華納兄弟探索 (WBD) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Warner Bros. Discovery Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Additionally, please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，歡迎參加華納兄弟探索頻道 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）此外，請注意，今天的電話會議正在錄音。

I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Andrew Slabin, Executive Vice President, Global Investor Strategy. Sir, you may begin.

我現在將會議交給全球投資者策略執行副總裁安德魯‧斯萊賓 (Andrew Slabin) 先生主持。先生，您可以開始了。

Good morning, and welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery's Q3 Earnings Call. With me today is David Zaslav, President and CEO; Gunnar Wiedenfels, our CFO; and JB Perrette, CEO and President, Global Streaming and Games.

早安，歡迎來到華納兄弟探索頻道的第三季財報電話會議。今天與我在一起的是總裁兼執行長 David Zaslav； Gunnar Wiedenfels，我們的財務長； JB Perrette，全球串流媒體和遊戲執行長兼總裁。

Before we start, I'd like to remind you that today's conference call will include forward-looking statements that we make pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include comments regarding the company's future business plans, prospects and financial performance. These statements are made based on management's current knowledge and assumptions about future events that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的電話會議將包括我們根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的安全港條款做出的前瞻性聲明。前瞻性聲明包括有關該公司的評論未來的業務計劃、前景和財務業績。這些陳述是基於管理層目前對未來事件的了解和假設而做出的，這些事件涉及可能導致實際結果與我們的預期有重大差異的風險和不確定性。

In providing projections and other forward-looking statements, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update them. For additional information on important factors that could affect these expectations, please see the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and its reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. A copy of our Q3 earnings release, trending schedule and accompanying slide deck will be available on our website at ir.wbd.com.

在提供預測和其他前瞻性陳述時，該公司不承擔任何更新它們的意圖或義務。有關可能影響這些預期的重要因素的更多信息，請參閱該公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括但不限於該公司最新的 10-K 表年度報告及其 10-10 表報告。Q 和表格8-K。我們的第三季收益發布、趨勢時間表和隨附投影片的副本將在我們的網站 ir.wbd.com 上提供。

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

至此，我很高興將電話轉給大衛。

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Let me start by saying that we are hopeful we will reach a resolution to the SAG-AFTRA strike soon. We made a last and final offer, which met virtually all of the union's goals and includes the highest wage increase in 40 years and believe it provides for a positive outcome for all involved. We recognize that we need our creative partners to feel valued and rewarded, and look forward to both sides getting back to the business of telling great stories.

大家好，感謝您加入我們。首先我要說的是，我們希望能夠盡快就 SAG-AFTRA 罷工問題達成解決方案。我們提出了最後的也是最後的報價，它幾乎滿足了工會的所有目標，包括 40 年來最高的工資增長，並相信它為所有參與者提供了積極的結果。我們認識到，我們需要我們的創意合作夥伴感到受到重視和回報，並期待雙方重新回到講述精彩故事的業務上。

As the strikes underscored, these are challenging times. Our industry is facing accelerated disruption and a rapidly changing marketplace. And to succeed long term, we must be flexible and adaptable and have a strong arsenal of assets that will enable us to maintain momentum amidst ever-evolving consumer behavior. And at Warner Bros. Discovery, we are and we do.

正如罷工所強調的那樣，這是一個充滿挑戰的時代。我們的產業正面臨加速的顛覆和快速變化的市場。為了長期成功，我們必須保持靈活性和適應性，並擁有強大的資產庫，使我們能夠在不斷變化的消費者行為中保持動力。在華納兄弟探索頻道，我們就是這樣，我們也確實如此。

For the last 19 months, we have been relentlessly focused on reinventing this company, repositioning it as a more stable, efficient free cash flow-generating business. While we are and always will be a work in progress and while we are thoughtfully navigating industry-wide challenges like a strained advertising market, our teams continue to execute on our strategy.

在過去的 19 個月裡，我們一直不懈地致力於重塑這家公司，將其重新定位為更穩定、更有效率的自由現金流生成企業。儘管我們現在並將永遠是一項正在進行的工作，儘管我們正在深思熟慮地應對全行業的挑戰（例如緊張的廣告市場），但我們的團隊仍在繼續執行我們的策略。

More broadly, we generated over $2 billion in free flow in Q3 and are on track to meaningfully exceed $5 billion for the year. This has made it possible for us to aggressively pay down our debt, which we've reduced by nearly $12 billion since launching the company last year. And as we've said, by the end of the fourth quarter, we will be meaningfully below 4x net levered.

更廣泛地說，我們在第三季創造了超過 20 億美元的自由流量，並且預計今年將大幅超過 50 億美元。這使我們能夠積極償還債務，自去年公司成立以來，我們已減少了近 120 億美元的債務。正如我們所說，到第四季末，我們的淨槓桿率將明顯低於 4 倍。

While paying down debt and delevering will remain a top priority for us, we're also now in a position to allocate more capital toward growth opportunities. Our asset mix, one of the most complete and diversified in the industry, positions us as well as any to drive long-term value. We possess the full slate of production and distribution capabilities as one of the preeminent makers and sellers of content in the world. And as you know, we are home to many of the most iconic brands and franchises in the history of entertainment.

雖然償還債務和去槓桿化仍將是我們的首要任務，但我們現在也能夠將更多資本分配給成長機會。我們的資產組合是業內最完整、最多元化的資產組合之一，這使我們以及其他任何人都能夠推動長期價值。作為世界上傑出的內容製作者和銷售者之一，我們擁有全套的製作和發行能力。如您所知，我們是娛樂史上許多最具代表性的品牌和特許經營權的所在地。

Of course, we believe the real power lies not just in the storytelling IP, brands and franchises, as formidable as they are, but in the opportunities we create as one company to maximize their impact, reach and, ultimately, their value. As I said previously, a lot of our most popular IP has been underused. There are great new stories waiting to be told and exciting new ways to bring those stories and characters to life across screens, consumer products, experiences and more.

當然，我們相信，真正的力量不僅在於強大的說故事的智慧財產權、品牌和特許經營權，還在於我們作為一家公司創造的機會，以最大限度地發揮其影響力、影響力並最終實現其價值。正如我之前所說，我們許多最受歡迎的 IP 都沒有得到充分利用。有精彩的新故事等待講述，也有令人興奮的新方式讓這些故事和角色在螢幕、消費產品、體驗等領域栩栩如生。

We recognize that we can do a better job of managing and maximizing the value of our blue-chip franchises like Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and Superman. Each represents an ecosystem of storytelling possibilities, and we intend to capitalize on their potential with a more focused franchise management approach and look forward to bringing in a new Global Head of Franchise, as we discussed 2 weeks ago. This person will work closely with the leaders of our businesses to identify opportunities to expand the reach and impact our storytelling IP across the full range of consumer touch points. More on this soon.

我們認識到，我們可以更好地管理《權力的遊戲》、《哈利波特》和《超人》等藍籌系列電影，並使其價值最大化。每一個都代表了一個講故事的可能性的生態系統，我們打算透過更集中的特許經營管理方法來利用它們的潛力，並期待引入新的全球特許經營主管，正如我們兩週前討論的那樣。此人將與我們企業的領導者密切合作，尋找機會擴大影響力，並在各個消費者接觸點上影響我們講故事的智慧財產權。很快就會有更多相關內容。

One of the big advantages we have at Warner Bros. Discovery is that we own and control all of our content and storytelling IP, and that allows us to distribute it in ways that maximize reach and profitability. Of course, the top priority for us is our streaming service, Max. We continue to be very pleased with the strong foundation that JB, Casey and the team have put in place to first stabilize and now grow the business.

華納兄弟探索頻道的一大優勢是我們擁有並控制我們所有的內容和講故事的知識產權，這使我們能夠以最大化影響力和盈利能力的方式分發它。當然，我們的首要任務是我們的串流服務 Max。我們仍然對 JB、Casey 和團隊為穩定業務和發展業務奠定的堅實基礎感到非常滿意。

In Q3, we generated another quarter of positive EBITDA behind both distribution and advertising revenue growth. And we recently layered in live programming, underpinning a broad content offering that appeals to a wider spectrum of consumers and is showing increased engagement and lower churn.

在第三季度，我們在發行和廣告收入成長的推動下又實現了一個季度的正 EBITDA。我們最近對直播節目進行了分層，支持了廣泛的內容產品，吸引了更廣泛的消費者，並顯示出更高的參與度和更低的流失率。

And while the third quarter subscriber numbers were impacted by one of our lightest original content schedules in years, in part due to the strike constraints that compelled us to delay some releases, as well as a further decline in the overlapping discovery+ subscriber base, which we expected and discussed with you, we are very excited about our more robust content slate as we head into the strong 2024 and beyond.

儘管第三季的訂戶數量受到了我們多年來最輕的原創內容計劃之一的影響，部分原因是罷工限制迫使我們推遲了一些發布，以及重疊的發現+訂戶基礎的進一步下降，我們正如您所期待並與您討論的那樣，隨著我們邁入強勁的2024 年及以後，我們對我們更強大的內容感到非常興奮。

We've got a fantastic lineup planned, including the new season of True Detective: Night Country with Oscar winner, Jodie Foster, which will premiere on January 14; followed in the spring by the new limited series, The Regime, starring Oscar winner, Kate Winslet.

我們已經計劃好了精彩的陣容，包括由奧斯卡獎得主朱迪福斯特主演的新一季《真探：夜國》將於 1 月 14 日首播；緊隨其後的是春季推出的新限量劇集《政權》，由奧斯卡獎得主凱特溫斯蕾主演。

Later in the year, we'll see The Sympathizer, an espionage thriller based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by the same name and produced and co-starring Robert Downey Jr.; The Franchise, a half-hour comedy about superhero moviemaking created by Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes; The Penguin, a limited series based on the DC comics character set in the Matt Reeves Batverse and starring Colin Farrell.

今年晚些時候，我們將看到《同情者》，這是一部根據普立茲獎獲獎同名小說改編的間諜驚悚片，由小勞勃道尼製作並共同主演。 《The Franchise》是一部半小時的關於超級英雄電影製作的喜劇，由阿曼多·伊安努奇 (Armando Iannucci) 和薩姆·門德斯 (Sam Mendes) 創作； 《企鵝》是一部以 DC 漫畫馬特里夫斯蝙蝠宇宙中的角色設定並由科林法瑞爾主演的限定劇。

And we're also looking forward to new seasons of award-winning series such as House of the Dragon and Curb Your Enthusiasm, just to name a few. And in 2025, we'll have brand-new seasons of The Last of Us, Euphoria, White Lotus and more. We're confident this great new content will further fuel Max' popularity, both domestically and around the world. Coupled with our new live programming, it really does provide an exceptional offering for consumers.

我們也期待新一季的得獎劇集，例如《龍之家》和《抑制你的熱情》等等。 2025 年，我們將推出全新影集《最後生還者》、《幸福感》、《白蓮花》等。我們相信，這精彩的新內容將進一步推動 Max 在國內和世界各地的受歡迎程度。加上我們新的現場節目，它確實為消費者提供了卓越的服務。

In October, we launched CNN Max, a 24/7 streaming offering with live news, analysis and original programming from the most recognizable news brand in the world. And while CNN is a strong linear asset, we also appreciate there's a segment of the population, mostly young people, who don't subscribe to cable. And this new streaming product appeals to them as well, as evidenced by CNN Max viewers being nearly 20 years younger than traditional linear viewers and the vast majority of our CNN Max viewers being non-pay TV subs.

