National Cinemedia Inc (NCMI) 2019 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the National CineMedia, Inc. conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this conference is being recorded. I would now turn the conference over to your host, Katie Scherping. You may begin.

問候。歡迎來到國家電影媒體公司。電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我將會議交給主持人凱蒂謝爾平 (Katie Scherping)。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Darryl. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm joined today here in Denver by our CEO, Tom Lesinski; and joining us by phone is Cliff Marks, who will be available for Q&A later on the call.

謝謝你，達裡爾。大家下午好。今天，我們的執行長湯姆·萊辛斯基 (Tom Lesinski) 在丹佛與我會面。克里夫馬克斯 (Cliff Marks) 透過電話加入我們，他將在稍後的電話會議中接受問答。

I'd like to remind our listeners that this conference call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts communicated during this conference call may constitute forward-looking statements.

我想提醒我們的聽眾，本次電話會議包含經修訂的 1933 年證券法第 27A 條和經修訂的 1934 年證券交易法第 21E 條含義內的前瞻性陳述。本次電話會議期間傳達的除歷史事實陳述之外的所有陳述都可能構成前瞻性陳述。

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations are disclosed in the risk factors contained in the company's filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by such factors.

這些前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性。本公司向 SEC 提交的文件中包含的風險因素中揭露了可能導致實際結果與公司預期產生重大差異的重要因素。所有前瞻性陳述的整體都明確受到這些因素的限制。

Further, our discussion today includes some non-GAAP measures. In accordance with Regulation G, we have reconciled these amounts back to the closest GAAP measurement. These reconciliations can be found at the end of today's earnings release, which may be found on the Investor page of our website at ncm.com.

此外，我們今天的討論也包括一些非公認會計原則措施。根據 G 條例，我們已將這些金額調整回最接近的 GAAP 衡量標準。這些調節表可以在今天的收益發布結束時找到，也可以在我們網站 ncm.com 的投資者頁面上找到。

Now with that, I'll turn the call over to Tom.

現在，我將把電話轉給湯姆。

Thank you, Katie, and good afternoon, everyone. I assumed leadership role here at NCM roughly 3 months ago with a simple objective: to return to our public company roots by delivering a substantial dividend through long-term top line growth, high adjusted OIBDA margins and high-quality earnings as measured by conversion of earnings to free cash flow.

謝謝凱蒂，大家下午好。大約3 個月前，我在NCM 擔任領導職務，目標很簡單：透過長期營收成長、高調整後OIBDA 利潤率和高品質收益（以換算率衡量），提供可觀的股息，從而回歸上市公司的根源。收益轉化為自由現金流。

And so after providing you with a few observations about our recent quarter, I'd like to share with you our vision for the company moving forward. And as always, Katie will provide more detailed results in our 2019 guidance, and then we will be open -- we'll open the line for your questions.

因此，在向您提供了對我們最近一個季度的一些觀察之後，我想與您分享我們對公司未來發展的願景。像往常一樣，凱蒂將在我們的 2019 年指南中提供更詳細的結果，然後我們將開放 - 我們將開放您的問題熱線。

I'm very excited about the progress that we've been making to transform our business into a more effective entertainment and advertising distribution platform that is more data-driven and nimble in today's changing video advertising marketplace. With these significant strategic developments in our business, all the changes to our ownership and leadership and the recently announced ability to sell ads closer to the feature film, we are poised for growth in 2020 and beyond.

我對我們在將業務轉型為更有效的娛樂和廣告分發平台方面所取得的進展感到非常興奮，該平台在當今不斷變化的視訊廣告市場中更加數據驅動和靈活。隨著我們業務的這些重大戰略發展、所有權和領導層的所有變化以及最近宣布的銷售更接近故事片的廣告的能力，我們已做好了 2020 年及以後增長的準備。

As we noted on our call in August, we got off to a strong start to the third quarter with our pipeline pacing ahead of last year. While we were able to slightly grow our Q3 top line revenue over last year as our national business continued to perform well, we finished the quarter a bit softer than we expected. A couple of national deals didn't close, resulting in scatter revenue well below Q3 2018, our regional business continued to underperform and our make-good came in higher as a few August and September films underperformed expectations. As a result, our Q3 revenue and adjusted OIBDA came in below our Q3 expectations. Our Q3 adjusted OIBDA was also negatively impacted by a $2 million noncash write-off related to a prior investment we made several years ago, which Katie will go over in more detail in a minute.

正如我們在 8 月的電話會議上指出的那樣，我們在第三季度取得了良好的開局，我們的管道進度領先於去年。雖然由於我們的全國業務持續表現良好，我們第三季的營收比去年略有成長，但我們本季的業績略低於我們的預期。幾項全國性交易未能完成，導致分散收入遠低於 2018 年第三季度，我們的區域業務繼續表現不佳，而且由於一些 8 月和 9 月的電影表現不佳，我們的盈利更高。因此，我們第三季的營收和調整後的 OIBDA 低於我們第三季的預期。我們第三季調整後的 OIBDA 也受到與我們幾年前進行的先前投資相關的 200 萬美元非現金沖銷的負面影響，凱蒂將在一分鐘內更詳細地討論這一點。

As we've mentioned, advertisers are spending in scatter, closer and closer to their air date, other advertising campaigns. While this trend started several years ago as digital platforms rapidly expanded, it appears to be continuing to accelerate. Clients now have so many video media choices, and thus, they can adjust where they place their ads right up to the air dates without the risk of not securing the desired GRPs.

正如我們所提到的，廣告商在距離播出日期越來越近的情況下分散支出其他廣告活動。雖然這種趨勢在幾年前隨著數位平台的迅速擴張而開始，但它似乎正在繼續加速。客戶現在有如此多的視訊媒體選擇，因此，他們可以根據播出日期調整廣告的放置位置，而不必擔心無法獲得所需 GRP 的風險。

While we're always adjusting the ways we evaluate and risk-assess our national sales pipelines, we are currently making a significant effort to address this issue, and we have a large-scale initiative in the works to upgrade our inventory and sales management systems as well as shift our product sales strategy so that we can react more quickly to shorter RFP lead times. In addition, we are expanding our digital inventory and consumer data platforms to make our product more integrated and easier to buy to be in step with all the other digital video advertising platforms that have made media buying easier and virtually frictionless.

雖然我們一直在調整評估和風險評估全國銷售管道的方式，但我們目前正在付出巨大努力來解決這個問題，並且我們正在採取大規模舉措來升級我們的庫存和銷售管理系統以及改變我們的產品銷售策略，以便我們能夠更快地對更短的RFP 交貨時間做出反應。此外，我們正在擴展我們的數位庫存和消費者數據平台，以使我們的產品更加整合且更易於購買，從而與所有其他數位影片廣告平台保持同步，這些平台使媒體購買變得更加容易且幾乎無摩擦。

The good news is while we lost some Q3 revenue related to this last-minute shift in spending, we continue to work with these clients for Q4 placements as well as on a 2020 upfront commitments that are less subject to last-minute shifts. This will not only keep shifting dollars on our books. In many cases, it allows us to expand those clients' overall spend. We've been able to increase the dollar value of our courtesy partner deals for 2020 to sponsor the silence your cell phones messaging at the end of our Noovie show as that segment of the show is now closer to the feature film. We're also receiving positive client responses to our new Noovie pre-show format with inventory after the advertised showtime that we introduced to the marketplace in mid-September, which I'll get into great detail on shortly, including the sale of our first Platinum 62nd unit that will run in December of this year. I would note that the CPM for this Platinum Spot was at a substantial premium to our historical pre-show CPM.

好消息是，雖然我們因最後一刻的支出轉變而損失了一些第三季度的收入，但我們繼續與這些客戶合作進行第四季度的安置以及2020 年的前期承諾，這些承諾較少受到最後一刻的轉變。這不僅會不斷轉移我們帳面上的美元。在許多情況下，它使我們能夠擴大這些客戶的整體支出。我們已經能夠增加 2020 年禮遇合作夥伴交易的美元價值，以贊助 Noovie 節目結束時手機短信的靜音，因為該節目的這一部分現在更接近故事片了。我們還收到了客戶對我們在 9 月中旬向市場推出的廣告放映時間後的新 Noovie 預展形式和庫存的積極回應，我將很快詳細介紹這一點，包括我們的第一批產品的銷售第62支白金機組將於今年12 月運轉。我要指出的是，該白金現貨的每千次曝光費用 (CPM) 遠高於我們歷史上的展前每千次曝光費用 (CPM)。

We're also working on several digital strategies that I'll discuss in a minute that are designed to bring more people into the theaters and get them into their seats earlier.

我們還在製定幾項數位策略，我將在一分鐘內討論這些策略，旨在吸引更多人進入戲院並讓他們更早入座。

Now that I've gone through my first 100 days as a CEO, I'd like to share more details about the 5 pillars of our strategy that we believe will create significant shareholder value as NCM once again becomes a unique investment vehicle by delivering a substantial dividend driven by long-term revenue and free cash flow growth.

現在我已經度過了擔任執行長的第一個 100 天，我想分享有關我們策略 5 個支柱的更多細節，我們相信這些策略將創造顯著的股東價值，因為 NCM 透過提供長期收入和自由現金流成長推動了巨額股息。

The first pillar of growth is related to increasing the quality and value of our media inventory. As you know, we recently made a highly strategic and meaningful change in the value of our on-screen inventory with the introduction of the new inventory placement after the advertised showtime in our Noovie pre-show in Regal and Cinemark with the completion of the ESA amendment in mid-September. We are marketing the 5 minutes of inventory that began at the advertised showtime as our "lights down inventory."

第一個成長支柱與提高我們媒體庫存的品質和價值有關。如你所知，我們最近對我們的螢幕庫存價值進行了高度戰略性且有意義的改變，隨著 ESA 的完成，在 Regal 和 Cinemamark 的 Noovie 預演廣告放映時間之後引入了新的庫存放置九月中旬修改。我們將廣告放映時間開始的 5 分鐘庫存作為我們的「熄燈庫存」進行行銷。

We are also offering the new Platinum Spot that is deeply embedded near the end of the trailers, which we believe is one of the most prized and impactful ad spots in the entire premium video advertising marketplace. These improvements are expected to significantly increase the value of the inventory that we can offer to our national clients. We believe our local and regional clients will also benefit from better inventory placements as their placement will now be closer to the advertised showtime. While there will be some incremental fixed and variable costs associated with this change, given the higher expected sell-through in average CPM, we expect our revenue growth will drive higher free cash flow available for distribution to our circuit partners and public shareholders. This higher-value inventory, combined with an entertaining and engaging pre-show program that is integrated with our Noovie digital ecosystem, provides a unique cross-platform premium video product that truly stands out in the media marketplace.

