說的那樣，到年底它會達到 2019 年的 30%。我們認為 2024 年會發生的情況是我們會上升到 50%。所以——這就是我們認為業務最終將達到的水平，大約是該水平的 50%。在 50% 的水平上，僅售貨亭的 EBITDA 每年將接近 1.5 億美元，加上我們在公司其他部門產生的 EBITDA，正如你所知，這是相當可觀的。

So we never think -- we've never thought the business would go all the way back to where it was in 2019. But what's interesting to me is when I look at the same-store sales numbers, as I said in my part of the talk, there -- these same-store sales numbers are already starting to approach 40% of -- and more of 2019. And so maybe we didn't -- maybe we understated it a bit. It's hard to tell. When you -- If you went into a Redbox kiosk over the last 6 months, you would have seen a few movies you recognized, Top Gun, Black Panther, Black Adam, 1 or 2 others, but you would have seen 30 other movies on the home page that you never heard of.

所以我們從沒想過——我們從沒想過業務會一路回到 2019 年的水平。但對我來說有趣的是，當我查看同店銷售數字時，正如我在那裡的談話——這些同店銷售數字已經開始接近 2019 年的 40%，甚至更多。所以也許我們沒有——也許我們低估了一點。很難說。當你——如果你在過去 6 個月內進入 Redbox 售貨亭，你會看到幾部你認識的電影，Top Gun、Black Panther、Black Adam，以及其他 1 或 2 部電影，但你會在 Redbox 上看到其他 30 部電影您從未聽說過的主頁。

And so that's a very different environment for our consumers than when they walk into a Redbox and they see only movies they've heard of. And all these franchise movies that are coming and so many more will all end up on that front page over the next few months. And that should drive, as Jason said in his talk, a rebound in conversion rate from the 20s to the 45% level that it was in the past. And it should drive an increase in the basket plans. We've seen a couple of upticks in basket size over the last few weeks as particular releases have come out. But it's not yet consistently moving towards this 2.5x. It's somewhere between where it was and the 2.5x that it used to be.

因此，對於我們的消費者來說，這是一個非常不同的環境，而不是當他們走進 Redbox 並且他們只看到他們聽說過的電影時。在接下來的幾個月裡，所有這些即將上映的特許經營電影以及更多的電影都將出現在首頁上。正如傑森在演講中所說，這應該會推動轉化率從 20 多歲反彈到過去的 45% 水平。它應該會推動籃子計劃的增加。隨著特定版本的發布，我們在過去幾週看到了籃子大小的一些上升。但它還沒有一直朝著這個 2.5 倍的方向發展。它介於過去的水平和過去的 2.5 倍之間。

But if you did the math, and you go from 20% conversion rate to 45% conversion rate, and you go from 1.5 this basket to 2.5, what you would realize is the business should more than triple from where it is today, 3.3x is actually the number, without any new customers coming back. Yet we've only modeled it to double from where it is today. So in looking at the 2023 plan, there are a lot of reasons to believe we could even do better than that. I hope that helps, Eric. But I know I threw a lot of things out there, but I think they're all important statistics.

但是如果你算一下，轉化率從 20% 上升到 45%，然後你從這個籃子的 1.5 上升到 2.5，你會意識到業務應該是現在的三倍多，3.3 倍實際上是這個數字，沒有任何新客戶回來。然而，我們只是將其建模為從今天的位置翻了一番。因此，在審視 2023 年計劃時，有很多理由相信我們甚至可以做得更好。我希望這有幫助，埃里克。但我知道我扔掉了很多東西，但我認為它們都是重要的統計數據。

Our next question comes from Dan Kurnos with The Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 The Benchmark Company 的 Dan Kurnos。

Bill, maybe just start on the AVOD bad side. We've heard some commentary around potential greenshoots in Open Web programmatic. I think there's been sort of an uneven recovery. Q1 still is great for [CTV] or OTT in general, but it sounds like things are still getting better, although everybody is kind of holding their breath for the back half of the year.

比爾，也許只是從 AVOD 不好的一面開始。我們聽到了一些關於 Open Web programmatic 中潛在綠芽的評論。我認為複蘇有點不平衡。總的來說，第一季度對於 [CTV] 或 OTT 來說仍然很棒，但聽起來情況仍在好轉，儘管每個人都在為下半年屏住呼吸。

I know you gave some good color around CPMs and fill rates. But just now that you've kind of -- you fixed some of the distribution and app issues, we know what's kind of embedded in the guidance, but just any color you can give just on the marketplace what you're seeing sort of in March and then heading into summer on that front would be a helpful start.