10 月，我們推出了 CNN Max，這是一個 24/7 的串流服務，提供來自世界上最知名的新聞品牌的即時新聞、分析和原創節目。雖然 CNN 是一項強大的線性資產，但我們也意​​識到有一部分人（主要是年輕人）不訂閱有線電視。這種新的串流媒體產品也對他們有吸引力，CNN Max 觀眾比傳統線性觀眾年輕近 20 歲，而且我們的 CNN Max 觀眾絕大多數是非付費電視訂閱者，就證明了這一點。

We're analyzing everything we're learning in these early stages, and we'll continue to iterate and improve the offering. But the key takeaway here is that we saw an opportunity and we were able to pivot quickly, seamlessly and decisively. And by providing CNN Max on the service, we're expanding our audience and our impact. The fact is what CNN does has never been more important or more impactful, and no one does it better.

我們正在分析我們在早期階段學到的一切，我們將繼續迭代和改進產品。但這裡的關鍵要點是，我們看到了機會，並且能夠快速、無縫且果斷地進行調整。透過在服務上提供 CNN Max，我們正在擴大我們的受眾和影響力。事實上，CNN 所做的事情從未如此重要或更具影響力，而且沒有人做得更好。

In my view, we have the very best journalists in the business. Right now, we have over 70 people on the ground across Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. And we've also got teams in Ukraine. They're in harm's way, working around the clock, reporting on these conflicts. And our teams bring not only their news reporting skills, but their deep knowledge of the regions, the geopolitical actors and the conflicts to bear in a way that really benefits the audience.

在我看來，我們擁有業界最優秀的記者。目前，我們在以色列、加薩、約旦河西岸和黎巴嫩的實地工作人員超過 70 人。我們在烏克蘭也有團隊。他們冒著危險，日以繼夜地工作，報告這些衝突。我們的團隊不僅擁有新聞報導技能，還擁有對地區、地緣政治參與者和衝突的深入了解，以真正使觀眾受益的方式。

If you go to the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, Congress, Embassy Row, CNN is on. And it's on in homes across the U.S. and everywhere across the globe. Our new Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide, Mark Thompson, is in the seat now. He's visited nearly all of the offices and has already spent considerable time with leaders and employees. We couldn't be more thrilled to have Mark at the helm.

如果你去白宮、五角大樓、國務院、國會、使館區，CNN 都會在場。它已經在美國和全球各地的家庭中流行起來。我們的 CNN 全球頻道新任董事長兼執行長馬克湯普森 (Mark Thompson) 現在就任。他幾乎走遍了所有的辦公室，並花了相當多的時間與領導和員工。有馬克來掌舵，我們感到無比興奮。

CNN is coming off a strong month in October with our new prime-time programming lineup off to a very strong start and audience levels for the U.S. network up double digits year-over-year in key demos, while also outpacing the competition on both linear and digital platforms where CNN remains the #1 digital news outlet in the world. We're excited to build on this momentum.

CNN 在 10 月表現強勁，我們的新黃金時段節目陣容取得了非常強勁的開局，美國網絡的關鍵演示觀眾數量同比增長了兩位數，同時在兩個線性頻道上也超越了競爭對手CNN 仍然是世界排名第一的數位新聞媒體的數位平台。我們很高興能夠在此勢頭的基礎上再接再厲。

We also launched sports on Max last month with the Bleacher Report Add-On Sports tier, which will include over 300 live sporting events annually, starting with the Major League Baseball postseason games, which were incredible, and now NHL and the NBA through the playoffs as well as NCAA Men's March Madness, U.S. soccer and more.

上個月，我們還透過Bleacher Report 附加體育級別在Max 上推出了體育賽事，其中每年將包括300 多場現場體育賽事，從令人難以置信的美國職棒大聯盟季後賽開始，現在又包括NHL 和NBA 季後賽以及 NCAA 男子瘋狂三月、美國足球等。

It's a huge advantage for us to have live sports and news, together with our bouquet of scripted entertainment, nonfiction and one of the best TV and motion picture libraries in the world. Not only does this make for an even better offering for consumers, as evidenced by the millions of subscribers who have enjoyed our sports and news offering in only the first few weeks, but it is also helping habituality, which is the most strongly correlated influence on churn. Similar to news, sports is bringing in an incremental and younger audience with Max viewers, on average, 12 years younger than traditional linear.

對我們來說，擁有現場體育賽事和新聞、大量有劇本的娛樂節目、非小說類書籍以及世界上最好的電視和電影圖書館之一是一個巨大的優勢。這不僅為消費者提供了更好的服務（數百萬訂閱者在最初幾週內就享受了我們的體育和新聞服務就證明了這一點），而且還有助於養成習慣，這是對消費者影響最強烈的習慣。攪拌。與新聞類似，體育賽事正在吸引越來越多的年輕觀眾，其觀眾平均比傳統線性節目年輕 12 歲。

We'll be launching Max in Latin America in the first quarter of 2024, followed by the Nordics, Iberia, Netherlands and Central and Eastern Europe starting in the spring. The service will launch in France and Belgium in 2024 as well, our first entirely new markets. And in markets where Max will not yet be available, discovery+ and Max will be the only place where fans can get every minute of the Olympics in Paris next summer. Lots to look forward to.

我們將於 2024 年第一季在拉丁美洲推出 Max，隨後從春季開始在北歐、伊比利亞、荷蘭以及中歐和東歐推出。該服務也將於 2024 年在法國和比利時推出，這是我們的第一個全新市場。在 Max 尚未上市的市場中，Discovery+ 和 Max 將成為粉絲們能夠觀看明年夏天巴黎奧運會每一分鐘的唯一地方。有很多值得期待的地方。

I also want to remind people that Max and HBO Max are still only available in markets that reach 45% of the world's broadband households, even excluding China, Russia and India. And while we will stay financially disciplined in our decision-making, we have significantly more growth to come over the next 2 to 3 years as we expand to over half of the world where we are not yet available.

我還想提醒人們，Max和HBO Max仍然只在覆蓋全球45%寬頻家庭的市場提供，甚至不包括中國、俄羅斯和印度。雖然我們在決策時將保持財務紀律，但隨著我們的業務擴展到全球一半以上尚未覆蓋的地區，我們在未來 2 至 3 年內將實現顯著的成長。

Looking across our full portfolio. Another area where we see particular opportunity is in gaming, where we have 11 world-class studios and are unique amongst our media peers as both a developer and publisher of games. Research has shown that Gen Z and Gen Alpha preferred gaming to any other form of entertainment, more than social media, more than watching television or listening to music, more than going to the movie theater. Games will be even more important to our fans in the future. And so having this asset in our arsenal is a critical differentiator and a real growth opportunity.

縱觀我們的完整產品組合。我們看到特殊機會的另一個領域是遊戲，我們擁有 11 個世界一流的工作室，作為遊戲開發商和發行商，我們在媒體同行中是獨一無二的。研究表明，與其他任何形式的娛樂相比，Z 世代和 Alpha 世代更喜歡遊戲，超過社交媒體，超過看電視或聽音樂，超過去電影院。未來，遊戲對我們的粉絲來說將更加重要。因此，在我們的武器庫中擁有這項資產是一個關鍵的差異化因素，也是一個真正的成長機會。

As a developer and publisher, we control quality and enjoy the full economic benefits of the games we produce as well as capturing the broader franchise benefits across the company. In 2023, we've released 2 of the industry's top 10 console games, including the #1 game released this year, Hogwarts Legacy, and we still have the Switch version to come launching next week. Our Harry Potter fans have immersed themselves in Hogwarts Legacy, playing more than 700 million hours to date. That engagement helps not only our games business, but also helps build and revitalize the entire Harry Potter franchise. And we know our fans want even more.

作為開發商和發行商，我們控製品質並享受我們製作的遊戲的全部經濟效益，並獲得整個公司更廣泛的特許經營利益。 2023 年，我們發布了業界排名前 10 的主機遊戲中的 2 款，包括今年發布的排名第一的遊戲《霍格華茲遺產》，我們還將在下週推出 Switch 版本。我們的《哈利波特》粉絲已經沉浸在《霍格華茲遺產》中，迄今為止，遊戲時間已超過 7 億小時。這種參與不僅有助於我們的遊戲業務，還有助於建立和振興整個哈利波特系列。我們知道我們的粉絲想要更多。

We've worked really hard on our games business for the last 1.5 years. And it's also a business where we have had a strong track record. Games has been a very successful and steady segment for Warner Bros. for over a decade. We've been profitable in each of the last 15 years, averaging more than $400 million in EBITDA the last 3 years alone. We believe games is a critical and very valuable asset for the company with a great deal of potential for growth.

在過去 1.5 年裡，我們在遊戲業務上非常努力。這也是我們擁有良好記錄的業務。十多年來，遊戲一直是華納兄弟非常成功且穩定的細分市場。過去 15 年我們每年都會獲利，光是過去 3 年的平均 EBITDA 就超過 4 億美元。我們相信遊戲對公司來說是一項重要且非常有價值的資產，具有巨大的成長潛力。

Games has consistently enjoyed among the highest ROIs of any of our businesses. And while we're smaller than some of the leading pure-play gaming companies, our operating margins are comparable to the best of the public companies. We're clearly punching above our weight, and we're just getting started.

遊戲一直是我們所有業務中投資報酬率最高的。雖然我們的規模比一些領先的純遊戲公司要小，但我們的營業利潤率與最好的上市公司相當。顯然，我們的努力超出了我們的承受範圍，而我們才剛開始。

And similar to the leaders in the industry, we've led with multiple key franchises, each of which is a $1 billion gaming property: Harry Potter; Game of Thrones; DC, which is mainly Batman today; and Mortal Kombat whose most recent release, Mortal Kombat 1, has sold nearly 3 million copies since its launch in mid-September. So we've got the proven IP and franchises, the world-class studios and publishing talent, and we intend to continue to invest more capital and more resources into the business.

與業界領導者類似，我們領導了多個關鍵特許經營權，每個特許經營權的價值均為 10 億美元：《哈利波特》；《哈利波特》；權力的遊戲; DC，今天主要是蝙蝠俠； 《真人快打》的最新版本《真人快打 1》自 9 月中旬推出以來已售出近 300 萬份。因此，我們擁有經過驗證的智慧財產權和特許經營權、世界一流的工作室和出版人才，並且我們打算繼續向該業務投入更多資本和資源。

Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console- and PC-based with 3 4-year release schedules to include more always-on game play through live services, multi-platform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms. Ultimately, we want to drive engagement and monetization of our longer cycles and at higher levels where for specific capabilities, we are currently under-scaled and see significant opportunity to generate greater post-purchase revenue.

我們的重點是將我們最大的特許經營權從主要基於遊戲機和 PC 的 3 個 4 年發布計劃轉變為通過實時服務、多平台和免費擴展提供更多始終在線的遊戲，目標是更多玩家在更多平台上花費更多時間。最終，我們希望推動更長週期和更高水準的參與度和貨幣化，對於特定能力，我們目前規模不足，並看到產生更大購買後收入的重大機會。

Bottom line, we've come a long way in 19 months and have built a very solid foundation for growth. I'm energized by what we've done in such a short period of time and even more so in where we are headed as a company. As I said at the outset, our industry is undergoing great disruption. And while there are some key factors that are out of our control like the economy and the impacts of the strike, we do have a very strong handle on those areas of our businesses that we can directly influence.