我們還提供了深深嵌入預告片末尾附近的新白金廣告位，我們認為這是整個優質影片廣告市場中最有價值和最有影響力的廣告位之一。這些改進預計將顯著增加我們為全國客戶提供的庫存價值。我們相信，我們的本地和區域客戶也將受益於更好的庫存佈局，因為他們的佈局現在將更接近廣告的放映時間。雖然與此變化相關的固定成本和可變成本會增加，但考慮到平均每千次曝光費用的預期銷售量較高，我們預計我們的收入成長將推動更高的自由現金流，可分配給我們的巡迴合作夥伴和公眾股東。這種價值更高的庫存，加上與我們的 Noovie 數位生態系統整合的娛樂性和引人入勝的預演節目，提供了真正在媒體市場中脫穎而出的獨特的跨平台優質視訊產品。

Our National sales team has been talking with many high-profile brands, and we've already closed a number of deals for lights-down advertising with clients in the QSR, retail, telecom and video game categories. Also, as I mentioned, I'm excited to report that we just closed our first Platinum deal for the month of December with one of our long-time technology clients. We've also had strong interest in the Platinum inventory for major clients in the digital media space, technology, auto and apparel categories for Q4 and many other major clients in categories for 2020. Ad campaigns with this size of media investment commitment are often planned months in advance, and the timing of reaching those clients when they're making those investment decisions is critical. We had hoped to bring our new inventory to the market a little earlier in the year to take better advantage of the upfront marketplace. We were only able to begin selling advertising since mid-September once the ESA amendments were signed. While we are not able to take full advantage of selling Q4 inventory, the significant interest we're seeing for both the lights-down and platinum inventory for 2020 is very encouraging.

我們的全國銷售團隊一直在與許多知名品牌進行洽談，並且我們已經與快餐、零售、電信和視頻遊戲類別的客戶達成了多項燈光廣告交易。另外，正如我所提到的，我很高興地向大家報告，我們剛剛與一位長期技術客戶完成了 12 月的第一筆白金交易。我們也對第四季度數位媒體領域、科技、汽車和服裝類別的主要客戶以及 2020 年類別的許多其他主要客戶的白金庫存產生了濃厚的興趣。具有如此規模的媒體投資承諾的廣告活動通常是提前幾個月規劃的，當客戶做出投資決策時，到達這些客戶的時機至關重要。我們原本希望在今年稍早將新庫存推向市場，以便更好地利用前期市場。自 9 月中旬 ESA 修正案簽署後，我們才開始販售廣告。雖然我們無法充分利用第四季度庫存的銷售，但我們看到人們對 2020 年的熄燈庫存和鉑金庫存表現出濃厚的興趣，這非常令人鼓舞。

In addition to this new and improved inventory, we are actively working on new ways to reinvent our Noovie pre-show program to ensure that it is truly connecting with today's millennial and Gen Z moviegoers to create an in-theater experience that will help keep audiences coming back for more as well as drive traffic to our digital properties. However, these changes and improvements to our media product and inventory cannot alone drive growth. So the second pillar of our strategic plan involves a planned upgrade of our sales planning, proposal and inventory tracking systems to match today's more seamless digital buying experience for our customers to make it easier and faster for advertisers to buy cinema with NCM. Our company-wide program to increase our operational efficiency and effectiveness with new technology to design, to solve the speed-to-market friction issues associated with our cinema product is underway, and we expect full implementation will occur late in 2020 or early 2021.

除了這個新的和改進的庫存之外，我們還積極研究新方法來重塑我們的Noovie 映前計劃，以確保它真正與當今的千禧一代和Z 世代電影觀眾建立聯繫，創造一種有幫助於留住觀眾的戲院體驗回來獲取更多並增加我們數位資產的流量。然而，我們的媒體產品和庫存的這些變化和改進並不能單獨推動成長。因此，我們策略計畫的第二個支柱涉及對我們的銷售規劃、提案和庫存追蹤系統進行有計劃的升級，以適應當今為我們的客戶提供的更無縫的數位購買體驗，從而使廣告商能夠更輕鬆、更快速地透過NCM 購買電影。我們正在實施全公司範圍內的計劃，旨在透過新技術設計來提高營運效率和有效性，以解決與我們的影院產品相關的上市速度摩擦問題，我們預計將於 2020 年底或 2021 年初全面實施。

The third growth pillar that we've been focusing on is the continued investment in creating compelling digital entertainment products that we believe will improve the entertainment value of our pre-show and promote incentives for moviegoers to go to theaters and get into their seats earlier, which will, in turn, create digital ad inventory and a unique cross-platform media product focused exclusively on the highly attractive movie audience to their moviegoing journey, both in theater and online. Over the last 12 months, we've had a 30% increase in the number of clients who had a digital component integrated into their media buy. Also, on a trailing 12 months basis, over 45% of our National and 26% of our Local and Regional ad revenue had an integrated digital component. Integrated campaigns are resulting in a 215% higher contract value versus on-screen alone contracts, which is key to future growth.

我們一直關注的第三個成長支柱是持續投資創造引人注目的數位娛樂產品，我們相信這些產品將提高我們預演的娛樂價值，並促進電影觀眾早點到影院就座的動力，反過來，這將創建數位廣告庫存和獨特的跨平台媒體產品，專門針對影院和線上觀影之旅中極具吸引力的電影觀眾。在過去 12 個月中，將數位組件整合到媒體購買中的客戶數量增加了 30%。此外，在過去 12 個月的基礎上，超過 45% 的全國廣告收入以及 26% 的地方和地區廣告收入都包含了整合的數位組件。與單獨的螢幕合約相比，綜合行銷活動的合約價值高出 215%，這是未來成長的關鍵。

We continue to expand our Noovie digital ecosystem and user fan -- and user base of movie fans with NCM owned and operated products like noovie.com, Noovie ARcade, Noovie Shuffle, Fantasy Movie League and Name That Movie. This creates new ways for brands to engage with movie audiences beyond the big screen to reach them anytime, anywhere before and after the movie with new higher-margin digital ad inventory and extremely valuable, addressable first-party customer data that we can monetize to advertising sales and sponsorships as well as leverage our Cinema Accelerator product.

我們繼續透過 NCM 擁有和經營的產品（如 noovie.com、Noovie ARcade、Noovie Shuffle、Fantasy Movie League 和 Name That Movie）擴大 Noovie 數位生態系統和用戶粉絲以及電影粉絲的用戶群。這為品牌創造了與大螢幕之外的電影觀眾互動的新方式，透過利潤更高的新數位廣告庫存和極其有價值、可尋址的第一方客戶數據（我們可以將其用於廣告貨幣化），在電影放映前和放映後隨時隨地接觸到他們銷售和贊助以及利用我們的影院加速器產品。

Growing our digital products feeds into the fourth pillar in our growth strategy, which is building a data-driven business. This is critical for us to be able to meet the needs of today's modern video advertising marketplace, and we've been on significant data growth trajectory that has taken us from 20 million first- and second-party data sets at this time last year to 75 million today, and we expect it at 100 million by the end of this year. And we're projecting to double that by the end of next year. These valuable data sets consist of both our own NCM first-party data from our owned and operated digital products as well as a variety of key second-party data addressable consumer records, including location-based data that allows us to track when our audiences go to the movie theater to see our Noovie pre-show and where they go in the days and weeks afterwards. This initiative will allow us to retarget audiences with digital advertising to our Cinema Accelerator product and more effectively support cinema campaign ROI for our advertisers.

發展我們的數位產品成為我們成長策略的第四個支柱，即建立數據驅動型業務。這對於我們能夠滿足當今現代視訊廣告市場的需求至關重要，而且我們一直處於顯著的數據成長軌跡，這使我們從去年此時的 2000 萬個第一方和第二方數據集發展到今天今天有7500 萬，我們預計到今年底將達到1 億。我們預計到明年年底將增加一倍。這些有價值的數據集包括我們擁有和經營的數位產品的NCM 第一方數據，以及各種關鍵的第二方數據可尋址消費者記錄，包括基於位置的數據，使我們能夠追蹤觀眾何時去電影院觀看我們的 Noovie 預覽以及之後幾天或幾週他們會去哪裡。這項舉措將使我們能夠將數位廣告的受眾重新定位到我們的戲院加速器產品，並更有效地支持廣告商的戲院行銷活動投資報酬率。

With the data platform our team is developing, we now know when a moviegoer has walked into a theater, what movie they saw and which ads they saw based on that movie and showtime. We can also tell if that moviegoer later walks into a car dealership, a cell phone store, a QSR restaurant after seeing these ads on the big screen. This is hugely valuable for all of our brands that are looking to attribute the results of an ad campaign to a customer's behavior. It could also be the key to expanding our business with brick-and-mortar retailers and restaurant clients who are looking to target customers when they're out of their homes and making buying decisions as well as online retailers who are looking to improve recency on the weekends when consumers are making their online purchases.

借助我們團隊正在開發的數據平台，我們現在可以根據電影和放映時間了解電影觀眾何時走進電影院、他們觀看了哪些電影以及觀看了哪些廣告。我們還可以判斷該電影觀眾在看到大螢幕上的這些廣告後是否會走進一家汽車經銷店、一家手機商店、一家快餐店。這對於我們所有希望將廣告活動的結果歸因於客戶行為的品牌來說非常有價值。這也可能是擴大我們與實體零售商和餐廳客戶的業務的關鍵，這些客戶希望在外出時鎖定目標客戶並做出購買決定，以及希望提高新購買頻率的在線零售商。消費者進行網上購物的週末。

It's important that we grow and scale our theater audience to a critical mass to be able to effectively use that audience data to leverage our value proposition to our clients. It is that scale that will make our NCM digital capabilities increasingly attractive to advertisers and especially to national brands who buy our national and regional inventory.