我知道您對每千次展示費用和填充率做了一些很好的說明。但是現在你有點——你解決了一些分發和應用程序問題，我們知道指南中嵌入了什麼，但是你可以在市場上給出你所看到的任何顏色三月然後在這方面進入夏季將是一個有益的開始。

Okay. Yes. So I do know that everybody is worried. But everybody -- about the advertising environment. But I would point out that everybody is worried about the banks, everybody is worried about inflation, everybody seems to be worried about everything right now. I don't see a lot of signs in the ad market of the kind of slowdown in connected television that may be occurring in broadcast and cable. There's been really -- January is a little bit weak, but it's always a little bit weak. It's the worst month of the year generally, February was better. March was better yet, and we're back to exceeding year-over-year numbers.

好的。是的。所以我知道每個人都很擔心。但是每個人 - 關於廣告環境。但我要指出，每個人都在擔心銀行，每個人都在擔心通貨膨脹，每個人現在似乎都在擔心一切。我在廣告市場上沒有看到很多跡象表明聯網電視可能正在廣播和有線電視領域出現放緩。真的 - 一月份有點疲軟，但它總是有點疲軟。一般來說，這是一年中最糟糕的月份，二月份好一些。三月更好，我們又回到了超過去年同期的數字。

But I think from our perspective, Dan, it's a slightly different analysis that I do, which is with the growing footprint that we have, the increase in FAST channels, really great success of the Chicken Soup for the Soul AVOD, which will now be amplified meaningfully by its arrival on Roku finally, the -- that amplification of growth in the O&O networks, in the -- and then going from 2 to 20 ad rep partners, I'm going to have a hard time changing them to third-party clients in my vocabulary, but that's what the guys want me to do. That -- the combination of that growth, the growth of FAST, the growth of third-party clients and the growth of the O&O businesses are really driving our increases more than the share of the marketplace that we're getting.

但我認為從我們的角度來看，Dan，我所做的分析略有不同，隨著我們的足跡不斷擴大，FAST 渠道的增加，心靈雞湯 AVOD 的巨大成功，現在將是最終在 Roku 上的到來有意義地放大了——O&O 網絡增長的放大，在——然後從 2 個到 20 個廣告代表合作夥伴，我將很難把它們變成第三個——派對客戶在我的詞彙中，但那是伙計們要我做的。那——這種增長、FAST 的增長、第三方客戶的增長以及 O&O 業務的增長的結合確實推動了我們的增長，而不是我們獲得的市場份額。

Although I did see a study yesterday that showed we were clearly #5, as we've always thought, in market share, but -- and not too far behind FreeWheel actually, pretty close. So I think we'll keep growing this year just because we keep expanding the footprint, because we have more territory, because we have more assets. So I'm a little less worried about what that means for the year's numbers. If it's a stronger advertising environment, it will probably do better. But I think what we're doing in the overall way we're running the business is the reason we're growing. It's not just the market itself that's growing with us, we're also taking market share and approaching the business differently than others have.

儘管我昨天確實看到了一項研究表明，正如我們一直認為的那樣，我們在市場份額方面顯然排名第五，但是——實際上，與 FreeWheel 相差不遠，非常接近。所以我認為我們今年會繼續增長，因為我們不斷擴大足跡，因為我們有更多的領土，因為我們有更多的資產。所以我不太擔心這對今年的數字意味著什麼。如果是更強的廣告環境，它可能會做得更好。但我認為我們在經營業務的整體方式上所做的是我們成長的原因。與我們一起成長的不僅僅是市場本身，我們還在搶占市場份額並以不同於其他人的方式開展業務。

I have to say the -- this Crackle Connex, which is a name for our third-party client business, is really poised to be a very, very profitable cash-generating business for us. And I think the arrival of Netflix and Disney to the industry has helped us because it's forced some of the smaller AVOD to look for a way to sell their direct ads, and none of the other top 5 companies will sell someone else's ads for them. So this gives us a pretty unique position, and it's why we've gone from 2 to 20 in such a short period of time. And there actually are quite a few more of these companies that are in conversations with us about joining the club, so to speak. So I hope that answers it, Dan, but it's a slightly different perspective than just about the market.