總而言之，我們在 19 個月內取得了長足的進步，並為成長奠定了非常堅實的基礎。我對我們在如此短的時間內所做的事情感到充滿活力，更對我們作為一家公司的發展方向感到振奮。正如我一開始所說的，我們的產業正在經歷巨大的顛覆。儘管有一些關鍵因素是我們無法控制的，例如經濟和罷工的影響，但我們確實對我們可以直接影響的業務領域擁有非常強大的控制力。

Clearly, there is still much more to be done, and our sleeves are rolled up and we're hard at work. I'm as confident as ever that we have the greatest assets, the strongest creative team and the absolute resolve to make Warner Bros. Discovery the very best it could be.

顯然，我們還有很多工作要做，我們已經捲起袖子，正在努力工作。我一如既往地相信，我們擁有最強大的資產、最強大的創意團隊以及將華納兄弟探索頻道打造成最好的絕對決心。

With that, I'll turn it over to Gunnar, and he'll walk you through the financials. Gunnar?

這樣，我會將其交給 Gunnar，他將引導您了解財務狀況。貢納爾？

Thank you, David. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us this morning. I'm very pleased with the strong progress that WBD continues to make across a number of fronts, particularly in light of the obstacles we and the industry have had to navigate, namely geopolitical and economic uncertainty and strike-related constraints. We are operating with both greater precision and focus as well as increased flexibility and adaptability.

謝謝你，大衛。大家早安，感謝您今天早上加入我們。我對 WBD 在多個領域繼續取得的強勁進展感到非常高興，特別是考慮到我們和產業必須克服的障礙，即地緣政治和經濟的不確定性以及與罷工相關的限制。我們的營運更加精準、專注，同時也提高了靈活性和適應性。

To that point, we've turned in another solid set of operating results as demonstrated by 22% ex-FX EBITDA growth, a year-on-year increase of over $500 million and very substantial free cash flow of nearly $2.1 billion. As a reminder, this is after our roughly $900 million of semiannual cash interest payment. On a trailing 12-month basis, we have now delivered $5.3 billion of free cash flow, a remarkable improvement in only 19 months as Warner Bros. Discovery, particularly in the light of where we started.

至此，我們已經交出了另一組穩健的經營業績，其中包括 22% 的除外匯 EBITDA 增長、同比增長超過 5 億美元以及近 21 億美元的大量自由現金流。提醒一下，這是在我們支付了大約 9 億美元的半年度現金利息之後。在過去 12 個月的基礎上，我們現在已經交付了 53 億美元的自由現金流，這是華納兄弟探索頻道在短短 19 個月內取得的顯著進步，特別是考慮到我們的起步階段。

This quarter, we repaid another $2.4 billion of debt, enabling us to address nearly all floating rate debt that was issued to finance the transaction. In October, we further repaid an additional $600 million of the term loan, leaving only $550 million of this [variable] and lately higher interest rate debt and bringing total debt repayments since closing of the transaction to nearly $12 billion.

本季度，我們又償還了 24 億美元的債務，使我們能夠解決幾乎所有為交易融資而發行的浮動利率債務。 10 月份，我們進一步償還了額外的 6 億美元定期貸款，只剩下 5.5 億美元的[可變]債務和最近更高的利率債務，使自交易結束以來的債務償還總額達到近 120 億美元。

We will continue to reduce debt as we generate cash, and net leverage will be comfortably below 4x at year-end, as previously guided. I am proud that WBD will exit this year with a fundamentally improved financial profile as compared to the beginning of this year regarding command and control, cost structure, profitability and cash flow generation and the balance sheet.

我們將在產生現金的同時繼續減少債務，年底淨槓桿率將輕鬆低於先前指導的 4 倍。我很自豪 WBD 今年將退出，與今年年初相比，在指揮和控制、成本結構、盈利能力和現金流生成以及資產負債表方面的財務狀況將得到根本改善。

Briefly on our Q3 segment results, which I will, as usual, discuss on an ex-FX basis. Overall Studios revenues increased 3%. Barbie, the highest grossing movie of 2023 thus far and the highest grossing movie in Warner Bros. history, was the primary driver of segment revenue. Games was also a contributor, which benefited from the release of Mortal Kombat 1 in September.

簡要介紹我們第三季的業績，我將像往常一樣，在排除外匯的基礎上進行討論。工作室整體收入成長了 3%。 《芭比娃娃》是 2023 年迄今票房最高的電影，也是華納兄弟史上票房最高的電影，也是該部門收入的主要動力。 Games 也是貢獻者，它受益於 9 月發布的《真人快打 1》。

Of course, weighing on this was the impact of the strikes on the production and delivery of TV content as TV revenues declined significantly, offsetting strong films and games performance. We also faced tough comparisons against certain content licensing deals last year. Finally, segment EBITDA decreased 6%, in part also due to greater marketing support behind film and game releases.

當然，影響因素是罷工對電視內容製作和交付的影響，因為電視收入大幅下降，抵消了電影和遊戲的強勁表現。去年我們也面臨與某些內容授權交易的嚴格比較。最後，部門 EBITDA 下降了 6%，部分原因是電影和遊戲發行背後加強了行銷支援。

At Networks, total revenue and EBITDA were impacted by a modest decline in distribution revenue and the continued challenging advertising marketplace, predominantly here in the U.S., where the market has continued to be weaker than we had hoped, while international markets on balance remain more stable in comparison.

在 Networks，總收入和 EBITDA 受到發行收入小幅下降和廣告市場持續充滿挑戰的影響，主要是在美國，該市場持續弱於我們的預期，而國際市場總體上仍較為穩定相比下。

Looking ahead to Q4, we will be helped by the strong deals we secured for the upfront year 2023-'24 and improving ratings trends on some of our core networks. Taken together, while the market environment continues to be soft, we are expecting an incremental improvement of our Networks segment ad sales in the fourth quarter.

展望第四季度，我們為 2023-24 年前期達成的強勁交易以及我們一些核心網絡的收視率趨勢改善將為我們帶來幫助。總而言之，雖然市場環境持續疲軟，但我們預期第四季網路部門的廣告銷售將逐步改善。

Turning to D2C. We ended Q3 with over 95 million subscribers, representing a modest sequential loss, largely as a result of an extraordinarily light content slate and some expected decline in the overlapping Discovery and Max subscribers. Revenues increased 5% as our core subscriber-related revenues, distribution and advertising grew 5% and 29%, respectively, while content decreased 17%.

轉向D2C。第三季結束時，我們的訂閱者數量超過 9,500 萬，環比略有下降，這主要是由於內容數量極少，以及 Discovery 和 Max 重疊訂戶的預期下降。收入成長了 5%，因為我們的核心訂閱者相關收入、發行和廣告收入分別成長了 5% 和 29%，而內容則下降了 17%。

Distribution growth was primarily due to price increases in the U.S. and certain international markets as well as a more favorable subscriber mix. As noted previously, wholesale subscribers, which have been declining, tend to have lower ARPUs than retail subscribers.

發行量成長主要是由於美國和某些國際市場的價格上漲以及更有利的訂戶組合。如前所述，一直在下降的批發訂戶的 ARPU 往往低於零售訂戶。

D2C adjusted EBITDA was positive $111 million, representing a $745 million year-over-year improvement, helped by both revenue growth and OpEx improvements with costs down 21%. Our D2C team has done a remarkable job improving the quality and financial profile of our streaming business.

D2C 調整後 EBITDA 為正 1.11 億美元，較去年同期成長 7.45 億美元，這得益於營收成長和營運支出改善以及成本下降 21%。我們的 D2C 團隊在提高串流媒體業務的品質和財務狀況方面做得非常出色。

Only 19 months into the combined operation as Warner Bros. Discovery and a few months after the launch of Max, we are now on track to at least breakeven or even profitable across the D2C segment, a swing of approximately $2 billion versus last year and very well ahead of our own plan. This is an incredibly valuable asset and provides a strong vantage point for our path to long-term sustainable growth.

華納兄弟探索頻道合併營運僅 19 個月，Max 推出幾個月後，我們現在預計在整個 D2C 領域至少實現盈虧平衡，甚至實現盈利，與去年相比增加了約 20 億美元，非常好。遠遠超出了我們自己的計劃。這是一項極其寶貴的資產，為我們實現長期可持續成長提供了強有力的優勢。

Turning briefly to consolidated results. Revenues increased 1% to nearly $10 billion, while adjusted EBITDA increased 22% to $2.97 billion. Year-to-date, adjusted EBITDA has improved by nearly $1.2 billion year-over-year on a pro forma basis even with pro forma Networks advertising revenue now down nearly $1 billion in the first 9 months of this year and the headwind from the ongoing work stoppage in Hollywood. We continue to expect that adjusted EBITDA for the full year will be in the $10.5 billion to $11 billion range.

簡要討論一下綜合結果。營收成長 1%，達到近 100 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 成長 22%，達到 29.7 億美元。年初至今，調整後的 EBITDA 預計將年增了近 12 億美元，儘管今年前 9 個月預計 Networks 廣告收入下降了近 10 億美元，而且持續的不利影響好萊塢停工。我們仍預計全年調整後 EBITDA 將在 105 億美元至 110 億美元範圍內。

Factors impacting where within that range we end naturally include the tone of the scatter market in the U.S., the performance of our 3 remaining feature film releases in December as well as the timing of content licensing.

影響我們在該範圍內結束的因素自然包括美國分散市場的基調、我們 12 月剩餘的 3 部長片發行的表現以及內容許可的時間。

Free cash flow for the quarter was a positive $2.1 billion versus a negative $200 million in the prior year quarter, which recall was the first full quarter of the combined company. The nearly $2.3 billion positive swing year-over-year in this quarter alone illustrates the meaningful strides that we have made on all fronts. Admittedly, this swing also includes some benefits from the strikes, though the vast majority of the improvement has been the result of our transformation efforts and relentless focus on efficiencies across the enterprise.

該季度的自由現金流為正 21 億美元，而去年同期為負 2 億美元，這是合併後公司的第一個完整季度。光是本季就實現了近 23 億美元的年比正向波動，這說明我們在各個方面都取得了有意義的進步。誠然，這種轉變也包括罷工帶來的一些好處，儘管絕大多數改進是我們轉型努力和對整個企業效率的不懈關注的結果。

From finding deeper cost synergies with more than $3 billion of incremental cost synergies flowing through this year to driving working capital improvements and far greater discipline on capital allocation, I continue to believe we're still very much in the early stages of realizing the full benefit of many of these initiatives.

從尋找更深層的成本協同效應（今年將產生超過 30 億美元的增量成本協同效應）到推動營運資本改善和更嚴格的資本配置紀律，我仍然相信我們仍處於實現全部效益的早期階段其中許多舉措。

I expect full year free cash flow to be similar to the trailing 12 months at the end of Q3, i.e., in this $5.3 billion range, give or take, with some further strike-related benefits balanced against the tough comp in Q4 free cash flow last year when we converted nearly 100% of our EBITDA to free cash flow.

我預計全年自由現金流將與第三季末的過去12 個月類似，即在53 億美元的範圍內，給予或接受一些進一步的與罷工相關的好處，以與第四季度自由現金流的艱難比較平衡去年，我們將近 100% 的 EBITDA 轉換為自由現金流。

Looking ahead to 2024 and with some preliminary thoughts from early-stage budgeting, I'd like to provide an initial perspective on a couple of points. On the positive side, I continue to be confident in our ability to further drive and maintain cost discipline. By the end of this year, we will have realized over $4 billion of cost synergies, and we will have already implemented initiatives to deliver more than $5 billion through 2024 and beyond, as I have detailed in the past.