重要的是，我們必須將劇院觀眾規模擴大到臨界數量，以便能夠有效地利用觀眾數據來利用我們對客戶的價值主張。正是這種規模將使我們的 NCM 數位能力對廣告商，尤其是購買我們國家和地區庫存的國家品牌越來越有吸引力。

And finally, our fifth pillar of the strategy is to expand our affiliate network over the next couple of years by primarily focusing on adding key affiliates and more screens in select markets, which will increase our overall impression base and extend our reach to additional markets or strengthen our reach in markets we're already in.

最後，我們該策略的第五個支柱是在未來幾年內擴大我們的聯盟，主要側重於在選定市場中添加關鍵聯屬網絡營銷商和更多屏幕，這將增加我們的整體印象基礎並將我們的影響力擴展到其他市場或加強我們在已有市場的影響力。

As the largest cinema advertising network in the United States, brands look to us as an industry leader to provide the scale and reach they need for effective national campaigns. There are a handful of major exhibitors who are currently part of our network and whose cinema advertising contracts will be coming up for renewal that we think will be terrific additions to our network and would strengthen our nationwide network even further.

作為美國最大的電影廣告網絡，品牌希望我們作為行業領導者，為他們提供有效的全國宣傳活動所需的規模和覆蓋範圍。目前有幾家主要放映商是我們網路的一部分，他們的電影廣告合約即將續簽，我們認為這將是對我們網路的巨大補充，並將進一步加強我們的全國網路。

Our affiliate partnerships team also has been meeting with our current exhibitor partners and had some good discussions about how their core businesses could benefit by implementing our new and improved Noovie show format with lights-down and platinum advertising.

我們的聯盟合作夥伴團隊也與我們目前的參展商合作夥伴進行了會面，並就他們的核心業務如何透過實施我們新的和改進的Noovie 展會形式以及燈光關閉和白金廣告而受益而進行了一些良好的討論。

While adoption across our fleet networks is expected to take some time, we expect to have somewhere around 10 to 15 of our affiliates running with our post-show platform in 2020.

雖然我們的車隊網路的採用預計需要一些時間，但我們預計到 2020 年將有大約 10 到 15 家附屬公司運行我們的展後平台。

As you can tell, I am very optimistic about NCM's future. The movie slate for the rest of the year looks strong with several proven tentpole franchises, including Maleficent; Charlie's Angels; Frozen 2; Jumanji: The Next Level; and of course, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

如你所知，我對 NCM 的未來非常樂觀。今年剩餘時間的電影陣容看起來很強勁，有幾部經過驗證的主打系列電影，包括《沉睡魔咒》；查理的天使；冰雪奇緣2；勇敢者遊戲：下一關；當然還有《星際大戰：天行者崛起》。

We have launched our new Noovie format with lights-down and Platinum inventory. Our digital products are resonating with both brands and consumers. Our consumer databases are expanding. We are -- and we have continued great support from our exhibitor partners.

我們推出了新的 Noovie 格式，其中包含燈光和白金庫存。我們的數位產品正在引起品牌和消費者的共鳴。我們的消費者資料庫正在擴大。我們得到了參展商合作夥伴的持續大力支持。

The 2020 upfront ad market has been strong, and we are seeing healthy demand from advertisers. Heading into the key holiday season as brands continue to view our unique cross-platform package of in-cinema advertising and digital offerings as a powerful way to reach cinema's valuable, young, engaged audiences both in the captive theater environment and anytime, anywhere on their mobile devices. We believe this positive market environment, combined with the successful execution of our 5 strategic pillars for growth that I laid out, positions NCM for a very bright future in 2020 and beyond.

2020 年預付費廣告市場表現強勁，我們看到廣告商的健康需求。進入關鍵的假期季節，品牌繼續將我們獨特的跨平台電影內廣告和數位產品組合視為一種強大的方式，可以在專屬影院環境中以及隨時隨地透過他們的影院吸引有價值的、年輕的、參與其中的觀眾。行動裝置。我們相信，這種積極的市場環境，再加上我所製定的 5 個成長策略支柱的成功執行，將使 NCM 在 2020 年及以後擁有非常光明的未來。

Before I turn it over to Katie, I wanted to welcome Donna Speciale, also known as Donna Reisman to our Board. As you may have seen in our announcement this afternoon, Donna is a trailblazing advertising executive with extensive experience on both the advertising agency and media network side, most recently serving as the President of Advertising Sales at WarnerMedia. You can read more about Donna and her background in today's release. Adding Donna to the Board fills our open Board seat, and I look forward to working together with her and venting from her fresh perspective on exhibition, media strategy, marketing and cinema advertising. So welcome, Donna.

在將其移交給 Katie 之前，我想歡迎 Donna Speciale（也稱為 Donna Reisman）加入我們的董事會。正如您可能在我們今天下午的公告中看到的，唐娜是一位開創性的廣告高管，在廣告代理商和媒體網絡方面擁有豐富的經驗，最近擔任華納媒體的廣告銷售總裁。您可以在今天的新聞稿中了解有關唐娜及其背景的更多資訊。唐娜加入董事會填補了我們的空缺董事會席位，我期待與她合作，並從她對展覽、媒體策略、行銷和電影廣告的新鮮視角發表看法。歡迎，唐娜。

I'll now turn the call over to Katie to give you more details about our Q3 2019 operating performance and our 2019 guidance estimates.

現在，我將把電話轉給凱蒂，向您提供有關我們 2019 年第三季營運業績和 2019 年指導預測的更多詳細資訊。

Thanks, Tom. I'll walk through the operating results that Tom highlighted in further detail, discuss our thoughts on our Q3 results as well as our full year 2019 outlook, then we'll open the call to your questions. As always, we will be providing a supplemental presentation of these results on our website for your future reference.

謝謝，湯姆。我將進一步詳細介紹 Tom 強調的經營業績，討論我們對第三季業績的看法以及 2019 年全年展望，然後我們將開始回答您的問題。像往常一樣，我們將在我們的網站上提供這些結果的補充介紹，以供您將來參考。

For the third quarter, our total revenue was $110.5 million compared to $110.1 million in Q3 2018, an increase of 0.4%. This $400,000 change was driven by a $1.5 million increase in national advertising revenue, offset by a decrease in regional, local and beverage revenues.

第三季度，我們的總營收為 1.105 億美元，與 2018 年第三季的 1.101 億美元相比，成長了 0.4%。這一 40 萬美元的變化是由全國廣告收入增加 150 萬美元推動的，但被地區、地方和飲料收入的減少所抵消。

Total Q3 adjusted OIBDA was $51.7 million, a decrease of $1.9 million or 3.5% versus Q3 2018. The adjusted OIBDA margin for the quarter was 46.8% compared to 48.7% during the same period last year, primarily due to a $2.7 million increase in operating expenses, driven by a onetime $2 million noncash impairment charge related to equity investments recorded in prior years in exchange for unused advertising inventory as well as the increased investment in our digital team.

第三季調整後的 OIBDA 總額為 5,170 萬美元，比 2018 年第三季減少 190 萬美元，即 3.5%。本季調整後的OIBDA 利潤率為46.8%，而去年同期為48.7%，主要是由於前幾年記錄的與股權投資相關的一次性200 萬美元非現金減損費用導致營運費用增加270 萬美元.交換未使用的廣告庫存以及對我們數位團隊的增加投資。

Our theater access fees increased $400,000 or 2% to $20.1 million in Q3 this year compared to last year as a result of the 5-point -- 5% annual increase in digital screen fees, partially offset by founding member attendance decreasing 0.3% versus the third quarter last year.

今年第三季度，我們的戲院入場費比去年增加了40 萬美元，即2%，達到2,010 萬美元，原因是數位螢幕費用每年增加5 個百分點，即5%，但創始會員上座率比去年同期下降0.3%，部分抵銷了這一影響。去年第三季。

For the third quarter 2019, national ad revenue was $82.3 million, a $1.5 million or a 1.9% increase versus $80.8 million in Q3 2018. The change was driven by a 0.4% increase in impressions sold and higher branded content revenue, partially offset by a 9% decrease in CPMs. The increase in impressions sold was driven by a 1.2% increase in inventory utilization to 134.8% from 133.2% in Q3 2018 as we delivered impressions from the prior quarter and make-good balance during the quarter, partially offset by a 0.8% decrease in attendance versus prior year. The decrease in CPMs is primarily driven by the shift in mix of the Q3 2019 revenue to more upfront revenue and lower scatter revenue than a year ago. We now expect CPMs for the year to be down low single digits, driven by the mix between scatter and upfront revenue for the full year.

2019 年第三季度，全國廣告收入為 8,230 萬美元，比 2018 年第三季的 8,080 萬美元增加了 150 萬美元，增幅為 1.9%。這項變更是由銷售展示次數增加 0.4% 和品牌內容收入增加所推動的，但每千次曝光費用下降 9% 部分抵消了這項變更。庫存利用率從2018 年第三季的133.2% 增加1.2% 至134.8%，推動銷售展示次數增加，因為我們交付了上一季的展示次數並在本季度彌補了平衡，但被參觀人數下降0.8%部分抵銷與前一年相比。每千次曝光費用的下降主要是由於 2019 年第三季的收入組合轉變為比一年前更多的預付收入和更低的分散收入。我們現在預計，由於全年分散收入和預付收入的共同推動，今年每千次的曝光費用將下降至低個位數。

Q3 Regional ad revenue decreased $400,000 from $4.5 million to $4.1 million versus the third quarter in 2018 and was primarily due to a decrease in adverse contract value. The contract value decrease was driven mainly by a shift of several large clients that shifted from Regional revenue and made larger National buys this year as well as a reduction in market spend of a few large Regional customers compared to a year ago.

與 2018 年第三季相比，第三季區域廣告收入減少了 40 萬美元，從 450 萬美元減少至 410 萬美元，這主要是由於不利合約價值的減少。合約價值下降的主要原因是今年一些大型客戶從區域收入轉向全國性採購，以及一些大型區域客戶的市場支出較去年同期減少。

Q3 Local ad revenue decreased slightly by $600,000 from $17.4 million in 2018. This decrease in Local advertising revenue was due to a decrease in the volume of local contracts. This was mostly offset by the strength in our Local digital sales revenue. Overall, our Q3 local digital revenue increased 12%, with over 24% related to digital deals that were integrated with local on-screen ad buys. While digital currently represents only a small part of our total ad revenue, it is becoming increasingly important that clients can integrate their digital products when they buy our on-screen products.