我不得不說——這個 Crackle Connex 是我們第三方客戶業務的名稱，它真的準備成為我們非常非常有利可圖的現金產生業務。而且我認為 Netflix 和迪士尼進入該行業對我們有所幫助，因為它迫使一些較小的 AVOD 尋找一種方式來銷售他們的直接廣告，而其他排名前 5 位的公司都不會為他們銷售別人的廣告。所以這給了我們一個非常獨特的位置，這就是為什麼我們在這麼短的時間內從 2 增加到 20。事實上，還有很多這樣的公司正在與我們就加入俱樂部進行對話，可以這麼說。所以我希望這能回答它，丹，但這是一個與市場略有不同的觀點。

Well, no. I mean I wanted to get into that because the dynamics of the market have obviously changed. It looks like SVOD is obviously kind of peaked and/or slowing. AVOD is still growing. Over the air is growing faster yet than that. But the conversation around FAST and rights management has obviously accelerated as well to the point where FAST rights and especially international, and I saw you guys do something with KC, right? I mean you've kind of built sort of an amalgamation of rights that you have rights that you don't. I don't know where you fit on that.

好吧，不。我的意思是我想參與其中，因為市場動態已經明顯改變。看起來 SVOD 顯然有點達到頂峰和/或放緩。 AVOD 仍在增長。空中傳輸的增長速度比這還快。但是圍繞 FAST 和權利管理的對話顯然也加快了速度，以至於 FAST 權利尤其是國際化，我看到你們用 KC 做了一些事情，對吧？我的意思是你已經建立了某種權利的合併，你擁有你沒有的權利。我不知道你適合哪裡。

But the large companies are now -- from a content perspective, they're scaling back on the number of products, and they're paying more for quality because they all obviously have to rightsize their own balance sheet. They can only release billions of dollars for so long, Bill. So in that regard, I'm curious, you talked about lower content spend, I'd just love to get an update from sort of a rights perspective and incremental distribution opportunity as well as on the content side, it sounds like sort of the base case for libraries, content actually -- content costs are actually coming down on the syndicated or legacy library side. So I'm just kind of curious how that factors into your viewpoint?

但大公司現在 - 從內容的角度來看，他們正在縮減產品數量，並且他們為質量支付更多費用，因為他們顯然都必須調整自己的資產負債表。他們只能釋放數十億美元這麼久，比爾。所以在這方面，我很好奇，你談到了較低的內容支出，我只是想從某種權利的角度和增量分發機會以及內容方面獲得更新，這聽起來像是圖書館的基本情況，實際上是內容——內容成本實際上在聯合或遺留圖書館方面下降。所以我很好奇這會如何影響您的觀點？

Yes. So as you know, we accumulated library in a variety of ways over the last 5 years, building it up to over 21,000 films and TV shows that we have long-term rights or intellectual property ownership of. And I always said to -- I mean, to you and everyone else, I view this as a savings account. Someday, it will -- we may not continue to buy, but we'll actually license and harvest. And what you're starting to see is signs of that in everything we're doing. So the KC Global deal is a great example of it. Thank you for mentioning it.

是的。如您所知，在過去 5 年中，我們以各種方式積累了圖書館，建立了超過 21,000 部我們擁有長期權利或知識產權所有權的電影和電視節目。我總是說——我的意思是，對你和其他人來說，我認為這是一個儲蓄賬戶。總有一天，它會——我們可能不會繼續購買，但我們實際上會許可和收穫。你開始看到的是我們所做的一切的跡象。因此，KC Global 交易就是一個很好的例子。謝謝你提到它。

KC Global is a fantastic company across Asia, and they needed certain rights in order to launch a new channel. They came to us. We were able to enter into an agreement with them. It's probably the first step towards a broader partnership with them. And we're getting revenue we didn't get before. The Keshet deal was an early example of that. By the way, Locomotive, which is a slightly different approach to international, is also generating revenue. And Rana Naidu, which is the show that Locomotive made for Netflix in India, is a big hit, and I expect it's going to be renewed for season 2 shortly.