展望 2024 年，根據早期預算的一些初步想法，我想就以下幾點提供初步看法。從正面的一面來看，我仍然對我們進一步推動和維持成本紀律的能力充滿信心。正如我過去詳細介紹的那樣，到今年年底，我們將實現超過 40 億美元的成本協同效應，並且我們已經實施了到 2024 年及以後交付超過 50 億美元的計劃。

Second, with our strong cash generation, significantly reduced leverage, the outstanding results our games business has delivered, the turn to profitability of our streaming business and the clear value in our ability to drive franchise returns across the company, we see more and more opportunity for investing in sustainable profitable growth.

其次，憑藉我們強勁的現金生成能力、顯著降低的槓桿率、遊戲業務取得的出色業績、串流媒體業務的盈利能力以及我們在整個公司推動特許經營回報的能力的明顯價值，我們看到了越來越多的機會投資可持續獲利成長。

As David alluded to and as we shared with you over the last quarter, as we are planning for 2024, we are examining ways to reinvest at a slightly faster pace into these growth avenues. This will be most relevant in areas such as marketing support for Max in the U.S. and in conjunction with launches in Latin America and EMEA, including new markets, particularly given the high-profile release schedule Casey has assembled and the Olympic Games in Paris next summer.

正如 David 所提到的以及我們在上個季度與您分享的那樣，正如我們對 2024 年的規劃一樣，我們正在研究以稍快的速度對這些成長途徑進行再投資的方法。這對於 Max 在美國的營銷支援以及拉丁美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲（包括新市場）的發布最為重要，特別是考慮到 Casey 制定的高調發佈時間表以及明年夏天在巴黎舉行的奧運會。

Our disciplined framework centered on rigorous analysis of subscriber acquisition costs, customer lifetime value and return on investment will firmly guide this process and support continued traction in revenue growth while maintaining our focus on longer-term segment profitability [targets].

我們以嚴格分析用戶獲取成本、客戶終身價值和投資回報為中心的嚴格框架將堅定地指導這一過程，並支持收入增長的持續增長，同時保持我們對長期細分盈利能力[目標]的關注。

On the challenging side, it is becoming increasingly clear now that much like 2023, 2024 will have its share of complexity, particularly as it relates to the possibility of continued sluggish advertising trends. To that point, while streaming advertising remains robust, the state of the overall linear ad market during the second half of this year has been disappointing. And looking ahead, while it is early, the timing of an ad recovery is currently difficult for any of us to predict with any conviction.

在充滿挑戰的方面，現在越來越清楚的是，與 2023 年一樣，2024 年也將面臨複雜性，特別是因為它與廣告趨勢持續低迷的可能性有關。到目前為止，雖然串流媒體廣告依然強勁，但今年下半年線性廣告市場的整體狀況卻令人失望。展望未來，雖然現在還為時過早，但目前我們任何人都很難有信心地預測廣告復甦的時機。

And finally, as we begin to formulate the initial framework of our TV production business getting back to work into 2024, there's simply a lot we don't know yet. While we have every confidence that this will eventually ride itself throughout the next year, and there should be an eventual tailwind from the end of the work stoppage, this is an evolving process, and there is a real risk at this point that some negative financial impact of the strike will extend into 2024 to some extent.

最後，當我們開始製定電視製作業務到 2024 年恢復工作的初始框架時，我們還有很多不知道的事情。雖然我們完全有信心這種情況最終會在明年自然發生，而且停工結束後應該會帶來最終的順風車，但這是一個不斷發展的過程，目前存在一些真正的風險，一些負面的財務狀況罷工的影響將在一定程度上延續到2024年。

Here's what these factors mean as we look ahead. We will exit 2023 with great momentum and leverage reduction. We have taken significant financial and operating risk off the table over the last year. And we are fully committed to our gross leverage target range of 2.5 to 3x adjusted EBITDA. That said, taking together the factors just mentioned for an early view on 2024, it is unlikely from today's perspective that we will hit our target leverage range by the end of 2024 without a meaningful recovery of the TV ad market.

以下是我們展望未來時這些因素的涵義。我們將以強勁的動力和降槓桿的方式退出2023年。去年，我們已經消除了重大的財務和營運風險。我們完全致力於實現調整後 EBITDA 2.5 至 3 倍的總槓桿目標範圍。也就是說，綜合考慮剛剛提到的 2024 年早期觀點的因素，從今天的角度來看，如果電視廣告市場沒有出現有意義的復甦，我們不太可能在 2024 年底之前達到我們的目標槓桿範圍。

We remain hopeful. Indeed, we expect to continue to generate very meaningful free cash flow. Key building blocks to consider for 2024 free cash flow remain: number one, around $1 billion tailwind of cash costs to achieve largely going away; number two, lower cash interest expense; and number three, further progress in AR- and AP-driven working capital initiatives, offset by the potential headwinds I've noted, most importantly, a potential further decline in U.S. advertising and, of course, the return to a normal content capital spend as well as the incremental growth investments I noted earlier.

我們仍然充滿希望。事實上，我們預計將繼續產生非常有意義的自由現金流。 2024 年自由現金流需要考慮的關鍵組成部分仍然存在：第一，大約 10 億美元的現金成本將基本消失；第二，降低現金利息支出；第三，AR 和 AP 驅動的營運資本計劃的進一步進展，被我注意到的潛在不利因素所抵消，最重要的是，美國廣告業可能進一步下降，當然還有恢復正常的內容資本支出以及我之前提到的增量成長投資。

I remain very comfortable with our leverage and our delevering path, as underpinned by the strength of our free cash flow conversion. Looking at our maturities over the next 5 years, the average amount of debt coming due is below $3 billion per year. Our debt stack is long-dated and low cost with a nearly 15-year average maturity and a weighted average coupon of a little over 4.6%. With the vast majority of our remaining debt being fixed, we will be largely insulated from rising rates and, in fact, will have increasing opportunity to retire debt at a significant discount.

我對我們的槓桿率和去槓桿化路徑仍然非常滿意，這得益於我們自由現金流轉換的實力。從我們未來 5 年的到期期限來看，每年平均到期債務金額低於 30 億美元。我們的債務堆疊期限長、成本低，平均期限近 15 年，加權平均票面利率略高於 4.6%。隨著我們絕大多數剩餘債務得到修復，我們將在很大程度上免受利率上升的影響，事實上，我們將有越來越多的機會以大幅折扣償還債務。

As I stated at the beginning of my remarks, in a very compressed time frame, we have made very significant progress as an organization in what remains a very complex and disruptive period in the industry. And our transformative efforts have better positioned us to compete, to respond to industry dynamics and to participate with strong operating leverage when the macroeconomic and ad market backdrop eventually turn positive.

正如我在演講開始時所說的那樣，在非常緊迫的時間內，我們作為一個組織在行業仍然非常複雜和顛覆性的時期取得了非常重大的進展。當宏觀經濟和廣告市場背景最終轉好時，我們的變革努力使我們能夠更好地競爭、響應產業動態並以強大的營運槓桿參與其中。

And with the initial phase of integration work largely behind us and the free cash flow engine continuing to fire on all cylinders, we are more focused than ever on driving sustainable and profitable growth that will enhance the financial and competitive profile of the company over the next several years with real upside to shareholder value.

隨著整合工作的初始階段已基本過去，自由現金流引擎繼續全速運轉，我們比以往任何時候都更加專注於推動可持續和盈利的增長，這將增強公司未來的財務和競爭狀況幾年來，股東價值得到了真正的提升。

Thank you again for your time this morning. And now David, JB and I are happy to take your questions.

再次感謝您今天早上抽出時間。現在 David、JB 和我很樂意回答你們的問題。

(Operator Instructions) And your first question comes from the line of Steven Cahall from Wells Fargo.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自富國銀行的 Steven Cahall。

So David, you've now experimented a bit more with licensing, putting some shows on some major streaming partners from the HBO library. And I think you've successfully had licensing arrangements in the past, such as the deal with Sky. So as you think about some of that really strong HBO content going forward, whether it's library, whether it's prior seasons of shows that are returning like True Detective or whether it's some of the franchise shows like Friends, how do you think about what should be on Max? And what can be elsewhere, particularly when there's partners that are willing to pay a lot and maybe have bigger reach than Max?

David，您現在已經在許可方面進行了更多嘗試，將一些節目從 HBO 庫的一些主要串流媒體合作夥伴上播放。我認為你們過去已經成功地進行了許可安排，例如與天空電視台的交易。因此，當你思考HBO 未來的一些真正強大的內容時，無論是圖書館，還是像《真探》這樣回歸的前幾季節目，還是像《老友記》這樣的特許經營節目，你會如何考慮應該做什麼？麥克斯?其他地方還能有什麼，特別是當有合作夥伴願意支付大量費用並且可能比 Max 擁有更大的影響力時？

And then you talked about the engagement that you've seen on Max from CNN and sports and Bleacher. I'm curious whether you think that content sits on Max well and justifies the cost. And on the sports side, where do you see kind of sports emerging into streaming over the long term? Is it an add-on tier? Is it integrated? Are you interested in partnerships with other DTC sports services like we've heard from a peer?

然後你談到了你在 CNN、體育頻道和露天看台上看到的 Max 的參與度。我很好奇您是否認為 Max 上的內容很好並且值得花費。在體育方面，從長遠來看，您認為哪些體育項目會在串流媒體中興起？它是附加層嗎？是整合的嗎？您是否有興趣與我們從同行那裡聽說的其他 DTC 體育服務機構建立合作夥伴關係？

Thanks so much, Steven. Well, look, we're probably the largest producer of TV and motion picture content, and we have one of the largest TV and motion picture libraries in the world. The good news is that on Max, we're getting to see what people use. And we get to see where they go first, how much time they spend with it. And so we are in the business of monetizing content through windows.

非常感謝，史蒂文。好吧，看，我們可能是最大的電視和電影內容生產商，我們擁有世界上最大的電視和電影庫之一。好消息是，在 Max 上，我們可以看到人們使用什麼。我們可以看到他們首先去了哪裡，花了多少時間。因此，我們致力於透過 Windows 將內容貨幣化。

There's a lot of content that we see as just for us. This is content that people come to Max for and it's important, and it's important that we distinguish the Max brand as being the highest-quality brand in the space. And really taking Casey's content out, whether it's White Lotus, The Last of Us, all of the great hits that HBO is having one of the great runs that are on Max and taking advantage of that.

我們認為有很多內容只適合我們。這就是人們來到 Max 的目的，這很重要，而且我們將 Max 品牌區分為該領域最高品質的品牌也很重要。真正把凱西的內容拿出來，無論是《白蓮花》、《最後生還者》，還是 HBO 在《麥斯》上播出的所有熱門影片，並充分利用了這一點。

Having said that, there's a lot of content that's not being consumed heavily on Max, and so those are the easy ones. Everything that we license is always non-exclusive. We keep a full -- the full rights to all of that content, and we have it on Max. And in some cases, we also have it on AVOD. So we really get the Monday-morning quarterback and take a look.