第三季本地廣告收入較 2018 年的 1,740 萬美元小幅下降 60 萬美元。本地廣告收入的下降是由於本地合約量的減少。這主要被我們本地數位銷售收入的強勁所抵消。總體而言，我們第三季的本地數位收入成長了 12%，其中超過 24% 與與本地螢幕廣告購買整合的數位交易相關。雖然數字目前僅占我們廣告總收入的一小部分，但客戶在購買我們的螢幕產品時整合其數位產品變得越來越重要。

Q3 Beverage revenue decreased $100,000 from $7.4 million to $7.3 million versus Q3 2018, driven by a decrease in founding member attendance, partially offset by a slight increase in beverage CPMs year-over-year. Our Q3 2019 advertising revenue mix was 74% National, 4% Regional, 15% Local and 7% Beverage versus 73%, 4%, 16% and 7%, respectively, in Q3 2018.

與2018 年第三季相比，第三季飲料收入減少了10 萬美元，從740 萬美元降至730 萬美元，原因是創始會員出席人數減少，但飲料每千次展示費用同比略有增加部分抵消了這一影響。我們 2019 年第三季的廣告收入組合為 74% 全國、4% 地區、15% 本地和 7% 飲料，而 2018 年第三季分別為 73%、4%、16% 和 7%。

For the first 9 months of 2019, total revenue decreased 2.1% or $6.4 million to $297.6 million from $304 million in the first 9 months of 2018. Adjusted OIBDA decreased $5.2 million or 4% to $124 million from $129.2 million in the first 9 months of 2018. And adjusted OIBDA margin decreased to 41.7% from 42.5% versus the first 9 months of 2018.

2019 年前 9 個月，總收入從 2018 年前 9 個月的 3.04 億美元下降 2.1%，即 640 萬美元，降至 2.976 億美元。調整後的 OIBDA 減少 520 萬美元，或 4%，從 2018 年前 9 個月的 1.292 億美元降至 1.24 億美元。與 2018 年前 9 個月相比，調整後的 OIBDA 利潤率從 42.5% 下降至 41.7%。

Excluding the $2 million noncash, onetime Q3 investment impairment, adjusted OIBDA would have only decreased 2.5% versus the same 9 months in 2018. This noncash investment impairment charge recorded this year represents a final write-off of these investments that we had recorded from several years ago.

排除 200 萬美元的非現金、第三季一次性投資減值，調整後的 OIBDA 與 2018 年同期 9 個月相比僅下降 2.5%。今年記錄的非現金投資減損費用代表了我們幾年前記錄的這些投資的最終沖銷。

For the first 9 months of 2019, National ad revenue was $213.9 million, a $500,000 or a 0.2% decrease versus the first 9 months of 2018. The decrease was driven by a 4.8% decrease in CPMs, a 0.8% decrease in impressions sold, partially offset by an increase in branded content. The slight decrease in impressions sold was the result of an increasing utilization to 116.7% from 109.1%, offset by network attendance that decreased 7.2% versus the first 9 months of 2018 that was driven by a record box office last year.

2019 年前 9 個月，全國廣告收入為 2.139 億美元，比 2018 年前 9 個月減少 50 萬美元，下降 0.2%。下降的原因是每千次曝光費用下降 4.8%，銷售展示次數下降 0.8%，但部分被品牌內容的增加所抵消。銷售展示次數略有下降，原因是利用率從 109.1% 提高到 116.7%，但由於去年創紀錄的票房，網路上座率較 2018 年前 9 個月下降了 7.2%，抵消了這一影響。

For the first 9 months of 2019, regional ad revenue decreased by $2.4 million from $16.6 million in 2018. This decrease is driven by the shift from Regional advertising to National advertising by several large clients. You may recall that we had adjusted our Regional sales strategy over the last couple of years by separating our Regional business from our Local business to allow each team to focus on their unique selling propositions and strengths. Going forward, the Regional team is refocusing its efforts on both large Regional advertising clients in the top 10 DMA and the National Spot TV market, and our Local sales team will focus on the smaller markets as well as reactivating and creating new incentive to package their theaters into multi-theater deals.

2019 年前 9 個月，地區廣告收入較 2018 年的 1,660 萬美元減少了 240 萬美元。這一下降是由幾個大客戶從區域廣告轉向全國廣告造成的。您可能還記得，過去幾年我們調整了區域銷售策略，將區域業務與本地業務分開，以便每個團隊專注於其獨特的銷售主張和優勢。展望未來，區域團隊將重新將工作重點放在DMA 前10 名的大型區域廣告客戶和全國電視點播市場上，而我們的本地銷售團隊將專注於較小的市場，並重新激活和創造新的激勵措施來包裝他們的產品。劇院變成多劇院交易。

In both cases, there's a cost-effective way for brands to acquire GRPs that TV can't provide. This will be especially true in 2020 when political ads dominate TV and digital ad inventory and when TV GRPs become scarce. We expect to be able to take advantage of this next year by offering brands of safe, engaging, entertaining environment free of political negativity that provides reach and video GRPs for local and regional advertisers with no chance of preemptions, unlike TV. Our audiences also appreciate the fact that their local movie theater is a haven from the bombardment of negative political advertising on TV and the Internet, which may also help with audience engagement throughout the year.

在這兩種情況下，品牌都有一種經濟高效的方式來獲得電視無法提供的 GRP。在 2020 年，當政治廣告主導電視和數位廣告庫存且電視 GRP 變得稀缺時，情況尤其如此。我們預計明年能夠利用這一點，提供安全、有吸引力、娛樂性的品牌環境，不受政治負面影響，為當地和區域廣告商提供覆蓋範圍和視頻GRP，而與電視不同，沒有機會搶佔先機。我們的觀眾也欣賞這樣一個事實，即他們當地的電影院是電視和網路上負面政治廣告轟炸的避風港，這也可能有助於全年觀眾的參與。

For the 9 months of 2019, Local ad revenue decreased 3.5% or $1.7 million from $49 million to $47.3 million compared to last year. The decrease in local advertising revenue was due to a 10.4% decrease in the volume of contract, partially offset with 12% higher Local digital sales revenue. As previously discussed, clients are looking to integrate their cinema ad buys with our Regional retargeting capabilities post the moviegoing experience, which provides for higher average contract values.

2019 年 9 個月，本地廣告收入較去年下降 3.5%，即 170 萬美元，從 4,900 萬美元降至 4,730 萬美元。本地廣告收入的下降是由於合約量減少 10.4%，但被本地數位銷售收入增加 12% 部分抵消。如前所述，客戶希望將他們的電影廣告購買與我們在觀影體驗後的區域重定向功能相結合，從而提供更高的平均合約價值。

For the first 9 months of 2019, Beverage revenue decreased 7.5% or $1.8 million from $24 million to $22.2 million versus the first 9 months of 2018 due to 6.7% decrease in founding member attendance, partially offset by a slight contractual increase in beverage CPMs.

與2018 年前9 個月相比，2019 年前9 個月，飲料收入下降了7.5%，即180 萬美元，從2,400 萬美元降至2,220 萬美元，原因是創始會員出席人數減少了6.7%，但飲料每千次展示費用的合約略有增加部分抵消了這一影響。

For the third quarter, we reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.12 versus an earnings per diluted share of $0.14 in Q3 of 2018. For the 9 months of 2019, we reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.22 compared to earnings per diluted share of $0.16 in the first 9 months of 2018 as a result of deferred tax expense decreasing $10.7 million from the first 9 months of 2018 due to the remeasurement of our deferred tax assets in 2018 and as a result of state tax law changes.

對於第三季度，我們公佈的 GAAP 攤薄每股收益為 0.12 美元，而 2018 年第三季的攤薄每股收益為 0.14 美元。2019 年前9 個月，我們報告的GAAP 攤薄每股收益為0.22 美元，而2018 年前9 個月的每股攤薄收益為0.16 美元，這是由於遞延稅款較2018 年前9 個月減少了1,070 萬美元，原因是由於國家稅法的變化，我們在 2018 年重新計量了我們的遞延所得稅資產。

For the first 9 months of 2019, capital expenditures were $10.5 million versus $11 million spent in 2018. We are estimating that our full year 2019 capital expenditures will be in the $14 million to $15 million range or approximately 3% of revenue, including $7 million to $8 million of digital investment.

2019 年前 9 個月，資本支出為 1,050 萬美元，而 2018 年為 1,100 萬美元。我們預計 2019 年全年資本支出將在 1,400 萬至 1,500 萬美元之間，約佔收入的 3%，其中包括 700 萬至 800 萬美元的數位投資。

In the third quarter and for the first 9 months of 2019, we recorded $5.6 million and $13.7 million, respectively, of integration and other encumbered theater payments associated with AMC Rave Theatres and AMC Carmike Theatres versus $5.5 million and $13.3 million, respectively, in 2018. As a reminder, this integration and other encumbered theater payments are added to adjusted OIBDA for debt compliance and partnership cash distribution purposes but are not included in reported revenue or adjusted OIBDA as they are recorded as a reduction to net intangible assets on the balance sheet. We expect to record approximately $20 million to $21 million of integration payments from our founding members during 2019. It should be noted, the AMC Rave integration payments of approximately $1.5 million will continue through next year, and the AMC Carmike Theatre integration payments of approximately $19 million will continue through the remaining term of the AMC ESA through 2037.

在2019 年第三季和前9 個月，我們記錄了與AMC Rave Theaters 和AMC Carmike Theaters 相關的整合和其他劇院付款，分別為560 萬美元和1,370 萬美元，而2018 年分別為550 萬美元和1,330 萬美元。需要提醒的是，出於債務合規和合作現金分配的目的，這種整合和其他劇院付款被添加到調整後的OIBDA 中，但不包含在報告收入或調整後的OIBDA 中，因為它們在資產負債表上記錄為無形資產淨值的減少。我們預計 2019 年創始成員將支付約 2,000 萬至 2,100 萬美元的整合付款。值得注意的是，約 150 萬美元的 AMC Rave 整合費用將持續到明年，約 1,900 萬美元的 AMC 卡麥克劇院整合費用將持續到 2037 年 AMC ESA 的剩餘期限。

And moving on to our balance sheet. Early in the fourth quarter, we refinanced our $400 million 6% senior secured notes due in 2022. This refinancing extends the maturity date of those notes that were refinanced by nearly 6 years to April 2028 and reduces the interest rate from 6% to 5.875%. We will pay interest on the note semiannually on April 15 and October 15 of each year. We may redeem all or a portion of the notes starting April 15, 2023 at 103% of the principal amount, with the redemption declining 1% annually each year until 2026 when the company may then redeem the notes at par value. As a result of this transaction, interest savings are expected to be $500,000 annually versus the 6% notes. The refinancing positions us well for the future as it diversifies our debt maturities and reduces the near-term refinancing risk as the next maturity is coming due on a revolving line of credit in 2023.

