華納兄弟探索 (WBD) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Discovery, Inc.

女士們先生們，感謝您的支持，歡迎來到 Discovery, Inc.

Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call.

2021 年第三季度收益電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Also, please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

（操作員說明）另外，請注意今天的會議正在錄製中。

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

我現在想把會議交給全球投資者戰略執行副總裁 Andrew Slabin 先生。

Sir, you may begin.

先生，您可以開始了。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Discovery's Q3 earnings call.

大家早上好，歡迎來到 Discovery 的第三季度財報電話會議。

With me today are David Zaslav, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Gunnar Wiedenfels, our Chief Financial Officer; and JB Perrette, President and CEO, Discovery Streaming International.

今天和我在一起的是我們的總裁兼首席執行官 David Zaslav； Gunnar Wiedenfels，我們的首席財務官；以及 Discovery Streaming International 總裁兼首席執行官 JB Perrette。

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.

在開始之前，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陳述。

The forward-looking statements include comments regarding the company's future business plans, prospects and financial performance as well as statements concerning the expected timing, completion and effects of the previously announced transaction between the company and AT&T relating to the WarnerMedia business.

前瞻性陳述包括關於公司未來業務計劃、前景和財務業績的評論，以及關於公司與 AT&T 之前宣布的與 WarnerMedia 業務相關的交易的預期時間、完成和影響的陳述。

These statements are made based on management's current knowledge and assumptions about future events and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

這些陳述是基於管理層目前對未來事件的了解和假設做出的，涉及可能導致實際結果與我們的預期產生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.

在提供預測和其他前瞻性陳述時，公司不承擔任何更新它們的意圖或義務。

For additional information on important factors that could affect these expectations, please see our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and our subsequent filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

有關可能影響這些預期的重要因素的更多信息，請參閱我們截至 2020 年 12 月 31 日止年度的 10-K 表格，以及我們隨後向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

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

有了這個，我想把電話轉給大衛。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us.

大家早上好，感謝大家加入我們。

This continues to be an exciting and busy time here at Discovery across a range of business initiatives and strategic planning for the next year and the years ahead.

在 Discovery，這仍然是一個令人興奮和忙碌的時刻，涉及明年和未來幾年的一系列業務計劃和戰略規劃。

I'm very pleased with our focus, performance and strong operating discipline as we simultaneously ramp up our integration planning, strategic reviews and approach ahead of the WarnerMedia merger.

我對我們的專注、業績和強大的運營紀律感到非常滿意，因為我們同時在華納媒體合併之前加強了我們的整合計劃、戰略審查和方法。

We are increasingly enthused about the transformative opportunity ahead by bringing together these complementary assets, talented creative leaders and employees all around the globe.

通過將這些互補的資產、才華橫溢的創意領導者和全球員工聚集在一起，我們越來越熱衷於未來的變革機會。

This morning, I'll provide some brief commentary on Q3 operating performance and update you on the progress we are making as we work toward the close of our transaction and integration of the businesses.

今天上午，我將對第三季度的經營業績進行一些簡短的評論，並向您介紹我們在努力完成交易和整合業務時所取得的進展。

Gunnar will then take you through additional puts and takes on the quarter.

Gunnar 然後將帶您完成本季度的額外看跌和看跌。

Very briefly on Q3, it was a solid quarter all around.

在第三季度非常簡短，這是一個穩定的季度。

Subscriber growth for our direct-to-consumer platforms picked up nicely post summer, and we added a healthy 3 million paying subscribers around the globe, reaching a total of 20 million subscribers.

夏季過後，我們直接面向消費者的平台的訂閱用戶增長良好，我們在全球範圍內增加了 300 萬付費訂閱用戶，訂閱用戶總數達到 2000 萬。

And we've seen continued growth thus far in Q4.

到目前為止，我們已經看到第四季度的持續增長。

We were able to deliver this growth as well as driving double-digit growth in both advertising and distribution revenues while converting a healthy amount of OIBDA to free cash flow.