話雖如此，有很多內容在 Max 上並沒有被大量使用，所以這些都是簡單的內容。我們授權的所有內容始終是非排他性的。我們保留對所有這些內容的完整權利，並將其保留在 Max 上。在某些情況下，我們也會在 AVOD 上提供它。所以我們真的找到了周一早上的四分衛來看看。

In terms of some of the content that you're seeing, like DC, we put those in windows. So someone might have it for 3 months or 6 months. We always have those movies, and we have the complete set of all those movies. And candidly, we have found one. We won't do it unless the economics are significant. But in many cases, it really helps us. People come back and then they want to see the full bouquet of DC movies, and the only place to do that is with us or it enhances the quality of the DC library.

就您所看到的一些內容而言，例如 DC，我們將它們放在 Windows 中。所以有人可能會堅持 3 個月或 6 個月。我們總是有這些電影，而且我們有所有這些電影的完整集。坦白說，我們已經找到了一個。除非經濟效益顯著，否則我們不會這麼做。但在很多情況下，它確實對我們有幫助。人們回來後想要觀看全套 DC 電影，而唯一能做到這一點的地方就是我們，否則它會提高 DC 圖書館的品質。

So overall, I think we're trying to figure out exactly how to maximize the value, and we debate it all the time. I think we're doing a very good job. But as I mentioned, there'll be a lot that you'll never see because it just belongs to us.

總的來說，我認為我們正在努力弄清楚如何最大化價值，並且我們一直在爭論這個問題。我認為我們做得很好。但正如我所提到的，會有很多東西你永遠不會看到，因為它只屬於我們。

On the news and sports, look, we're only 6 weeks in, but it is quite encouraging that we've looked at what happens to the people that spend time watching news and sports, and churn is down and engagement is up. In some cases, engagement is up meaningfully. The people that are watching, in many cases, in the overwhelming majority of cases, are people that don't have pay TV. So we're reaching a whole new audience, and the audiences are younger.

在新聞和體育方面，我們只推出了 6 週，但令人鼓舞的是，我們已經了解了花時間觀看新聞和體育的人們所發生的情況，並且流失率下降了，參與度上升了。在某些情況下，參與度顯著提高。在很多情況下，絕大多數情況下，觀看的人都是沒有付費電視的人。因此，我們正在接觸全新的受眾，而且受眾更加年輕。

With CNN Max, we launched effectively a whole new service, and we really geared it toward a younger group of people that are more SVOD digital viewers. And that's what Mark Thompson and the team will continue to work to do. But I think it's a real advantage to have the great quality content, albeit for the last couple of months, we haven't had our best content. We pushed off True Detective because we couldn't have Jodie Foster to promote it. And so you'll see a very strong lineup next year.

透過 CNN Max，我們有效地推出了一項全新服務，並且我們真正將其面向更年輕的 SVOD 數位觀眾群。這就是馬克湯普森和他的團隊將繼續努力去做的事情。但我認為擁有高品質的內容是一個真正的優勢，儘管在過去的幾個月裡，我們還沒有提供最好的內容。我們推遲了《真探》，因為我們無法讓茱蒂佛斯特來宣傳它。所以明年你會看到一個非常強大的陣容。

We're very unique in that we'll have news, sports and entertainment and the library content. And we're so confident that we really want to get behind it in a bigger way. And the fact that we're now -- this quarter, we made $111 million. We said it's not about how many subscribers, it's about how much money. And we're starting to really see that we can generate more economics, but we think we can grow the service in a meaningful way.

我們的獨特之處在於我們提供新聞、體育和娛樂以及圖書館內容。我們非常有信心，我們真的想以更大的方式支持它。事實上，我們現在——本季度，我們賺了 1.11 億美元。我們說過，這不是有多少訂戶的問題，而是有多少錢的問題。我們開始真正看到我們可以產生更多的經濟效益，但我們認為我們可以以有意義的方式發展服務。

Finally, I think that the Sky issue was really different. There were some markets, and that market, all the rights were sold to Sky until the end of '25. There are some markets that we will not go into. In India, we were not making money for a lot of years. We weren't making money at Discovery. Warner wasn't making much money in terms of the Warner product. And so we structured a deal with Reliance with James Murdoch and that team. That was a great deal for us and a great deal for them. They get to package all of our content with cricket and some more local content.

最後，我認為天空問題確實不同。有一些市場，在那個市場，所有權利都賣給了 Sky，直到 25 年底。有些市場我們不會進入。在印度，我們很多年都沒有賺錢。我們在 Discovery 並沒有賺錢。就華納產品而言，華納並沒有賺多少錢。因此，我們與詹姆斯·默多克和該團隊與 Reliance 達成了一項協議。這對我們來說是一件大事，對他們來說也是一件大事。他們可以將我們所有的內容與板球和一些更多的本地內容打包在一起。

And it will come back to us. It will be branded. So in a few years, we'll look back and say, should we get into India now? But in the meantime, instead of it being a business that we're losing money in or only making a little, we're making a lot of money, and our brand is being built in India. That will be the case in a few markets. But we really have ambition now to take Max around the world. We think that -- and that's one of the things we want to invest in. Max and the gaming business, that's 2 businesses we think we could really see growth in.

它會回到我們身邊。它將被貼上品牌。所以幾年後，我們會回顧過去並說，我們現在應該進入印度嗎？但同時，我們不是在虧損或只賺一點錢，而是賺了很多錢，而且我們的品牌正在印度建立。一些市場將會出現這種情況。但我們現在確實有雄心壯志要帶麥克斯環遊世界。我們認為，這是我們想要投資的事情之一。Max 和遊戲業務，這是我們認為我們真正可以看到成長的兩項業務。

Finally, our sports business is meaningful. And for the last several years, we've seen the advantage of sports on subscription. So -- but we don't own all of sports. So the idea of being able to put it on our platform is great. But we're also going to be looking and are looking. I've been saying bundling is important. I think bundling in terms of the entertainment package is important. The ability for us to get together with others domestically or around the world, I think, is a better package for consumers where we could likely reduce churn and get better economics. I think that's the way the industry is going to go. And I think that's probably the way it's going to go on sports as well, which is good for all of us.

最後，我們的體育事業是有意義的。在過去的幾年裡，我們已經看到了體育訂閱的優勢。所以——但我們並不擁有所有的運動。因此，能夠將其放在我們的平台上的想法很棒。但我們也會一直在尋找。我一直在說捆綁很重要。我認為娛樂套餐的捆綁很重要。我認為，我們能夠與國內或世界各地的其他人聚集在一起，這對消費者來說是一個更好的方案，我們可以減少客戶流失並獲得更好的經濟效益。我認為這就是這個產業的發展方向。我認為這可能也是體育運動的發展方式，這對我們所有人都有好處。

And your next question comes from the line of Jessica Reif Ehrlich from Bank of America.

您的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Jessica Reif Ehrlich。

I mean it's clear you've done an amazing job restructuring the company and improving the balance sheet. But as you can see, even from today's numbers, the persistent headwinds from linear, which is your biggest business, is just such a challenge. So as you think through the next few years, and you've kind of outlined some of the growth areas like games and sports and news and maybe some of the traditional areas like film and driving DTC with critical IP, I'm just wondering like how are you thinking? Is that enough to offset these linear challenges?

我的意思是，很明顯，你們在公司重組和改善資產負債表方面做得非常出色。但正如您所看到的，即使從今天的數據來看，來自您最大業務的線性公司的持續阻力也是一個挑戰。因此，當您思考未來幾年時，您已經概述了一些成長領域，例如遊戲、體育和新聞，也許還有一些傳統領域，例如電影和利用關鍵知識產權推動 DTC，我只是想知道您覺得怎麼樣？這足以抵消這些線性挑戰嗎？

And in your conversations with advertisers, which is a big revenue driver, is it coming back to traditional? Or is it just permanently moving to digital and AVOD and retail? And I guess the last part of that is, you have an amazing library and it is underutilized. So is it -- can you help us think through, does it show up in film? Does it show up in TV, DTC, et cetera?

在您與廣告商的對話中，這是一個重要的收入驅動因素，它是否會回歸傳統？或者只是永久轉向數位化、AVOD 和零售？我想最後一部分是，你有一個很棒的庫，但它沒有被充分利用。那麼是嗎——你能幫我們想一想，它會出現在電影中嗎？它會出現在電視、DTC 等節目中嗎？

Yes, Jessica, let me maybe take this one. So again, you heard the comments we made on the advertising market. And the reality is, so far, we're unfortunately not seeing the improvement in Q4 that I think many had hoped to see earlier in the year. And that's why while it's early to be talking about 2024 and beyond, we thought it was prudent to be transparent about what we're seeing in the market.

是的，潔西卡，也許讓我拿這個吧。那麼，您再次聽到了我們對廣告市場的評論。現實是，到目前為止，我們不幸的是沒有看到第四季度的改善，我認為許多人希望在今年早些時候看到這種情況。這就是為什麼雖然現在談論 2024 年及以後還為時過早，但我們認為對我們在市場上看到的情況保持透明是謹慎的做法。

To your point, we don't see when this is going to turn. But what we have done over the past 18 months is we put this company into fighting shape. And I have no doubt the market is going to come back at some point. And when it does, I think we will be able to participate with very significant operating leverage given what we have put through this transformation here over the past 18 months. And also...

就你的觀點而言，我們不知道這種情況何時會發生轉變。但過去 18 個月我們所做的就是讓這家公司處於戰鬥狀態。我毫不懷疑市場會在某個時候回歸。當它發生時，我認為考慮到我們在過去 18 個月中經歷的這種轉變，我們將能夠以非常重要的營運槓桿參與其中。並且...

We're not giving up. We really believe in linear. And in fact, there was a lot of noise around the Charter deal with Disney. But to Bob's credit, that was a -- that deal was structured in a way that's really favorable for both parties and favorable for the ecosystem. The idea that all of the cable subscribers are now paying a fee for Disney+ is a positive. The -- as they have said, the churn on that will be very low. And the reach will go up, and they'll be able to sell advertising across.

我們不會放棄。我們確實相信線性。事實上，圍繞著與迪士尼的特許協議存在著許多爭議。但值得讚揚的是鮑勃，這筆交易的結構方式對雙方和生態系統都非常有利。所有有線電視訂戶現在都為 Disney+ 付費的想法是積極的。正如他們所說，客戶流失率將會非常低。覆蓋範圍將會擴大，他們將能夠在各地銷售廣告。

In an environment where there's now -- that is likely to help linear in creating a bridge. And you can imagine a world is we're redoing our deals or even advance of redoing our deals to get Disney+ and Max as an additional benefit to the cable subscribers and to be getting paid on each one of those and having -- being able to sell advertising against each of those and having lower churn on each of those.

在現在的環境中，這可能有助於線性建立一座橋樑。你可以想像這樣一個世界：我們正在重做我們的交易，甚至提前重做我們的交易，以獲得迪士尼+和Max作為有線電視訂戶的額外福利，並從其中每一項中獲得報酬，並且能夠針對每一個產品銷售廣告，且每個產品的客戶流失率都較低。

And so I think it was a very innovative deal by Charter and Disney. And although it started out noisy and scary, I think it created a, potentially, a very interesting bridge to more scale, lower churn and more stability to linear. We'll have to see. It certainly is a positive.

所以我認為這是查特和迪士尼之間一項非常創新的交易。雖然它一開始很吵鬧和可怕，但我認為它可能創造了一座非常有趣的橋樑，通往更大的規模、更低的流失率和更高的線性穩定性。我們得看看。這當然是正面的。

Yes. And so maybe to comment on the couple of the growth opportunities that you mentioned, Jessica, I do think there is tremendous opportunity, and I do think we will be able to get behind that. That's why David talked about shifting the investment focus a little bit.