繼續我們的資產負債表。第四季初，我們為 2022 年到期的 4 億美元、利率為 6% 的優先擔保票據進行了再融資。此次再融資將這些再融資票據的到期日延長了近6年至2028年4月，並將利率從6%降低至5.875%。我們將每半年支付一次票據利息，分別為每年的4月15日和10月15日。從 2023 年 4 月 15 日開始，我們可以按本金的 103% 贖回全部或部分票據，贖回金額每年下降 1%，直到 2026 年公司可以按面值贖回票據。透過此交易，與 6% 票據相比，預計每年可節省 50 萬美元的利息。再融資使我們的未來處於有利地位，因為它使我們的債務期限多樣化，並降低了近期再融資風險，因為下一個到期日將在 2023 年循環信貸額度到期。

Our total debt outstanding at NCM LLC at the end of Q3 2019 was $23 million lower than the end of Q3 2018. Our bank and bond term debt were $897 million versus $912 million at the end of Q3 2018. And our revolver balance at the end of the current quarter was $6 million compared to $14 million at the end of Q3 2018.

截至 2019 年第三季末，NCM LLC 的未償債務總額比 2018 年第三季末減少了 2,300 萬美元。我們的銀行和債券定期債務為 8.97 億美元，而 2018 年第三季末為 9.12 億美元。本季末我們的左輪手槍餘額為 600 萬美元，而 2018 年第三季末為 1,400 萬美元。

Our average interest rate on all debt was approximately 5.7% for both periods, including our $267 million floating rate term loan bank debt and revolving credit facility that had a rate of approximately 5.2%. Excluding our bank revolver balances, 70% of our total debt outstanding at the end of Q3 2019 had a fixed interest rate. By way of reminder, under our charter, we can pay down up to $15 million of our debt annually without founding member and Board approval. For the 9 months 2019, we retired $5 million of our 2026 senior unsecured bonds for $4.6 million, in addition to the $15 million of these same bonds we retired during 2018 for $14.2 million. We are continuing to evaluate this discretionary reduction of our debt based on future free cash flow generation, the related leverage levels, alternative investment opportunities and our public company dividend policy.

兩個時期我們所有債務的平均利率約為 5.7%，其中包括 2.67 億美元的浮動利率定期貸款銀行債務和循環信貸額度，利率約為 5.2%。不包括我們的銀行循環餘額，截至 2019 年第三季末，我們未償債務總額的 70% 具有固定利率。提醒一下，根據我們的章程，​​我們每年可以在無需創始成員和董事會批准的情況下償還高達 1500 萬美元的債務。在 2019 年的 9 個月中，我們以 460 萬美元的價格註銷了 500 萬美元的 2026 年高級無擔保債券，此外，我們在 2018 年以 1420 萬美元的價格註銷了 1500 萬美元的這些債券。我們將繼續根據未來自由現金流的產生、相關槓桿水準、另類投資機會和我們的上市公司股利政策來評估我們酌情減少的債務。

Our total net leverage at NCM LLC as of the end of Q3 was approximately 4.2x trailing 4 quarter adjusted OIBDA, which is well below our consolidated net total leverage maintenance covenant of 6.25x. Our consolidated net senior secured leverage ratio was 3.1x versus a covenant of 4.5x.

截至第三季末，我們 NCM LLC 的總淨槓桿率約為 4.2 倍，經過第四季度調整後的 OIBDA，遠低於我們 6.25 倍的綜合淨總槓桿率維持承諾。我們的綜合淨優先擔保槓桿率為 3.1 倍，而契約為 4.5 倍。

Our consolidated cash and investment balances as of Q3 2019 was $63 million, with $61 million of this balance at NCMI. We currently have enough cash available to cover more than 4 quarters of dividends at NCMI with approximately $0.75 per share of cash on hand at the end of Q3 2019.

截至 2019 年第三季度，我們的合併現金和投資餘額為 6,300 萬美元，其中 6,100 萬美元存放在 NCMI。目前，我們有足夠的可用現金來支付 NCMI 超過 4 個季度的股息，截至 2019 年第三季末，我們手頭現金約為 0.75 美元。

We announced today that the Board of Directors has authorized the company's regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.17 per common share of stock. The dividend will be paid on November 29, 2019, to stockholders of record on November 14, 2019. With over 4 quarters of cash on hand at NCMI, combined with the current dividend payout ratio of approximately 85% to 90% of available cash generated over the last 7 quarters, as part of our strategic planning process for 2020, our Board intends to evaluate the appropriate level of our future dividend payout ratio in order to continue to maintain an appropriate level of cash reserved at NCMI that will ensure the long-term sustainability of our dividend while paying at a substantial portion of our available cash to shareholders.

我們今天宣布，董事會已批准公司定期季度現金股利為每股普通股 0.17 美元。股利將於2019年11月29日支付給2019年11月14日登記在冊的股東。NCMI 擁有超過 4 個季度的現金，加上過去 7 個季度產生的可用現金的當前股息支付率約為 85% 至 90%，作為我們 2020 年戰略規劃流程的一部分，我們的董事會打算評估我們未來股息支付率的適當水平，以繼續保持NCMI 儲備的適當現金水平，這將確保我們股息的長期可持續性，同時將我們可用現金的很大一部分支付給股東。

The company intends to pay our regular quarterly dividend for the foreseeable future at the discretion of the Board of Directors consistent with the company's intention to distribute over time a substantial portion of its free cash flow. The declaration, payment, timing and amount of future dividends payable will be at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors, who will consider general economic and advertising market business conditions, the company's financial condition, available cash, current and anticipated cash needs, including opportunities to reinvest in the business and any other factors that the Board of Directors considers relevant.

公司打算在可預見的未來由董事會酌情決定定期支付季度股息，這與公司隨著時間的推移分配大部分自由現金流的意圖是一致的。未來應付股利的申報、支付、時間和金額將由董事會全權酌情決定，董事會將考慮總體經濟和廣告市場業務狀況、公司財務狀況、可用現金、當前和預期現金需求，包括對業務進行再投資的機會以及董事會認為相關的任何其他因素。

Our annual dividend yield is currently 8% based on today's closing share price of $8.48. As a reminder, currently, 100% of our dividend is tax deferred for income tax purposes.

基於今天收盤價 8.48 美元，我們的年度股息殖利率目前為 8%。提醒一下，目前，我們 100% 的股利都是出於所得稅目的而遞延繳稅。

Now turning to guidance. With our third quarter ending a bit softer than expected and a lower-than-expected result of selling our lights-down and platinum inventory for November due to the timing of getting into the market with this inventory, we are adjusting our full year 2019 revenue guidance to $435 million to $445 million or down 1.5% to up 1% and adjusted OIBDA guidance to $195 million to $205 million or down 5% to flat. This guidance includes the year-end make-good balance assumption of $8 million. The ending make-good balance could fluctuate up or down a few million dollars depending on the box-office performance over the last 1 to 2 weeks of our fiscal year, which ends on December 26, which includes only the opening week for the release of Star Wars. The last 5 weeks of the year are our largest revenue period of the year. And given the current market trends of a later breaking scatter market, our revenue and adjusted OIBDA can be impacted meaningfully by 1 or 2 last-minute deals in addition to the fluctuation of our make-good balance. For instance, as Tom mentioned, we just recently sold our first 62 platinum unit for December. We will be providing initial 2020 full year guidance on our 2019 earnings call in February.

現在轉向指導。由於我們第三季的業績略低於預期，並且由於庫存進入市場的時間原因，11 月份的熄燈和鉑金庫存銷售結果低於預期，因此我們正在調整 2019 年全年收入調整至4.35 億美元至4.45億美元或下降1.5% 至成長1%，並將OIBDA 指引調整至1.95 億至2.05 億美元或下降5% 至持平。該指引包括 800 萬美元的年終彌補餘額假設。The ending make-good balance could fluctuate up or down a few million dollars depending on the box-office performance over the last 1 to 2 weeks of our fiscal year, which ends on December 26, which includes only the opening week for the release of星際大戰.一年中的最後 5 週是我們一年中收入最高的時期。考慮到後期分散市場的當前市場趨勢，除了補償餘額的波動之外，我們的收入和調整後的 OIBDA 還可能受到 1 到 2 筆最後一刻交易的重大影響。例如，正如 Tom 所提到的，我們最近剛剛售出了 12 月的第一批 62 白金單位。我們將在 2 月的 2019 年財報電話會議上提供 2020 年全年初步指引。

Looking at NCM LLC's available cash calculation for 2019, starting with our updated adjusted OIBDA guidance of $195 million to $205 million, you'll add the following as a build to available cash: one, integration payments of $20 million to $21 million; and two, cash payments from the Fathom note receivable of $5.7 million that will end at the end of this year.

看看NCM LLC 2019 年的可用現金計算，從我們更新的調整後的OIBDA 指導（1.95 億美元至2.05 億美元）開始，您將添加以下內容作為可用現金的基礎：一，整合付款2000 萬美元至2,100 萬美元；第二，來自 Fathom 應收票據的現金支付為 570 萬美元，將於今年底結束。

As a reduction to available cash, you will subtract the following: cash interest expense of approximately $53 million to $54 million; annual scheduled debt principal amortization of $2.7 million, plus discretionary boundary purchases of $5 million; and approximately $8.5 million in fees related to our recent bond refinancing; three, capital expenditures of $14 million to $15 million; and four, noncash stock comp for Inc. employees of approximately $2 million.