我們能夠實現這一增長，並推動廣告和分銷收入實現兩位數的增長，同時將可觀的 OIBDA 轉化為自由現金流。

This positions us nicely above our guidance of at least 50% conversion this year, and we see free cash flow is tracking to exceed $2.1 billion for the full year, and that's after funding very significant investments in our discovery+ rollout.

這使我們遠遠高於我們今年至少 50% 轉化率的指導，我們看到全年自由現金流跟踪超過 21 億美元，這是在為我們的發現 + 推出提供大量投資之後。

Additionally and importantly, we have had the opportunity to refine some of our transaction leverage assumptions after examining WarnerMedia's draft carve-out financials.

此外，重要的是，在檢查了華納媒體的財務分拆草案後，我們有機會完善我們的一些交易槓桿假設。

Though we took a conservative approach initially while modeling the pro forma transaction, we now expect our net leverage at close to be at or below 4.5x versus the 5x that we noted in May, and we are currently tracking below the 4.5.

儘管我們最初在對備考交易進行建模時採取了保守的方法，但我們現在預計我們的淨槓桿率接近或低於 4.5 倍，而我們在 5 月份注意到的為 5 倍，我們目前正在追踪低於 4.5 的水平。

This is predominantly based on estimated contractual adjustments to working capital and, to a lesser extent, an improved outlook in our operating performance.

這主要基於對營運資金的估計合同調整，以及在較小程度上基於我們經營業績前景的改善。

Accordingly, we now see a path to reducing leverage to around 3x, meaningfully sooner than what we articulated in May.

因此，我們現在看到了一條將槓桿率降低到 3 倍左右的路徑，這比我們在 5 月份闡明的要快得多。

More on this shortly from Gunnar.

Gunnar 不久將對此進行更多介紹。

But this points to a stronger financial footing than we had anticipated as we stand up the merged company and accelerate the pace to delever, supporting our ability to make focused investments in growth initiatives even without any asset sales.

但這表明我們的財務基礎比我們預期的要強，因為我們支持合併後的公司並加快去槓桿的步伐，支持我們在沒有任何資產出售的情況下對增長計劃進行集中投資的能力。

On the regulatory front, echoing John Stankey's comments on the AT&T call, we are well on track for a mid-2022 close and are engaged in the typical regulatory filing process in jurisdictions around the globe, including our planned filing with the SEC of a preliminary draft of our merger proxy expected out in late November.

在監管方面，與 John Stankey 對 AT&T 電話會議的評論相呼應，我們有望在 2022 年年中完成交易，並正在參與全球司法管轄區的典型監管備案流程，包括我們計劃向美國證券交易委員會提交初步我們的合併代理草案預計在 11 月下旬發布。

The transformative upside from the merger is, of course, the global direct-to-consumer opportunity.

合併帶來的變革性好處當然是全球直接面向消費者的機會。

And while we appreciate some of the questions that a number of you have asked regarding clarity and specifics regarding the product, investment and go-to-market road map, it is still premature for us to provide details, given where we are in the ongoing regulatory review process.

雖然我們感謝你們中的一些人就產品、投資和上市路線圖的清晰度和細節提出的一些問題，但鑑於我們正在進行的工作，我們現在提供詳細信息還為時過早監管審查程序。

That said, having conducted further operational and strategic diligence, I can share with you some broad strokes around what underpins our confidence and enthusiasm in our global go-to-market attack plan.

也就是說，在進行了進一步的運營和戰略盡職調查後，我可以與您分享一些廣泛的內容，這些內容是我們對全球上市攻擊計劃的信心和熱情的基礎。

First, it's all about the content.

首先，一切都與內容有關。

From the start, under one roof, will be a combination of 2 companies whose common culture of creative excellence, iconic characters and franchises will result in a differentiated competitive offering.

從一開始，兩家公司將在一個屋簷下合併，其卓越創意、標誌性人物和特許經營的共同文化將帶來差異化的競爭產品。

I believe the biggest and most compelling menu of IP for consumers in the world, spanning comedy to true crime, kids and family, lifestyle to adventure, drama to documentaries, news and sports and, of course, sci-fi and superheroes.