KC Global 是一家橫跨亞洲的出色公司，他們需要某些權利才能推出新渠道。他們來找我們。我們能夠與他們達成協議。這可能是與他們建立更廣泛夥伴關係的第一步。我們正在獲得以前沒有的收入。 Keshet 交易就是這方面的一個早期例子。順便說一下，與國際略有不同的 Locomotive 也在創造收入。而 Rana Naidu，這是 Locomotive 在印度為 Netflix 製作的節目，大受歡迎，我預計它很快就會續訂第 2 季。

So we're monetizing content in lots of ways, but we've always said that, that was what we wanted to do. Specifically, in the FAST space, this is a really interesting development the way it's evolving. And you are right, the bigger companies are starting to look at their libraries and go, wait a minute, I don't need exclusivity on everything. This is something we've been saying for how many years. We're better off monetizing. We're better off monetizing the content we have in as many ways as possible. And that is what they're starting to do.

所以我們通過很多方式將內容貨幣化，但我們一直說，這就是我們想做的。具體來說，在 FAST 領域，這是一個非常有趣的發展方式。你是對的，大公司開始看他們的圖書館然後走，等一下，我不需要對所有事情都有排他性。這是我們多年來一直在說的話。我們最好從貨幣化中獲利。我們最好以盡可能多的方式將我們擁有的內容貨幣化。這就是他們開始做的。

But that's always been our strategy. If you go back to the way we control cost of revenue on our networks, and our O&O networks have the lowest cost of revenue of any of the big ones, we do it by making sure that we monetize the rights we don't need to use on our own networks. And getting capital -- getting money back against that, which reduces the net cost we have in the content. And when we put it on our networks, it means most of it's going to be profit. So these strategies that you're seeing the bigger companies adopt are really things we've done from the beginning. Now I would say we've done it from the beginning because we're small and scrappy and we needed to, but it's also what we believe was right. So that's what we're seeing.

但這一直是我們的策略。如果你回到我們控製網絡收入成本的方式，而我們的 O&O 網絡的收入成本是所有大網絡中最低的，我們通過確保將我們不需要的權利貨幣化來做到這一點在我們自己的網絡上使用。並獲得資本——以此為基礎收回資金，從而降低我們在內容方面的淨成本。當我們把它放在我們的網絡上時，這意味著其中的大部分將是利潤。因此，您看到大公司採用的這些策略實際上是我們從一開始就在做的事情。現在我會說我們從一開始就這樣做了，因為我們規模小而且鬥志旺盛，我們需要這樣做，但這也是我們認為正確的事情。這就是我們所看到的。

I think we only have time for one really short question, operator. We got to wrap up.

我想我們只有時間回答一個非常簡短的問題，接線員。我們得結束了。

Our next question comes from Mike Grondahl with Northland Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 Northland Capital 的 Mike Grondahl。

Bill, it's Mike. Three really short ones. So for fourth quarter, can you break out revenues between Redbox and Chicken Soup legacy? I don't think I saw it. And you guys had, I believe, like a $40 million cost synergy goal with the acquisition, kind of specifically where are you towards that goal? And I'll leave it at those 2.

比爾，是邁克。三個真的很短。那麼對於第四季度，您能否分解 Redbox 和 Chicken Soup legacy 之間的收入？我不認為我看到了。我相信你們有一個 4000 萬美元的成本協同目標與收購，具體來說，你們是如何實現這個目標的？我會把它留在那些 2。

Okay. Why don't -- we'll break out the numbers for you in our separate one-on-one because I'm already over time. But the quick answer to your question on the synergy are they're achieved. I expect them to be -- expect them ultimately to be higher. And the one that was the most important was pulling back the rights to sell the ads for Redbox AVOD and Redbox FAST, giving that to our own sales force, saving 35%, increasing CPMs and increasing fill rates. The combination of those 3 things is a very important number towards the $41 million we identified.

好的。為什麼不——我們將在單獨的一對一中為您分解數字，因為我已經超時了。但對你關於協同作用的問題的快速回答是它們已經實現了。我希望他們——希望他們最終會更高。最重要的一項是撤回銷售 Redbox AVOD 和 Redbox FAST 廣告的權利，將其交給我們自己的銷售人員，節省 35%，提高每千次展示費用並提高填充率。這三件事的結合對於我們確定的 4100 萬美元來說是一個非常重要的數字。

I know it's 9:30, the market is going to open. So I want to thank you all for attending today, and we look forward to speaking with you all soon. Thanks, everybody.

我知道現在是 9:30，市場要開市了。所以我要感謝大家今天的出席，我們期待著很快與大家交談。謝謝大家。

Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's presentation. You may now disconnect, and have a wonderful day.

女士們，先生們，今天的演講到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。