作為可用現金的減少，您將減去以下內容： 約 5,300 萬至 5,400 萬美元的現金利息支出；年度計畫債務本金攤銷為 270 萬美元，另加 500 萬美元的酌情邊界購買；以及與我們最近的債券再融資相關的約 850 萬美元費用；三、資本支出1400萬至1500萬美元；第四，公司的非現金股票補償。員工人數約200萬美元。

These are the components that will allow you to arrive at a projection for available cash at NCM LLC at the end of 2019, which is paid to the founding member circuits and NCM, Inc. at the end of each quarter based on their ownership at that time.

透過這些組件，您可以預測 2019 年底 NCM LLC 的可用現金，這些現金將支付給創始成員電路和 NCM, Inc.。根據當時的所有權，在每個季度末進行。

In addition to the available cash distributed to NCM, Inc. from NCM LLC and consistent with prior year's, we project approximately $5 million to be paid to NCMI from NCM LLC for management fees, plus $1.5 million of interest earned on the NCMI cash balances, reduced by the expected payout of $15 million to $16 million for payments under the tax receivable agreement to our founding members. This will allow you to calculate the net cash available to fund current annual dividend and the current annual payout ratio of approximately 90% at our guidance midpoint.

除了分配給 NCM, Inc. 的可用現金外。與前一年一致，我們預計 NCM LLC 將向 NCMI 支付約 500 萬美元的管理費，加上 NCMI 現金餘額賺取的 150 萬美元利息，減去預期支付的 1500 萬美元至 1600 萬美元。根據應收稅協議向我們的創始成員付款。這將使您能夠計算出可用於資助當前年度股息的淨現金以及按我們指導中點計算的約 90% 的當前年度支付率。

This concludes our prepared remarks, and we'll now open the line for questions. Darryl?

我們準備好的演講到此結束，現在我們將開始提問。達裡爾？

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Eric Handler of MKM Partners.

（操作員說明） 我們的第一個問題來自 MKM Partners 的 Eric Handler。

Tom, just wonder if you could talk a little bit about customer reaction now that you've had some time to speak with all these advertisers. Obviously, it was good enough for 1 person to buy the Platinum Spot, which is great. But I'm just thinking of playing or trying to balance higher prices versus closer to airtime for movies. What's been the reaction from clients there?

湯姆，既然您已經有時間與所有這些廣告商交談，那麼您是否可以談談客戶的反應。顯然，1個人購買Platinum Spot就足夠了，這很棒。但我只是在考慮播放或嘗試平衡較高的價格與接近播放時間的電影。那裡的客戶反應如何？

The reaction to the Platinum Spot, in particular, has been really positive. And the announcement about moving 5 minutes into the post-showtime period has also been really positive. It's really been a matter of timing. We've only been in the marketplace for a little over 4, 5 weeks. And candidly, it was the end of the year. But we know that the 2020 interest level beyond what we've done in November and December has been really strong. So there's a lot of enthusiasm. We've probably talked to over 100 different advertisers already. And we're confident that 2020 is going to be a big year for both post-show and for platinum.

尤其是對鉑金現貨的反應非常正面。關於將演出時間延長 5 分鐘的公告也非常正面。這確實是一個時間問題。我們進入市場才剛剛四、五週多一點。坦白說，那是年底。但我們知道，2020 年的興趣水平超出了我們 11 月和 12 月的水平，非常強勁。所以大家有很大的熱情。我們可能已經與 100 多家不同的廣告商進行了交談。我們相信 2020 年對於展後和鉑金來說都將是重要的一年。

So you think the advertisers are fully buying into close -- lights-down closer to airtime of the movie, a good value for paying a higher price or higher CPM?

所以你認為廣告商完全購買了接近電影播放時間的關燈，支付更高的價格或更高的每千次展示費用是一個很好的價值？

Yes. And I think what's important is that many of the advertisers have been wondering what actually took so long. And the acceptance is actually there hasn't been really pushback on the pricing front. And it's been more about excitement over the fact that the advertising inventory is closer to the actual movie, and that's been very attractive. I would ask Cliff Marks. Cliff, if you want to make a comment or 2 on how you feel the program has been going, this would be a good time to do it.

是的。我認為重要的是，許多廣告商一直想知道到底是什麼花了這麼長時間。事實上，定價方面並沒有真正的阻力。更多的是因為廣告庫存更接近實際電影而令人興奮，這非常有吸引力。我會問克里夫馬克斯。Cliff，如果您想對專案的進度發表一兩則評論，現在是個好時機。

Yes. I think that our advertisers are very excited. I've never seen reception to a product that we've had in the market like we have had to platinum. The problem was we were too late to get to the market. Most of the money was spent by the time we got to the market. But the response, Eric, has been excellent.

是的。我認為我們的廣告商非常興奮。我從未見過我們市場上的產品像白金產品一樣受到歡迎。問題是我們來得太晚了，無法到達市場。當我們到達市場時，大部分錢都花掉了。但埃里克的反應非常好。

Our next question comes from the line of Mike Hickey of The Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 公司的 Mike Hickey。

Curious on the lights-down, just to follow up some question. Is it more difficult (inaudible) subscription trying to sell the average showtime inventory when you don't have your full network participating in that adjusted programming in AMC and sign up (inaudible)? Does that make it harder on you, Cliff?

對熄燈感到好奇，只是為了跟進一些問題。當您沒有讓整個網絡參與 AMC 調整後的節目並註冊（聽不清楚）時，嘗試銷售平均放映時間庫存的訂閱是否會更困難（聽不清楚）？這會讓你變得更難嗎，克里夫？

Cliff, do you want to answer that?

克里夫，你想回答這個問題嗎？

Yes, yes. What we're selling is a network that is partially our old program lineup and partially are new. Our advertisers and agencies understand that it's going to take some time to get volume across the whole network. And we're pricing it accordingly. So 56% of our network has the new program lineup, and we're pricing that accordingly. And the remainder of the network does not have that. So we're not pricing a premium on that. I think they're all very patient. Most advertisers understand that it's going to take exhibitions -- some exhibitors time to get comfortable with it, and they respect it. It has not been difficult at all.

是的是的。我們銷售的是一個網絡，其中部分是我們的舊節目陣容，部分是新節目。我們的廣告商和代理商明白，要在整個網路上獲得流量需要一些時間。我們會相應地定價。因此，我們 56% 的網絡擁有新的節目陣容，我們會相應地定價。而網路的其餘部分則沒有這樣的功能。因此，我們不會為此定價溢價。我認為他們都很有耐心。大多數廣告商都明白，展覽需要時間——一些參展商需要時間來適應它，並且他們尊重它。這一點也不困難。

Okay. And then I guess some prior Q4s or otherwise you had a major Star Wars (inaudible). I seem to remember demand being significant enough that you were selling out your inventory but actually stretching some of those buys, call it, next quarter, [2Q, 1] this time around. Is that similar this time or is it less demand sort of advertised on the Star Wars [2Y-2Y] period?

好的。然後我猜想之前有一些第四季或其他方面你有一個主要的星際大戰（聽不清楚）。我似乎記得需求足夠大，以至於你賣光了庫存，但實際上延長了其中一些購買，這一次稱之為下個季度，[2Q，1]。這次是類似的情況還是星際大戰[2Y-2Y]時期廣告中的需求較少？

Yes. I think what' you're asking -- and let me try to paraphrase it because we're having a hard time hearing you, Mike. So you can tell me if I'm off-base with what I thought I heard you say. You were asking about, does the Q4 sellout bleed into Q1 with the demand in advertising? Are you talking about make-good? Or are you talking about the fact that Star Wars is only running for the last week of the year and people want to advertise in front of Star Wars' move to Q1 as well?

是的。我想你在問什麼——讓我試著解釋一下，因為我們很難聽到你的聲音，麥克。所以你可以告訴我我認為我聽到你說的話是否有誤。您問的是，第四季的銷售是否會隨著廣告需求而滲透到第一季？你在談論彌補嗎？還是你在談論《星際大戰》只在今年最後一周上映，而人們也想在《星際大戰》進入第一季之前做廣告？

That's right. Yes. Remember, the demand has been high enough that you would sell out sort of Star Wars (inaudible) so some of that -- some of those buys were sort of creep into Q1 as well. So that's sort of how I -- significant demand from media buyers and these sort of -- in front of movie patrons (inaudible). I'm just curious if similar -- if the demand is similar to what you've seen in prior quarters if Star Wars films come out?

這是正確的。是的。請記住，需求已經足夠高，以至於你會賣掉《星際大戰》（聽不清楚），所以其中一些購買——其中一些購買也進入了第一季。這就是我在電影觀眾面前的方式——來自媒體買家和這類的巨大需求（聽不清楚）。我只是好奇如果星際大戰電影上映，需求是否與前幾季的情況相似？

Yes. We would expect Q1 of 2020 to benefit from Star Wars for us. Only really the first week is in our 2019 number. So Q1 would be the most benefiting of the Star Wars ads.

是的。我們預計 2020 年第一季我們將從《星際大戰》中受益。我們 2019 年的資料中只有第一週。因此，第一季將是星際大戰廣告中受益最大的。

The last question for me, I guess, with the lights-down inventory. You're also moving your Local and Regional ad spots closer to showtime. Are you seeing the positive impact from those buyers now that you're getting their ads a little closer to showtime [and what that could mean]?

我想我的最後一個問題是關燈庫存。您也將本地和區域廣告位移至更接近放映時間的位置。現在您的廣告距離展示時間越來越近了，您是否看到了這些買家的正面影響（這可能意味著什麼）？

I think it's fair to say that we've been -- well, Cliff, go ahead. Let me say just one thing and then, Cliff, you can also add on to it. We've certainly been highlighting the fact to our Local and Regional buyers that as our inventory moves nationally closer to the actual advertised showtime, that the Local and Regional advertising becomes more valuable as well.

我認為可以公平地說，我們一直——好吧，克里夫，繼續吧。讓我只說一件事，然後克里夫，你也可以補充。我們當然一直向本地和區域買家強調這樣一個事實：隨著我們的庫存在全國範圍內接近實際廣告放映時間，本地和區域廣告也變得更有價值。

But, Cliff, why don't you talk to that as well?