是的。因此，也許要評論你提到的幾個成長機會，傑西卡，我確實認為存在巨大的機會，而且我確實認為我們將能夠支持這個機會。這就是為什麼大衛談到要稍微轉移投資重點。

But starting with the games business, we've spent a lot of time over the past year going into a lot of granular detail across all of the areas of our capital allocation. And the games business has shown tremendous success, not only from a P&L perspective, really, as David said, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to our consolidated profits, but also from a return on investment perspective.

但從遊戲業務開始，我們在過去的一年裡花了很多時間來研究我們資本配置的所有領域的大量細節。遊戲業務取得了巨大的成功，不僅從損益角度來看，正如大衛所說，為我們的綜合利潤貢獻了數億美元，而且從投資回報的角度來看。

I've double- and triple-checked some of the metrics here because it's such a great investment opportunity. And I'm stunned that we haven't been investing more into this opportunity under JB's and David Haddad's leadership here. And I think we have to do more. There's a lot more opportunity there, and we're going to start tackling that.

我已經對這裡的一些指標進行了雙重和三次檢查，因為這是一個很好的投資機會。令我驚訝的是，在 JB 和 David Haddad 的領導下，我們沒有對這個機會進行更多投資。我認為我們必須做得更多。那裡有更多的機會，我們將開始解決這個問題。

On the D2C side, again, just take a step back here, over just 1.5 years, we're now looking for this year at a breakeven/positive business after $2 billion of losses last year. We've rightsized the structure. We've got a state-of-the-art platform. And as David said, we're coming off of a quarter with virtually no fresh content on the platform. We want to get behind that. When we come back, when Casey's content comes back to the platform, we want to get behind it. We know that we can get tremendous returns on our marketing spend behind new content. And we will take advantage of that, and I do think we have a real opportunity here.

在 D2C 方面，再次退後一步，在短短 1.5 年的時間裡，我們在去年虧損 20 億美元後，現在正在尋求今年實現盈虧平衡/正值業務。我們對結構進行了調整。我們擁有最先進的平台。正如大衛所說，我們這個季度平台上幾乎沒有新內容。我們想要支持這一點。當我們回來時，當凱西的內容回到平台時，我們想要支持它。我們知道，我們可以透過新內容背後的行銷支出獲得巨大的回報。我們將利用這一點，我確實認為我們在這裡有一個真正的機會。

On the film side and the TV production side, as I said, it's still a little fluid. Unfortunately, we still don't have a resolution for the strike yet. But clearly, that business should be coming back to growth after being a very significant drag in the second half of this year. So a lot that we want to get behind and a lot that I think is going to contribute to growth for the company.

正如我所說，在電影方面和電視製作方面，仍然有點不穩定。不幸的是，我們還沒有罷工的解決方案。但顯然，該業務在今年下半年受到嚴重拖累後應該會恢復成長。我們想要支持很多，我認為這將有助於公司的成長。

And also, on the linear side itself, we're not on the sidelines. I mean we're not just standing by and watching. There's a lot that the team is working on that Bruce Campbell and Jon Steinlauf have restructured the sales team. We've got more opportunities in dynamic ad insertion. We've got more opportunities in utilizing our data. With every additional ad-light subscriber, we're going to get additional reach, additional scale, which helps on the pricing side.

而且，在線性方面本身，我們並沒有袖手旁觀。我的意思是我們不只是袖手旁觀。布魯斯·坎貝爾 (Bruce Campbell) 和喬恩·斯坦勞夫 (Jon Steinlauf) 重組了銷售團隊，該團隊正在進行很多工作。我們在動態廣告插入方面有更多機會。我們有更多機會利用我們的數據。隨著每增加一個廣告燈訂閱者，我們將獲得更大的覆蓋範圍和規模，這有助於定價。

So there's a lot going on. Again, I decided to be as open about the ad market this morning as I was because we feel we have to be transparent here, but there's a lot we're doing. And as I said, we're hopeful.

所以發生了很多事情。再次，我今天早上決定對廣告市場保持開放態度，因為我們覺得我們必須保持透明，但我們正在做很多事情。正如我所說，我們充滿希望。

The other side of growth is stability and sustainability. What we've done in the last 19 months, this is -- turned this into a real company with real professional management and real free cash flow. This is a generational disruption we're going through. Going through that with a streaming service that's losing billions of dollars is really, really difficult to go on offense. It's difficult to maneuver. And with interest rates where they are, the challenges in the marketplace, advertising, this is when you're going to see which are the real companies.

成長的另一面是穩定性和可持續性。我們在過去 19 個月所做的就是——把它變成一家真正的公司，擁有真正的專業管理和真正的自由現金流。這是我們正在經歷的一代人的顛覆。對於一個損失數十億美元的串流媒體服務來說，經歷這樣的事情真的很難繼續進攻。很難操縱。考慮到當前的利率、市場的挑戰、廣告，這就是你要看到哪些是真正的公司的時候。

This is a company that's generating over $5 billion in free cash flow. We've paid down $12 billion in debt. What that gives us is stability and sustainability. And ultimately, in a difficult environment, it's going to give us optionality because we're surrounded by a lot of companies that are -- don't have the geographic diversity that we have, aren't generating real free cash flow, have debt that are presenting issues. We're delevering at a time when our peers are levering up, at a time when our peers are unstable. And there is a lot of excess competitive -- excess players in the market.

這是一家產生超過 50 億美元自由現金流的公司。我們已經償還了 120 億美元的債務。這帶給我們的是穩定性和永續性。最終，在困難的環境中，這將為我們提供選擇權，因為我們周圍有很多公司，這些公司不具備我們所擁有的地理多樣性，無法產生真正的自由現金流，並且有債務存在問題。我們去槓桿化的時候，我們的同行正在加槓桿，而我們的同行卻不穩定。市場上存在著許多過度競爭的參與者。

So this will give us a chance not only to fight to grow in the next year, but to have the kind of balance sheet and the kind of stability of a real company, diverse, gaming, TV, motion picture, HBO, linear, that we could be really opportunistic over the next 12 to 24 months.

因此，這不僅讓我們有機會在明年爭取成長，而且讓我們有機會擁有真正公司的資產負債表和穩定性，多元化、遊戲、電視、電影、HBO、線性，在接下來的12 到24 個月裡，我們可能會真正投機取巧。

Your next question comes from the line of Robert Fishman from MoffettNathanson.

您的下一個問題來自 MoffettNathanson 的 Robert Fishman。

I have one for David and one for JB or Gunnar. David, given the increased investments that you guys are talking about, how should we think about expectations for content spending, where you'll shake out this year, and then just early thoughts on if that goes up or down next year after factoring in the video game spending and all the other factors there?

我有一張給 David，一張給 JB 或 Gunnar。大衛，考慮到你們正在談論的投資增加，我們應該如何考慮對內容支出的預期，今年你們將在哪些方面進行調整，然後初步考慮在考慮到明年內容支出是上升還是下降。視頻遊戲支出和所有其他因素有什麼關係？

And then for JB and Gunnar, given the accelerated profitability in DTC that we've seen so far, how should we think about your prior guidance about '24 and '25 profitability? And are you more confident in reaching the longer-term margins of 20% plus?

然後，對於 JB 和 Gunnar 來說，考慮到我們迄今為止所看到的 DTC 盈利能力的加速增長，我們應該如何考慮你們之前關於 '24 和 '25 盈利能力的指導？您對達到 20% 以上的長期利潤更有信心嗎？

Maybe I can start here. So clearly, against from a year-over-year perspective, we're going to see increases in content cash spend next year just because we haven't been able to deploy at full speed here over the second half of 2023.

也許我可以從這裡開始。很明顯，從同比的角度來看，我們明年將看到內容現金支出增加，只是因為我們無法在 2023 年下半年全速部署。

But again, if we look at the change in our overall posture for content allocation, there has been a bit of a strike impact, no doubt. But we have also, as you know, significantly rightsized our spend across the various genres on the basis of a thorough analysis of return on investment. And some of that was expressed in some of the content write-offs that we did early when we combine the 2 companies, but that's also led to a reset in our overall capital allocation.

但同樣，如果我們看看內容分配的整體態勢的變化，毫無疑問地存在一些罷工影響。但如您所知，我們也根據對投資報酬率的全面分析，大幅調整了各種類型的支出。其中一些體現在我們早期合併兩家公司時所做的一些內容沖銷中，但這也導致了我們整體資本配置的重置。

And when we say we're going to invest, that doesn't mean that all of that has to come on top. There is an opportunity to reallocate within our very significant and broad content portfolio here. But net-net, as I said a couple of minutes ago, there will be a headwind to free cash flow from reaccelerating content spend next year.

當我們說要投資時，並不意味著所有這些都必須放在首位。我們有機會在我們非常重要且廣泛的內容組合中進行重新分配。但正如我幾分鐘前所說，明年內容支出的重新加速將為自由現金流帶來阻力。

And before I pass it on to JB, we stand by our profitability targets long term for D2C. We do believe that this can be a very profitable line of business as a part of an integrated media portfolio. If anything, I have to say, we're doing better than we thought and we're moving faster than we thought, which is expressed -- if you just compare what we're doing this year relative to what we guided 1 year ago, 1.5 years ago, we're well ahead of that curve, which puts us in a position to focus on growth a little more as we go into next year. JB?

在我將其轉交給 JB 之前，我們堅持 D2C 的長期獲利目標。我們確實相信，作為綜合媒體投資組合的一部分，這可能是一個非常有利可圖的業務線。如果有什麼不同的話，我不得不說，我們做得比我們想像的要好，我們的進展比我們想像的要快，這一點已經表達出來了——如果你只是將我們今年所做的事情與我們一年前的指導進行比較1.5 年前，我們遠遠領先這條曲線，這使我們能夠在進入明年時更加關注成長。傑布？

Yes. And I think just to add to it, when we look at the next 2 years, the things -- the levers that we rely on to get us to that financial profile that we outlined a year ago -- over a year ago really is anchored in strength of content, which David talked a little bit about, with a much more impressive '24 and I'd say an even stronger '25.

是的。我想補充一點，當我們展望未來兩年時，我們依靠槓桿來實現我們一年前概述的財務狀況，一年多前確實是固定的內容的強度，大衛談到了一點，《24》更令人印象深刻，我想說《25》甚至更強。

Price, you've seen us obviously move on price. We've had very good results in both minimized churn and great incremental revenue growth related to our price increases around the world. Advertising strength through the release of more of the ad-light product here in the U.S. as well as more markets coming around the world, new market launches, churn reduction, which David mentioned a little bit about earlier, but we are seeing finally some great progress, particularly with the introduction of live here in the U.S. on both cancel rates and auto renewal of coming down, which are great indicators.

價格，你已經看到我們明顯在價格上發生了變化。我們在最大限度地減少客戶流失和與全球價格上漲相關的收入大幅成長方面取得了非常好的成果。透過在美國發布更多的廣告燈產品以及世界各地更多的市場、新市場的推出、減少客戶流失來增強廣告實力，大衛之前提到過這一點，但我們終於看到了一些偉大的成果進步，特別是在美國引入即時取消率和自動續訂率下降，這是很好的指標。

And so we are ultimately -- we feel very confident that we're at an exciting moment over the next 12 to 24 months, particularly as we look at the global rollout starting in the first quarter next year of Max to take this to another level.