我相信世界上最大、最吸引消費者的 IP 菜單，從喜劇到真實犯罪、兒童和家庭、生活方式到冒險、戲劇到紀錄片、新聞和體育，當然還有科幻和超級英雄。

I believe the most complete and balanced portfolio offered in one service in the world.

我相信世界上在一項服務中提供的最完整、最平衡的產品組合。

And secondly, we view our ability and commitment to tactically invest in our content portfolio as a critical strategic driver, building upon our respective long-tenured track records of producing relevant and complementary programming around the globe.

其次，我們將我們對內容組合進行策略性投資的能力和承諾視為關鍵的戰略驅動力，建立在我們各自在全球製作相關和互補節目的長期記錄的基礎上。

This should help to make our service uniquely global and local at the same time.

這應該有助於使我們的服務同時具有獨特的全球性和本地性。

Third, given the breadth of our content offering, we expect the combined service will appeal broadly to all demographics, young and old, with strong male and female genres, again, very complementary such that our global total addressable market should be on par with the biggest streaming service.

第三，鑑於我們提供的內容的廣度，我們預計合併後的服務將廣泛吸引所有人群，無論男女老少，具有強大的男性和女性類型，再次，非常互補，因此我們的全球總潛在市場應該與最大的流媒體服務。

Assessing the overlap in respective subscriber bases, at least here in the U.S., we believe less than half of discovery+ subscribers are also HBO Max subscribers, which, with the right packaging, provides a real opportunity to broaden the base of our combined offering.

評估各個訂戶群的重疊，至少在美國是這樣，我們認為只有不到一半的 Discovery+ 訂戶也是 HBO Max 訂戶，通過正確的包裝，這為擴大我們組合產品的基礎提供了真正的機會。

And with our global appeal, infrastructure and local market capabilities, our international road map is very much still untapped and provides meaningful upside over the coming years.

憑藉我們的全球吸引力、基礎設施和本地市場能力，我們的國際路線圖仍有待開發，並在未來幾年提供有意義的上行空間。

Lastly, our ability to drive revenue and ARPU positions us well for long-term growth, particularly given our plans to market with a lower-priced AdLite service, starting off in the U.S. and later in key international markets, a meaningful distinction from some competitors where we see an opportunity to drive value.

最後，我們推動收入和 ARPU 的能力使我們能夠很好地實現長期增長，特別是考慮到我們計劃以低價 AdLite 服務進行營銷，從美國開始，然後在關鍵的國際市場，與一些競爭對手有明顯區別我們看到了推動價值的機會。

We gained confidence in this strategic direction from our experience with ad monetization on discovery+ in the U.S., where advertisers covet the incremental reach, demos, targetability and product flexibility and pay premium rates to address this audience, helping make this tier our highest ARPU offering.

我們從在美國發現+廣告貨幣化的經驗中獲得了對這一戰略方向的信心，在美國，廣告商渴望增加覆蓋面、演示、可定位性和產品靈活性，並支付高價來解決這些受眾，這有助於使這一層成為我們最高的 ARPU 產品。

The opportunity to scale an AdLite offering represents one of the most significant upside drivers for the company long term, while offering a compelling value to more price-sensitive consumers and will benefit from Discovery's depth in local ad sales infrastructure and teams around the world to help monetize.

擴展 AdLite 產品的機會代表了公司長期最重要的上行驅動力之一，同時為對價格更敏感的消費者提供了極具吸引力的價值，並將受益於 Discovery 在全球本地廣告銷售基礎設施和團隊中的深度，以提供幫助貨幣化。

It's quite clear that the winners in streaming are and will be those companies that can provide consumers with the best quality stories, the most appealing content choices, personalized and simple products and all at a great value.

很明顯，流媒體領域的贏家將是那些能夠為消費者提供最優質的故事、最吸引人的內容選擇、個性化和簡單的產品以及所有這些都具有巨大價值的公司。

We expect our highly complementary combination will drive such a winning value proposition and will be reflected across key operating metrics over time.