但是，克里夫，你為什麼不也談談這個呢？

Yes. Well remember, it just started this past weekend, right? So it's new in the market. The reception from our local clients has been excellent. I mean everyone likes the fact, locally and regionally, that we'll have inventory closer to showtime now. But now, Mike, we've got to go out and reeducate people about this because it's been a long time that they've known our show to be 1 format. So it's going to take some time for us to go reeducate a lot of Local and Regional clients, but unequivocally, it's looked at highly positively.

是的。還記得嗎，上週末才開始，對吧？所以它在市場上是新的。我們當地客戶的接待非常好。我的意思是，每個人都喜歡這樣一個事實，無論是本地還是區域，我們現在在接近放映時間時都會有庫存。但現在，麥克，我們必須出去對人們進行有關這一點的重新教育，因為他們已經知道我們的節目是單一格式已經很長時間了。因此，我們需要一些時間來對許多本地和區域客戶進行再教育，但毫無疑問，人們對此給予了高度正面的評價。

Our next question comes from the line of Eric Wold of B. Riley & Co.

我們的下一個問題來自 B. Riley & Co. 的 Eric Wold。

A few questions just on -- trying to understand the dynamics around scatter and timing of decisions vis-à-vis kind of what impacted Q3 and kind of what you're seeing so far in Q4. I guess, first of all, you know that some of the pressure on CPMs in the quarter was due to lower scatter purchases and more of a mix -- a shift to more kind of upfront purchases. But then you also noted that advertisers are moving -- increasingly moving to more last-minute scatter purchases closer to campaign. I guess there's kind of 2 questions from that. One, when would you expect that dynamic to trough and potentially start to benefit results from more of a mix shift towards scatter? And then two, I guess, normally, you expect the shift to scatter to be more positive for CPMs. But I guess is there -- you know that there's so many choices out there that can make this last-minute decision without much concern about spending their dollars. Does that indicate that online CPMs are likely to be pressured even with that shift to scatter?

有幾個問題 - 試圖了解決策分散和時間安排的動態，以及影響第三季和第四季迄今為止的情況。我想，首先，您知道本季每千次曝光費用面臨的一些壓力是由於分散購買的減少和更多的混合——轉向更多類型的前期購買。但隨後您也注意到，廣告商正在採取行動——越來越多地轉向接近活動的最後一刻分散購買。我想這裡面有兩個問題。第一，您預計這種動態何時會見底並可能開始從更多的混合轉向分散中受益？然後，我想，通常情況下，您預計這種轉變會對每千次曝光費用產生更積極的影響。但我想是這樣的——你知道有很多選擇可以在最後一刻做出決定，而不必擔心花掉他們的錢。這是否表明即使轉向分散，在線每千次展示費用也可能會受到壓力？

I think there are 2 questions there. One is a timing of when we -- in the pipeline when we have scatter deals. Because of the nature of scatter, they're placed very close to the campaign time. So that is impacting Q3 because we had a fairly robust pipeline early in the quarter that really declined over time as we got closer to the end of the quarter.

我認為有兩個問題。一是我們正在醞釀分散交易的時機。由於分散的性質，它們被放置在非常接近活動時間的位置。這會影響第三季度，因為我們在本季度初擁有相當強勁的管道，但隨著時間的推移，隨著接近季度末，管道確實有所下降。

And then from a CPM standpoint, the less scatter dollars you have on a year-over-year basis is what drives the CPM as a percentage down. So when we saw -- we had about 27% decline in the CPM revenue year-over-year. So when you have that scatter revenue, sorry, you have pressure on the CPM. So the scatter dollars typically are higher premium-priced CPMs, but when we saw the pipeline evaporating, that impacted Q3 this year for us.

然後從每千次曝光費用的角度來看，逐年分散的資金越少，就會導致每千次曝光費用百分比下降。因此，當我們看到 - 每千次曝光費用 (CPM) 收入同比下降了約 27%。因此，當您的收入分散時，抱歉，您的每千次曝光費用 (CPM) 就會受到壓力。因此，分散的資金通常是較高的溢價每千次曝光費用，但當我們看到通路蒸發時，這對我們今年的第三季產生了影響。

Okay. That's helpful, Katie. I guess more on a go-forward basis, though. If advertisers are increasing -- having a lot more choices to make their last-minute decisions on scatter, that would seem to imply that there is enough choices out there that they're not going to be frantic, had to pay up to get their needs. I mean is that fair? Or do you still expect scatter to -- scatter pricing to continue to be higher even in that environment?

好的。這很有幫助，凱蒂。不過，我認為更多的是在未來的基礎上。如果廣告商正在增加——有更多的選擇來做出關於分散的最後一刻的決定，這似乎意味著有足夠的選擇，他們不會瘋狂，不得不付費才能獲得他們的廣告。需要。我的意思是這樣公平嗎？或者，即使在這種環境下，您仍然期望分散定價繼續走高嗎？

I think we still think scatter will go higher. I think it's more a convenience than friction issue. Literally, if you're on Facebook today, you can buy an ad an hour before it runs, and that doesn't exist in the cinema advertising business or in the television business. We're making a lot of efforts on the operational side, beginning hopefully as early as next year, to be able to be much closer to the actual advertised time that we can place an ad. But I think they're 2 different things. And I think one is a operational thing, and one is a pricing thing, and we don't see those as being related. I don't know, Cliff, if you want to opine on that as well, you can.

我認為我們仍然認為分散度會更高。我認為這比摩擦問題更方便。從字面上看，如果你現在使用 Facebook，你可以在廣告投放前一小時購買廣告，而這在電影廣告業務或電視業務中是不存在的。我們在營運方面做了很多努力，希望最早從明年開始，以便能夠更接近我們可以投放廣告的實際廣告時間。但我認為它們是兩個不同的東西。我認為一個是營運問題，一個是定價問題，我們不認為它們是相關的。我不知道，克里夫，如果你也想對此發表意見，你可以。

Well, yes, Eric, what I would tell you is the good news is, is that we've got a lot more of our scatter dollars to be committed upfront. That's a good thing. We lock it in, we know it's on the books, and it's ours. Now, of course, that comes at a lower CPM because it's moved upfront. What you need is enough of a pipeline to follow it up and have more scatter at those higher CPMs. And that scatter's out there. We're just fighting for it with more advertisers, with more media companies than there ever were. But there is a lot of upside still to us creating a lot of new scatter clients that just don't exist today, especially with this new inventory. This new inventory is going to attract some brands. I've talked to many of them myself, brands that may not have thought about cinema in a long time that are interested in this inventory that I think will create new demand for scatter. That will be last-minute and be premium.

嗯，是的，艾瑞克，我要告訴你的好消息是，我們有更多的分散資金可以預先投入。這是好事。我們把它鎖起來，我們知道它在書上，它是我們的。當然，現在每千次曝光費用 (CPM) 會降低，因為它已提前支付。您需要的是足夠的管道來跟進，並在更高的每千次展示費用下獲得更多的分散性。這種分散就在那裡。我們只是與更多的廣告商、更多的媒體公司一起為此奮鬥。但是，我們仍然有很多好處，可以創造許多今天還不存在的新分散客戶，尤其是有了這個新庫存。這個新庫存將吸引一些品牌。我自己和他們中的許多人交談過，這些品牌可能很長時間沒有考慮過電影，但對這個庫存感興趣，我認為這將創造新的分散需求。這將是最後一刻，而且是溢價。

Okay. And then just final question, if I may. I don't know if anything changed in general, I guess, with that kind of move to close, but I guess how close is the spending happening to campaigns in general from your point of view? I know you noted that, obviously, someone could buy Facebook ad an hour before they want to, but it's not possible in theaters. So for NCM, how close is the spend happening to a campaign or some kind of screens because thinking about you sort of marketing the new post-showtime strategy in mid-September but noted that it was too late to impact Q4 as the dollars had been spent. So I guess how far in advance is that kind of cut-off these days?

好的。最後一個問題，可以的話。我想，隨著這種接近結束的舉動，我不知道總體上是否有任何變化，但我想從您的角度來看，總體上支出與競選活動的接近程度如何？我知道你注意到，很明顯，有人可以提前一小時購買 Facebook 廣告，但這在戲院是不可能的。因此，對於NCM 來說，在一場活動或某種螢幕上的支出有多接近，因為考慮到您在9 月中旬行銷新的放映後策略，但注意到現在已經太晚了，無法影響第四季度，因為美元已經花費。所以我猜現在這種截止時間提早了多久？

Well, I think you're asking 2 different questions. I mean we write business a week before. I mean we'll write a deal on a Thursday that will start on a Monday or Tuesday. I mean that's not so uncommon. We just wrote a big fourth quarter scatter deal like that.

嗯，我認為你在問兩個不同的問題。我的意思是我們一週前寫過生意。我的意思是，我們將在周四簽訂協議，該協議將於週一或週二開始。我的意思是這並不少見。我們剛剛寫了一個像這樣的第四季分散交易。

The situation with the money that we -- that had kind of dried up the fourth quarter, when you're looking for big money for these platinum deals or big money for these post-showtime deals, that -- a lot of that was committed early, it was committed upfront. But there is a lot of scatter that breaks that we write sometimes a week before or same week of. And now on Tom's point, we like to be even -- we like to be able to do it day of or 2 days before, but we're just not there yet.

我們的資金狀況——第四季度有點枯竭，當你為這些白金交易尋找大筆資金或為這些演出後交易尋找大筆資金時，——其中很多資金都已投入使用很早就，它是預先承諾的。但有時我們會在一週前或同一周寫下很多分散的內容。現在就湯姆的觀點而言，我們希望保持平衡——我們希望能夠在一天或兩天前完成，但我們還沒有做到這一點。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Jim Goss of Barrington Research.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Barrington Research 的 Jim Goss。

A couple of them. First, in terms of the approach of selling the Platinum Spot, are you looking at generally a single advertiser to block off films for, say, a consumer product with broad appeal across demographics? Or are you instead looking to, say, multiple targeted ads that might fit whatever genre or ratings or whatever might differentiate the movies?

其中有幾個。首先，就銷售白金點的方式而言，您是否通常會考慮由單一廣告商來封鎖電影，例如對不同人群具有廣泛吸引力的消費品？或者您正在尋找多個有針對性的廣告，這些廣告可能適合任何類型或收視率或任何可能使電影與眾不同的內容？

One of the things that's flexible about our network is the ability to customize a buy, whether it's demographically or by rating. So we're really looking for big brands with big budgets that appreciate cinema and they want their kind of imagery and brand on a big screen and are willing to make a commitment, both financially and with a piece of creative. So I think what you'll see, it's a little early to tell since we're really just coming out with it but I think you'll see a number of advertisers coming in the platform on a regular basis.