因此，我們最終- 我們非常有信心，在未來12 到24 個月內，我們正處於一個激動人心的時刻，特別是當我們看到Max 將於明年第一季開始在全球推出時，會將其提升到另一個層次。

Your next question comes from the line of Rich Greenfield from LightShed.

您的下一個問題來自 LightShed 的 Rich Greenfield。

I think if I look at your D2C segment, you've done a pretty -- you've taken a pretty incredible amount of cost out of the business. I wanted to shift and focus a little bit on the Networks segment. If I just look at the Q3 numbers, I think the cost structure is down to about $2.5 billion between cost of revenue and SG&A. How much room going forward do you have to reduce that? Obviously, Gunnar, you were very open and honest about the state of the ad market and cord-cutting, et cetera. I'm just wondering how to think about how much that $2.5 billion sort of quarterly cost base can come down and what are the big levers you can pull?

我認為，如果我看看你們的 D2C 細分市場，就會發現你們做得很好——你們已經從業務中節省了相當令人難以置信的成本。我想轉移並專注於網路領域。如果我只看第三季的數據，我認為收入成本和 SG&A 之間的成本結構已降至約 25 億美元。未來你還有多少空間可以減少這一點？顯然，Gunnar，您對廣告市場和掐線等狀況非常開放和誠實。我只是想知道如何思考 25 億美元的季度成本基礎可以下降多少，以及可以採取哪些重要措施？

And then just -- Gunnar, maybe if you could, just from a housekeeping standpoint, I think everyone is just trying to do the math on sort of what you're implying for next year EBITDA. Anything you can do -- I mean it seems like you're pointing it sort of roughly down, but I'm just curious if there's sort of any sort of range you want to point the Street to when you're thinking about leverage being higher than your target. Would be super helpful to just understand the thought process.

然後，Gunnar，也許如果可以的話，從內務管理的角度來看，我認為每個人都在嘗試計算你對明年 EBITDA 的暗示。你可以做的任何事——我的意思是，你似乎把它指向了大致向下的方向，但我只是好奇，當你考慮槓桿時，是否有某種範圍你想讓華爾街指向高於你的目標。對於理解思考過程會非常有幫助。

Yes. Rich, let me maybe start right there because I did not intend to guide down EBITDA for next year relative to where we are today. The only reason I brought this up is we had guidance out there of hitting our leverage target range by the end of next year. And again, based on the early indications that we're seeing from the market, it's developing right now. I'm just not confident to stand here today and say, don't worry about it, we're definitely going to hit that range.

是的。 Rich，也許讓我從這裡開始，因為我並不打算相對於我們今天的情況來降低明年的 EBITDA。我提出這個問題的唯一原因是我們有指導，可以在明年年底前達到我們的槓桿目標範圍。再說一遍，根據我們從市場上看到的早期跡象，它現在正在發展。我只是沒有信心今天站在這裡說，別擔心，我們一定會達到這個範圍。

Now if you have a view on ad market recovery and if you think there's ad market recovery in 2024, we're going to have a great year. I'm just not in a position right now to provide firm guidance to that. I've laid out some of the building blocks, again, a much more profitable streaming business, which we're going to try to fuel growth. But again, let me be clear, that doesn't mean that I'm expecting to start losing money again. We're just shifting marginally to prioritize growth over sort of the maximization of immediate profit growth.

現在，如果您對廣告市場復甦有看法，並且認為 2024 年廣告市場會復甦，那麼我們將度過美好的一年。我只是現在無法對此提供堅定的指導。我再次列出了一些建立模組，即利潤更高的串流媒體業務，我們將努力推動成長。但再次強調一下，這並不意味著我預計會再次開始虧損。我們只是稍微改變一下，優先考慮成長而不是立即利潤成長的最大化。

Linear business, the Network business, it is what it is, and I'll talk about the cost side in a second. And then on the Studios side, we should be seeing a recovery as the strike hopefully comes to an end, but it's too early to be any more specific here.

線性業務，網路業務，就是這樣，我一會兒再講成本方面。然後在工作室方面，隨著罷工有望結束，我們應該會看到復甦，但現在說得更具體還為時過早。

To your point on the linear cost base, first of all, I do want to just call out how -- what a great job Gerhard, Kathleen and others, including CNN people, have done in rightsizing the business as we brought these 2 companies together. And I think we're looking at a very competitive cost structure, which is one of the reasons why I'm so confident that when the market comes back, we're going to be participating with a pretty high flow-through to profits.

對於你關於線性成本基礎的觀點，首先，我確實想指出，當我們將這兩家公司合併在一起時，格哈德、凱瑟琳和其他人，包括CNN 的工作人員，在調整業務規模方面做得多麼出色。我認為我們正在尋找一個非常有競爭力的成本結構，這就是為什麼我如此有信心當市場復甦時，我們將參與相當高的利潤流動的原因之一。

But as I said earlier, we're not going to be standing on the sideline here and just watching. There's a lot more that's in the pipeline. Some of our transformation initiatives, especially on the technology side that have longer lead times, and we're still evolving when it comes to, let's call it, the operational backbone of how we operate our content workflows throughout the company, by the way, not only impacting the Networks segment, but the company as a whole as well. So there's definitely more opportunity there.

但正如我之前所說，我們不會站在一旁袖手旁觀。還有更多的事情正在醞釀。我們的一些轉型舉措，特別是在技術方面，需要更長的交付時間，而且我們仍在不斷發展，我們可以稱之為，我們如何在整個公司運營內容工作流程的運營支柱，順便說一句，不僅影響網路部門，而且影響整個公司。所以那裡肯定有更多的機會。

And then one other point that I've made before is, again, we decided to go with this 3-segment reporting structure because that's how David looks at the company and how I think from an investor perspective you get the full transparency into the different business models and their financial profiles. But one thing that's going to be increasingly relevant is managing our content investments and our content utilization across one Warner Bros. Discovery.

我之前說過的另一點是，我們再次決定採用這種三段報告結構，因為這就是大衛對公司的看法，也是我認為從投資者的角度來看，你可以完全透明地了解不同的報告結構。商業模式及其財務狀況。但越來越重要的一件事是管理我們在華納兄弟探索頻道的內容投資和內容利用。

And that's one area where, so far, it's been a bit of a one-way street of the studios and networks creating content that ends up on the streaming platform. Longer term, as that platform grows and drives more revenue and profit contribution, there may also be a flow in the other direction, which inevitably will drive profitability of the linear business beyond what we have today.

到目前為止，這個領域有點像工作室和網路創建的內容最終出現在串流媒體平台上的單行道。從長遠來看，隨著該平台的發展並推動更多的收入和利潤貢獻，也可能會出現另一個方向的流動，這不可避免地會推動線性業務的盈利能力超出我們今天的水平。

Your next question comes from the line of Ben Swinburne from Morgan Stanley.

您的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Ben Swinburne。

A couple of housekeeping, Gunnar. I was wondering if you are able to quantify the benefit to cash flow from the strike this year. I know it's still a moving target. And then also whether there's a way to quantify the sort of incremental synergy capture you expect next year versus this year. You had some numbers in your prepared remarks.

一些家務，Gunnar。我想知道您是否能夠量化今年罷工對現金流的好處。我知道它仍然是一個移動目標。然後還有是否有一種方法可以量化您期望明年與今年相比的增量協同效應。你在準備好的發言中提到了一些數字。

And then maybe a more interesting question for David. David, the strategy around expanding Max with news and sports seems quite logical and compelling. You're adding reach, maximizing distribution, ultimately, revenue. And it seems like you think the Charter-Disney read is a positive one, which I just wanted to hear more about because I could also see the other side of the argument, which is taking your core linear IP and CNN, the NBA, baseball, et cetera, and putting it on Max could actually cause some consternation on the distribution side of your business. So maybe you could spend a minute just talking about how you see that glide path working with your Max strategy.

對大衛來說，也許還有一個更有趣的問題。大衛，透過新聞和體育來拓展 Max 的策略似乎非常合乎邏輯且引人注目。您正在擴大覆蓋範圍，最大化分銷，最終實現收入。看來你認為《迪士尼憲章》的讀物是正面的，我只是想聽到更多，因為我也可以看到爭論的另一面，即把你的核心線性 IP 和 CNN、NBA、棒球等等，並將其放在Max 上實際上可能會導致您的業務分銷方面出現一些混亂。因此，也許您可以花一點時間來談談您如何看待下滑路徑與您的 Max 策略的配合。

Sure. Thanks, Ben. Well, first, CNN Max is not CNN. There are some hours that are simulcast, but it's largely independently produced for a younger and different audience. And it's -- we saw this in Eastern Europe and have provided real value, reduced churn and provided real value. And the people that spend time watching live content, as JB has said, and we've seen it here already and it's only 6 weeks in, you spend time watching news and sports that the engagement is higher and the churn is lower. That's a big deal.

當然。謝謝，本。嗯，首先，CNN Max 不是 CNN。有一些時間是同步播出的，但它基本上是為年輕和不同的觀眾獨立製作的。我們在東歐看到了這一點，並提供了真正的價值，減少了客戶流失並提供了真正的價值。正如 JB 所說，那些花時間觀看直播內容的人，我們已經在這裡看到了這一點，而且僅僅 6 週後，你花時間觀看新聞和體育節目時，參與度更高，流失率更低。這是一件大事。

Churn is the biggest issue that we face. This is a very compelling service. The churn is too high. So we are -- this is an all-on attack to reduce churn. Reducing churn also will reduce marketing because we're going out and marketing over and over again to subscribers that are coming in and out. So the idea that a big majority, the overall majority of people that are watching Max don't have pay TV, and they're now able to come in and see what's going on in Israel, what's going on, on the floor on The Hill, is it feels like it could be compelling. And the same thing with sports, we saw real big numbers.

客戶流失是我們面臨的最大問題。這是一項非常引人注目的服務。流失率太高。所以我們——這是一次減少客戶流失的全面攻擊。減少客戶流失也會減少行銷，因為我們會不斷地向進出的訂戶進行行銷。因此，大多數觀看《麥克斯》的人沒有付費電視，但他們現在可以進來看看以色列正在發生什麼，在電視上看到正在發生什麼。希爾，感覺它可能很引人注目。體育運動也是如此，我們看到了龐大的數字。

So overall, we think this buffet, entertainment, nonfiction, as we've said all along, the better the engagement, the more people in the family are watching, the better we'll be. We still and it -- we still haven't really been able to crack the kids. We have a huge amount of kids' content. We've not been able to crack that. We're going to attack that as well. So we think that strategy is -- really differentiates us, and we're going to have to really promote it. We haven't been.

總的來說，我們認為這個自助餐、娛樂、非小說類節目，正如我們一直以來所說的那樣，參與度越高，家庭中觀看的人越多，我們就會越好。我們仍然——我們仍然無法真正說服孩子。我們有大量的兒童內容。我們還無法破解這個問題。我們也將對此進行攻擊。因此，我們認為該策略確實使我們與眾不同，我們必須真正推廣它。我們沒有去過。

JB, you're at ground level here.

JB，你在地面上。

Yes, I was going to add. The only other thing, Ben, is you got to remember, HBO and HBO Max and Max now have really been doing the opposite of what the industry has sort of been complaining about, which is for HBO subscribers, we've been giving more value to the bundle, not less. They got -- they used to get a number of HBO Original series and movies. They now, in 2023, get all of that plus a whole host of library content from Warner Bros. that they never received, Max Originals that they never received. And so our position in the market for years has been providing more value to the cable ecosystem for those subscribers, not less.