我們預計我們高度互補的組合將推動這樣一個成功的價值主張，並將隨著時間的推移反映在關鍵運營指標中。

A few words on the linear side of the house before turning over to Gunnar.

在轉向 Gunnar 之前，在房子的線性一側說了幾句話。

As we think about what can be achieved in terms of bringing great networks and brands together under one roof, the analog to Scripps is a valuable benchmark.

當我們考慮將偉大的網絡和品牌聚集在一個屋簷下可以實現什麼時，斯克里普斯的模擬是一個有價值的基準。

And we believe the opportunity is far greater here, both on costs and advertising revenue potential, ultimately, to better support our core linear business and, more broadly, the entire traditional ecosystem.

我們相信這裡的機會要大得多，無論是成本還是廣告收入潛力，最終都可以更好地支持我們的核心線性業務，更廣泛地說，支持整個傳統生態系統。

This, I believe, is one of the least appreciated elements of this transaction.

我相信，這是這筆交易中最不受歡迎的元素之一。

Considered with Scripps, the platform we created in aggregating female demos, the bedrock on which we launched Premiere, our product that offers advertisers the unduplicated reach of a broadcast network across all of our prime time originals at significantly more efficient CPMs than broadcast.

考慮到 Scripps，我們創建的用於聚合女性演示的平台，我們推出 Premiere 的基石，我們的產品以比廣播更有效的 CPM 為廣告商提供廣播網絡在我們所有黃金時段原創作品中不可複制的覆蓋範圍。

We can take that advertising platform to the next level by weaving in sports, scripted news and mail-oriented programming, together with our existing core competencies.

我們可以通過將體育、腳本新聞和麵向郵件的節目以及我們現有的核心競爭力結合起來，將這個廣告平台提升到一個新的水平。

It's a true win-win, generating significant revenue upside to us with improved options, efficiency and savings to our advertising partners by replicating the reach of a broadcast network at better value.

這是一個真正的雙贏，通過以更高的價值複製廣播網絡的覆蓋範圍，為我們的廣告合作夥伴帶來更多的選擇、效率和節省，從而為我們帶來顯著的收入增長。

Cost synergy opportunities are significant.

成本協同機會非常重要。

We draw upon the expertise of our transformation office, which, since our merger with Scripps Networks in 2018, continuously challenges our management team and me to refine and transform how we conduct and manage our organization from top to bottom around the globe.

我們利用轉型辦公室的專業知識，自 2018 年與 Scripps Networks 合併以來，該辦公室不斷挑戰我們的管理團隊和我，以改進和轉變我們在全球範圍內從上到下開展和管理組織的方式。

Nothing is sacred, and no stone is unturned.

沒有什麼是神聖的，也沒有不遺餘力的。

With Scripps, we ultimately captured more than $1 billion in cost savings, representing about 35% of all non-content expenses and about 3x our original synergy target before we stop attributing incremental savings to the merger.

通過 Scripps，我們最終節省了超過 10 億美元的成本，約佔所有非內容費用的 35%，在我們停止將增量節省歸因於合併之前，我們最初的協同效應目標約為 3 倍。

A large chunk of the cost synergy opportunity that we have already conveyed speaks to the best practices and tailwind in place from the integration of Scripps.

我們已經傳達的大部分成本協同機會說明了 Scripps 整合帶來的最佳實踐和順風。

It's a great starting point.

這是一個很好的起點。

As we refine and integrate global ops, enterprise tech, corporate functions, real estate, direct-to-consumer infrastructure and tech and streamline efforts across duplicative functions like SG&A and marketing spend, a process that we see broken down into 3 distinct waves over the next few years.

隨著我們完善和整合全球運營、企業技術、企業職能、房地產、直接面向消費者的基礎設施和技術，並簡化 SG&A 和營銷支出等重複職能部門的工作，我們認為這一過程在未來幾年。

We approached $3 billion in cost saves as a tangible and achievable goal, especially against the combined company that should spend around $35 billion this year and growing from there.