我們網路的靈活性之一是能夠客製化購買，無論是按人口統計還是按評級。因此，我們確實在尋找預算大、欣賞電影的大品牌，他們希望在大螢幕上展示自己的形象和品牌，並願意在財務和創意方面做出承諾。所以我認為你會看到什麼，現在說還為時過早，因為我們真的剛剛推出它，但我認為你會看到許多廣告商定期進入該平台。

Okay. So you might do serve a mix of those 2 approaches. Is that what you're basically saying?

好的。因此，您可能會混合使用這兩種方法。這基本上就是你所說的嗎？

Yes.

是的。

If somebody will buy everything, obviously, you're willing -- okay. I think you mentioned you were using some technologies for identifying moviegoers entering the theaters and following up with relevant ads. Now I'm wondering if you're thinking about or experiencing a likelihood of some pushback as customers notice this connection?

如果有人願意買所有東西，顯然，你願意——好吧。我想您提到您正在使用一些技術來識別進入影院的電影觀眾並跟進相關廣告。現在我想知道，當客戶注意到這種連結時，您是否正在考慮或經歷一些阻力的可能性？

We have not done any pushback. We've done a half a dozen sort of programs like this using location-based resources. And candidly, most consumers who are seeing ads on their cell phones or on the Internet are often being attributed from another ad or from another advertiser. So it's pretty common practice in the advertising business to attribute back, and we haven't had any negative response.

我們沒有做任何反擊。我們已經使用基於位置的資源完成了六個類似的程序。坦白說，大多數在手機或網路上看到廣告的消費者常常被歸因於另一個廣告或另一個廣告商。因此，在廣告業務中進行歸因是很常見的做法，而且我們還沒有收到任何負面回應。

Well, very importantly, we follow all the rules related to privacy. So if you walk into our theater, we don't know your name, we don't know who you are, all we can do is identify your phone and know that you were in that theater. So everything we do is within the standard guidelines of the digital advertising medium.

嗯，非常重要的是，我們遵守與隱私相關的所有規則。因此，如果您走進我們的劇院，我們不知道您的名字，我們不知道您是誰，我們所能做的就是識別您的手機並知道您在那個劇院裡。因此，我們所做的一切都符合數位廣告媒體的標準準則。

Our final question comes from the line of Jason Kim of Goldman Sachs.

我們的最後一個問題來自高盛的 Jason Kim。

So in terms of the shorter lead cycle for advertisements, what sort of technology or other investments do you think you envision making to make the buying experience a bit more seamless for advertisers? Any magnitude of the investment you think you can share with us?

那麼，就縮短廣告週期而言，您認為您打算採取什麼樣的技術或其他投資來使廣告商的購買體驗更加無縫？您認為可以與我們分享的投資規模有多大？

Well, we have a major initiative going on in our company that will really streamline the advertising process from the beginning to end, which will allow us to be nearly as dynamic as a digital advertiser. And we've made a commitment in this process starting almost 2 years ago, really, in the planning phases. We haven't actually commented on the size of that investments, but I think we can get to that probably next year when we actually get to our full year forecast and guidance for 2020. But I can assure it's a major initiative of our company, and it's a significant opportunity and investment for our company as well.

嗯，我們公司正在進行一項重大舉措，該舉措將真正簡化從頭到尾的廣告流程，這將使我們幾乎像數位廣告商一樣充滿活力。我們從大約兩年前開始就在這個過程中做出了承諾，實際上是在規劃階段。我們實際上尚未評論這些投資的規模，但我認為，當我們真正獲得 2020 年全年預測和指導時，我們可能會在明年做出評論。但我可以保證，這是我們公司的重大舉措，對我們公司來說也是一個重要的機會和投資。

And Jason, just as a note. As we continue to migrate our technology systems and improve those systems, our focus is on cloud-based applications. So what you see with a cloud-based application is significantly less capital investment than what we've traditionally had with our homegrown, internally developed systems. And you'll see an increase in -- potentially an increase in OpEx and a decrease in CapEx. So you see a benefit to the cash flow of the business without having to make those large initial investments because it's a software in the cloud application. So that's -- as we move forward in our technology platform, that's the direction we're heading.

還有傑森，只是作為一個註釋。隨著我們繼續遷移我們的技術系統並改進這些系統，我們的重點是基於雲端的應用程式。因此，您所看到的基於雲端的應用程式的資本投資比我們傳統上自行開發的內部開發系統的資本投資要少得多。你會看到營運支出的增加和資本支出的減少。因此，您可以看到企業現金流的好處，而無需進行大量初始投資，因為它是雲端應用程式中的軟體。所以，當我們在科技平台上不斷前進時，這就是我們前進的方向。

I've got it. That's helpful. And then in terms of the guidance reduction for the year, so under the implied fourth quarter guidance after your third quarter results, how much of your sort of a guidance, that takedown, is related to just being a little bit more conservative with the scatter business versus so much of the business just coming at the very last week of the year, so just leaving some room for conservatism? Like what are you attributing to the -- in terms of adjustments to your own assumptions there?

我懂了。這很有幫助。然後，就今年的指導減少而言，根據第三季度業績後隱含的第四季度指導，您的指導（即取消）在多大程度上與對分散情況更加保守有關與今年最後一周才出現的大量業務相比，所以只是為保守主義留下一些空間？就像您對自己的假設的調整有何貢獻？

So let me say this just about the fourth quarter. So we feel confident in our revised guidance, and we've guided conservatively for the remainder of the year given how the back-end-loaded film schedule looks and the potential for significant make-goods depending on it. So as you know, December is one of the strongest months of the year. There's obviously some really big movies happening during that time, including Star Wars. So -- but we feel that our guidance is conservative. And Katie, you can add to that, if you'd like.

讓我談談第四季的情況。因此，我們對修訂後的指導充滿信心，並考慮到後端加載的電影時間表的外觀以及依賴它的重要製作的潛力，我們在今年剩餘時間裡採取了保守的指導。如你所知，十二月是一年中最強勁的月份之一。顯然，那段時間發生了一些非常大的電影，包括《星際大戰》。所以——但我們認為我們的指導是保守的。凱蒂，如果你願意的話，你可以補充一下。

Yes. I mean I think there are definitely some moving parts to the end of the year, which may drive that $8 billion (sic) [million] make-good either positive from that or negatively from that. So it just depends on how Star Wars opens up against the projection that everybody is estimating. And then we're in the full 5 weeks. The last 5 weeks of the year are really where all the money is for us in the quarter. So we want to be somewhat conservative given what we saw in Q3 with a robust pipeline that really tailed off toward the end of the quarter. So we're being cautious about that, I think, is how I would put it.

是的。我的意思是，我認為到今年年底肯定會有一些變化，這可能會推動 80 億美元（原文如此）[百萬]的彌補，無論是積極的還是消極的。因此，這僅取決於《星際大戰》如何根據每個人的預測展開。然後我們就進入了整整 5 週。一年中的最後 5 週確實是我們本季所有資金的集中時間。因此，考慮到我們在第三季看到的強勁管道，但到本季末確實有所減少，我們希望保持一定保守。所以我們對此持謹慎態度，我想，這就是我的說法。

Okay. Thanks for the questions. Go ahead.

好的。感謝您的提問。前進。

Sorry. I was just going to say we have reached the end of the question and answer session, and I'll turn the call back over to Tom.

對不起。我只是想說我們的問答環節已經結束，我會將電話轉回給湯姆。

Thank you for your questions. I'm very proud to be leading NCM and its talented and hardworking management team and staff into the future. Although third quarter was not as strong as we had expected, we still grew our top line and have put a strategic growth plan in place that's designed to create shareholder value in many ways: number one, increasing the quality and value of our media inventory; number two, upgrading our sales planning proposal and inventory tracking systems to make it easier and faster for advertisers to buy cinema; and to continuing -- three, to invest in digital entertainment products to improve consumer engagement and create new digital ad inventory and data; four, building a data-driven business to be able to meet the needs of today's modern video advertising marketplace and monetizing our digital products; and five, expanding our affiliate network by primarily focusing on adding key affiliates and more screens in select markets, which will increase our overall impressions space and strengthen our network reach.

謝謝您的提問。我非常自豪能夠領導 NCM 及其才華橫溢、勤奮的管理團隊和員工走向未來。儘管第三季沒有我們預期的那麼強勁，但我們的營收仍然成長，並製定了策略成長計劃，旨在透過多種方式創造股東價值：第一，提高媒體庫存的品質和價值；第二，升級銷售規劃方案和庫存追蹤系統，讓廣告主更方便、更快速地購買戲院；並繼續——第三，投資數位娛樂產品，以提高消費者參與度並創建新的數位廣告庫存和數據；第四，建立數據驅動的業務，以滿足當今現代影片廣告市場的需求，並使我們的數位產品貨幣化；第五，擴大我們的聯盟，主要專注於在選定市場中添加關鍵聯盟行銷人員和更多螢幕，這將增加我們的整體印象空間並加強我們的網路覆蓋範圍。

The strategic plan will allow us to return to our original focus of providing investors with a unique investment opportunity that delivers a combination of high current dividends and stock price growth potential. I look forward to working closely with our NCM team to continue to drive our strategic vision and leverage our unique position in the media marketplace as the leading company uniting brands with the power of movies and engaging movie fans anytime and everywhere, and accelerating NCM's growth and increasing the value of our company for our stockholders, employees, exhibition partners and advertising clients alike.

該策略計劃將使我們能夠回歸最初的重點，即為投資者提供獨特的投資機會，同時提供高目前股息和股價成長潛力。我期待與我們的NCM 團隊密切合作，繼續推動我們的戰略願景，並利用我們作為領先公司在媒體市場中的獨特地位，將品牌與電影的力量結合起來，隨時隨地吸引影迷，加速NCM 的發展和發展。為我們的股東、員工、展覽合作夥伴和廣告客戶等增加我們公司的價值。

Thank you for listening to our call, and we'll see you at the movies.

感謝您收聽我們的電話，我們電影見。

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation, and have a wonderful evening.

今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與，祝您有個美好的夜晚。