是的，我想補充一下。 Ben，唯一的另一件事是你必須記住，HBO 和 HBO Max 和 Max 現在確實做了與業界抱怨的相反的事情，即對於 HBO 訂戶來說，我們一直在給予更多價值到捆綁，不少於。他們曾經獲得過許多 HBO 原創劇集和電影。現在，到 2023 年，他們將獲得所有這些內容，再加上他們從未收到過的華納兄弟的大量圖書館內容，以及他們從未收到過的 Max Originals。因此，多年來我們在市場上的地位一直為這些訂戶的有線電視生態系統提供更多價值，而不是更少。

And the Charter deal really creates this very creative path of instead of having 2 completely separate ecosystems, so the idea that you could have a distributor that's paying us a per-sub fee for discovery+ and a per-sub fee for Max, and both of those being ad-light, is an incremental advantage. It's an advantage to Charter. And they and Bob came up with this creative road forward. But it -- I think and we think is it stabilizes the ecosystem, but it also is helpful in building more scale.

特許協議確實創造了這條非常有創意的道路，而不是擁有 2 個完全獨立的生態系統，因此您可以讓經銷商向我們支付 Discovery+ 的每個子費用和 Max 的每個子費用，並且兩者都支付那些廣告較少的內容是一個增量優勢。這是查特的一個優勢。他們和鮑勃想出了這條創意的前進之路。但我認為，我們認為它穩定了生態系統，也有助於建立更大的規模。

JB, you and I were modeling it out the other day.

JB，前幾天你和我正在建模。

Yes. And I think David's point on scale is exactly right, which is we know this business has always needed reach. And we're looking, as we said and David, I think, and Gunnar's prepared remarks, the encouraging thing that we've seen already in the last month with those sports and news on Max has proven out further is these customer segments are increasingly complementary versus cannibalistic.

是的。我認為大衛關於規模的觀點是完全正確的，那就是我們知道這項業務始終需要覆蓋範圍。正如我們所說的，大衛，我想，以及古納爾準備好的言論，我們在上個月已經看到的令人鼓舞的事情，以及Max 上的這些體育和新聞已經進一步證明，這些客戶群體越來越多互補與同類相食。

And so the age demographic we're seeing, the much younger demo on Max and the non-pay TV, the vast majority of the viewers being non-pay TV subscribers leads us to believe that these 2 can coexist and should coexist if we want to be in a max -- reach maximizing strategy, which we do. And so we like the profile of it, and we think we can continue to find constructive ways to work with our traditional affiliates to make it work.

因此，我們看到的年齡人口統計，Max 和非付費電視上的演示要年輕得多，絕大多數觀眾是非付費電視訂戶，這使我們相信，如果我們願意，這兩者可以共存並且應該共存達到最大化策略，我們就是這麼做的。因此，我們喜歡它的形象，我們認為我們可以繼續尋找建設性的方式與我們的傳統附屬公司合作，使其發揮作用。

And we've got the cash to invest in promoting it, to invest in taking it around the world and to invest in whatever else we think we need to grow. I mean the key element here of this company now, this company is a free cash flow-driven company, over $5 billion in free cash flow, $12 billion paid back so far in 19 months. We said we were going to be less than 4x levered. We will be less than 4x levered comfortably. So it's all about, I believe, not only the quality of the content, but what's the stability of the company. It's all about free cash flow, who has it and who doesn't.

我們有足夠的現金來投資推廣它、投資將其帶到世界各地以及投資於我們認為需要發展的任何其他方面。我指的是這家公司現在的關鍵要素，這家公司是一家自由現金流驅動的公司，自由現金流超過 50 億美元，迄今為止 19 個月內已償還 120 億美元。我們說過我們的槓桿率將低於 4 倍。我們將輕鬆地使用低於 4 倍的槓桿。因此，我相信，這不僅關係到內容的質量，也關係到公司的穩定性。這一切都與自由現金流有關，誰擁有自由現金流，誰沒有。

And then, Ben, to just comment on your first 2 questions. So starting with synergies, again, it's going to get incrementally more difficult to differentiate between what's the synergy, what's transformation, what's just normal cost work. But to recap what I said earlier, we -- I expect $4 billion total synergy to have flown through until the end of this year. We will have implemented initiatives that will generate $5 billion of run rate initiatives, and we're still going. We're still adding to the program, and I think that's the most important point.

Ben，然後對你的前兩個問題發表評論。因此，再次從綜效開始，區分什麼是綜效、什麼是轉型、什麼是正常成本工作將變得越來越困難。但回顧我之前所說的，我預計到今年年底，協同效應總額將達到 40 億美元。我們將實施能夠產生 50 億美元運行率的計劃，而且我們仍在繼續。我們仍在增加該計劃，我認為這是最重要的一點。

While we might not be reporting on this in detail anymore, while we might not call it synergy, we have had a continuous improvement team at work for the past 5 years. We never stopped after integrating Scripps and Discovery because the environment around us keeps changing, and we're making sure that we've changed faster than the environment around us. We've got a very capable team that's got 5 years of experience. We will keep grinding through every cost opportunity in the company, and we'll keep delivering.

雖然我們可能不再詳細報告這一點，雖然我們可能不會稱之為協同效應，但在過去 5 年裡，我們有一個持續改進團隊在工作。在整合 Scripps 和 Discovery 之後，我們從未停止過，因為我們周圍的環境不斷變化，我們要確保我們的變化速度快於周圍的環境。我們擁有一支非常有能力的團隊，擁有 5 年的經驗。我們將繼續努力利用公司的每一個成本機會，並且我們將繼續交付。

And then to answer your strike question, again, this is everything but a precise science, right? But my current estimate for the full year is there's probably going to be a few hundred million dollars of a negative impact on EBITDA. The TV production business and licensing business is a major part of our studio operation and has been essentially idle for the best part of this year. And on the positive side, at least from a short-term cash perspective, I expect several hundred millions of dollars of positive cash flow flowing through from the fact that we're unable to deploy capital. Again, that's a short-term point, and those are my best estimates right now.

然後再回答你的罷工問題，這根本不是一門精確的科學，對吧？但我目前對全年的估計是，EBITDA 可能會受到數億美元的負面影響。電視製作業務和授權業務是我們工作室營運的主要部分，今年大部分時間基本上都處於閒置狀態。從積極的一面來看，至少從短期現金的角度來看，我預計由於我們無法部署資本，將產生數億美元的正現金流。再說一次，這是一個短期點，這是我目前最好的估計。

And your final question comes from the line of Brett Feldman from Goldman Sachs.

你的最後一個問題來自高盛的布雷特·費爾德曼。

Two, if you don't mind. David, you obviously see the value in being able to get your streaming product into a deal similar to the one that Disney got with Charter. Of course, the trade-off there was that Disney had to agree to drop some channels. So I'm curious if you're willing to make a similar trade-off in order to get that type of distribution and churn improvement for Max. And I'm also curious whether that might lead to some cost savings if you were able to arrange something like that.

兩個，如果你不介意的話。大衛，你顯然看到了能夠讓你的串流媒體產品達成類似於迪士尼與 Charter 達成的協議的價值。當然，代價是迪士尼必須同意放棄一些頻道。因此，我很好奇您是否願意做出類似的權衡，以便為 Max 獲得這種類型的分配和流失率改進。我也很好奇，如果您能夠安排類似的事情，是否會節省一些成本。

And then, Gunnar, you talked about there's an average of about $3 billion of debt maturities over the next couple of years. That's obviously well below the current free cash flow run rate. So I'm curious from a modeling standpoint, should we be assuming that you'll not only use your free cash flow to pay down debt maturities, but even go into the open market and repurchase debt at discounts? In other words, is there any particular reason you would need to sit on cash?

然後，Gunnar，您談到未來幾年平均約有 30 億美元的債務到期。這顯然遠低於目前的自由現金流運行率。因此，從建模的角度來看，我很好奇，我們是否應該假設您不僅會使用自由現金流來償還債務到期日，甚至會進入公開市場並以折扣價回購債務？換句話說，您是否有任何特殊原因需要持有現金？

Sure. Let me start by saying we've gotten through, including recently, all of our deals with all of our channels being carried. We really do have a different model. We have affinity networks, HGTV, Food, TLC, Discovery, Animal Planet, and we're investing in TBS, TNT. We're investing in all those channels. We still believe in linear. And then -- and with sports and news, we're anywhere between 25% and 45% of the viewership on cable.

當然。首先我要說的是，我們已經完成了所有管道的所有交易，包括最近的交易。我們確實有不同的模型。我們有親和力網絡、HGTV、Food、TLC、Discovery、動物星球，我們正在投資 TBS、TNT。我們正在投資所有這些管道。我們仍然相信線性。然後，對於體育和新聞，我們的有線電視收視率在 25% 到 45% 之間。

So when you think of what is basic cable, it's us. And when people think about what they love, the 3, 4, 5 channels that they love, it's us. And so I think -- and we're not that expensive. We're not proud of it, but it's one of the reasons we've been able to continue to get increases is because we provide real value and we're one of the few media companies that's still investing significantly in original content, and we're nourishing our audiences. And if you look at our ratings in the last couple of months, Kathleen is doing a terrific job, the ratings on our networks are going up.

因此，當您想到什麼是基本電纜時，那就是我們。當人們想到他們喜歡什麼時，他們喜歡的 3、4、5 個頻道，那就是我們。所以我認為──我們並沒有那麼貴。我們並不為此感到自豪，但這是我們能夠繼續獲得成長的原因之一，因為我們提供了真正的價值，而且我們是少數仍在大力投資原創內容的媒體公司之一，而且我們正在滋養我們的觀眾。如果你看看我們過去幾個月的收視率，你會發現凱瑟琳做得非常出色，我們網路上的收視率正在上升。

And so we feel really good about our deals. We feel good about partnering with the operators in building and continue to hold on as much as we can to the linear marketplace. And we can make some trade-offs. There's a few of our channels that are lighter. We can make some trade-offs. But I think it will be additive. And I think it will be a real advantage to us to have somebody else in the marketplace that wants to retail and guarantee a payment of a significant number of subs to us.

所以我們對我們的交易感覺非常好。我們對與營運商合作建設並繼續盡可能地保持線性市場感到滿意。我們可以做出一些權衡。我們的一些頻道比較輕鬆。我們可以做一些權衡。但我認為這將是附加的。我認為，市場上有其他人想要零售並保證向我們支付大量訂閱者，這對我們來說將是一個真正的優勢。

And then, Brett, to your question on the debt side, look, 2 things. Number one, there's going to be a lot of cash flowing through here. And to answer your question directly, no, there's no need to sit on excessive amounts of cash. And as we said multiple times, we're focused on reducing our debt to that target range as quickly as possible.

然後，布雷特，對於你關於債務方面的問題，看，有兩件事。第一，將會有大量現金流經這裡。直接回答你的問題，不，沒有必要持有過多的現金。正如我們多次所說，我們的重點是盡快將債務減少到目標範圍。

And number two is our capital structure is a real asset. Again, I went through earlier, the average maturity, the average interest rates and the trading levels of the debt. And I feel very good about our ability to further chip away at that overall debt quantum and potentially at very attractive terms as more and more cash becomes available here.

第二，我們的資本結構是實體資產。我再次回顧了先前的債務平均期限、平均利率和交易水準。我對我們進一步削減整體債務規模的能力感到非常滿意，並且隨著這裡可用的現金越來越多，可能會以非常有吸引力的條件。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。