我們將節省 30 億美元的成本作為一個切實可行的目標，特別是與合併後的公司相比，該公司今年應該花費約 350 億美元並從那裡增長。

Stepping back for a moment to reflect on our direct-to-consumer pivot.

回過頭來思考一下我們直接面向消費者的支點。

Nearing a year since discovery+ launched, I'm proud of what we have accomplished under the leadership of JB and the world-class team we have assembled over the last few years.

自 Discovery+ 推出近一年以來，我為我們在 JB 的領導下以及我們在過去幾年中組建的世界級團隊所取得的成就感到自豪。

We continue to learn a great deal, challenge ourselves, sharpening our focus and gaining perspective for the next leg of our direct-to-consumer journey with WarnerMedia and HBO.

我們繼續學習很多東西，挑戰自己，加強我們的關注點，並為我們與華納媒體和 HBO 直接面向消費者的旅程的下一站獲得視角。

And as we've noted recently, we continue to refine our discovery+ plans, taking a more thoughtful and tactical approach to investing in the product, and doing so in ways that also support our plans for the combined company after we close the transaction.

正如我們最近指出的那樣，我們將繼續完善我們的發現+計劃，採取更加周到和戰術性的方法來投資產品，並且這樣做的方式也支持我們在完成交易後對合併後公司的計劃。

For example, we are moving forward in priority markets.

例如，我們正在優先市場中前進。

such as Canada, Italy, Brazil and the U.K., some of which are where HBO Max hasn't announced plans or, in some cases, has indicated that they cannot launch in the near to medium term for contractual reasons.

例如加拿大、意大利、巴西和英國，其中一些是 HBO Max 尚未宣布計劃的地方，或者在某些情況下表示由於合同原因無法在中短期內推出。

As you heard from John, Jason and the team on their earnings call, HBO Max continues to aggressively move forward with their global expansion plans.

正如您從 John、Jason 和團隊在財報電話會議上聽到的那樣，HBO Max 繼續積極推進其全球擴張計劃。

Most recently in LatAm, and last week in Europe.

最近在拉丁美洲，上週在歐洲。

And we look forward to closing the transaction so that we can coordinate and maximize our marketing, technology and content spend for the enhancement of the combined effort.

我們期待完成交易，以便我們能夠協調並最大限度地利用我們的營銷、技術和內容支出，以加強聯合努力。

Until such time, we continue to roll out new and exciting content to entertain and sustain our subscribers around the globe.

在此之前，我們將繼續推出令人興奮的新內容，以娛樂和維持我們在全球的訂閱者。

And our metrics look great.

我們的指標看起來很棒。

Roll to pay remains near 75% globally.

全球滾動支付仍然接近 75%。

Churn, particularly in the U.S., continues to look strong and approaching peer group lows, while App Store ratings are firmly at the top while monetization and engagement continued to exceed our expectations, all of which helps to solidify our discovery+ base as we endeavor to roll into and formulate a more comprehensive and broader offering with HBO Max.

流失率（尤其是在美國）繼續保持強勁並接近同行低點，而 App Store 評級穩居榜首，而貨幣化和參與度繼續超出我們的預期，所有這些都有助於鞏固我們的發現 + 基礎，因為我們努力滾動使用 HBO Max 開發並製定更全面、更廣泛的產品。

In closing, this is an exciting and dynamic time for us as we plan our next steps, and we are as eager to share them as we know you are to hear them, and we expect that will be in short order.

最後，這對我們來說是一個激動人心且充滿活力的時刻，因為我們計劃下一步，我們渴望分享它們，因為我們知道您會聽到它們，我們希望這將很快完成。

While the opportunity for course capture and enhanced efficiency is both tangible and material, our North Star, our right to play will be in achieving long-term sustainable financial growth resulting from the combination of these 2 great content companies, helping to nurture our important linear presence while driving global scale across our direct-to-consumer platform, anchored by as rich and relevant portfolio of creative franchises anywhere in the world.

雖然課程捕獲和提高效率的機會是切實的和物質的，但我們的北極星，我們的權利將是通過這兩家優秀的內容公司的合併實現長期可持續的財務增長，幫助培育我們重要的線性在我們的直接面向消費者的平台上推動全球規模的存在，並以世界各地豐富且相關的創意特許經營組合為基礎。

I'd now like to turn it over to Gunnar.

我現在想把它交給 Gunnar。

After which, JB, Gunnar and I will be happy to answer any of your questions.

之後，JB、Gunnar 和我將很樂意回答您的任何問題。

Thank you, David.

謝謝你，大衛。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

大家早上好，感謝您今天加入我們。

Reiterating David's comments, I'm pleased with what the Discovery team has achieved since the discovery+ Analyst Day not even a year ago.

重申 David 的評論，我對 Discovery 團隊自一年前的發現+分析師日以來所取得的成就感到高興。

Over that time, we have added 15 million paying direct-to-consumer subscribers globally, finishing the third quarter with 20 million paying DTC subscribers.

在那段時間裡，我們在全球增加了 1500 萬直接面向消費者的付費用戶，第三季度末有 2000 萬付費 DTC 用戶。

Since the start of our discovery+ journey, we have launched in over 25 new markets, notably the U.S. and the U.K., and most recently, Canada and the Philippines, with Brazil to come over the next few weeks.

自從我們的發現+之旅開始以來，我們已經在超過 25 個新市場推出，特別是美國和英國，以及最近的加拿大和菲律賓，巴西將在接下來的幾週內推出。

At the same time, we have continued to drive growth in markets like Poland, the Nordics, Italy and India, where we doubled down on our direct-to-consumer efforts with a renewed and expanded content offering.

與此同時，我們繼續推動波蘭、北歐、意大利和印度等市場的增長，在這些市場，我們通過更新和擴展的內容產品加倍了直接面向消費者的努力。

And our next-generation revenues finished the third quarter with $425 million for the quarter or a $1.7 billion annualized run rate with global D2C ARPU of approximately $5 and $7 blended discovery+ ARPU in the U.S., again, supported by our over $10 ARPU for the discovery+ AdLite product, which continues to monetize very well.

我們的下一代收入在第三季度以 4.25 億美元或 17 億美元的年化運行率結束，全球 D2C ARPU 約為 5 美元，美國的混合發現 + ARPU 為 7 美元，再次得到我們超過 10 美元的發現 + ARPU 的支持AdLite 產品，它繼續很好地獲利。

Investment losses for the quarter were in the low $200 million range, slightly better than our guidance from last quarter, and we expect investment losses more or less in that range in the fourth quarter as well.

本季度的投資損失在 2 億美元的低位，略好於我們上一季度的指導，我們預計第四季度的投資損失或多或少也在該範圍內。

As always, we maintain a disciplined approach with respect to investing in direct-to-consumer initiatives.

與往常一樣，我們在投資直接面向消費者的計劃方面保持嚴謹的態度。

As both David and I have noted over the last few months, it is through this lens that we view the opportunity ahead, both leading up to the merger and beyond.

正如大衛和我在過去幾個月中所指出的那樣，正是通過這個鏡頭，我們看到了未來的機會，無論是在合併之前還是之後。

We are very focused on nourishing our existing subscriber base with an increasing content offering and new product features.

我們非常專注於通過不斷增加的內容供應和新產品功能來滋養我們現有的用戶群。

At the same time, you should expect us to be guided by a rigorous analysis of customer lifetime value and subscriber acquisition cost to determine our marketing spend for new sub-additions.

同時，您應該期望我們以對客戶終身價值和訂戶獲取成本的嚴格分析為指導，以確定我們對新子添加的營銷支出。

And now I'd like to quickly review our reporting segments.

現在我想快速回顧一下我們的報告部分。

Starting with the U.S., third quarter advertising revenues increased 5% year-over-year.

從美國開始，第三季度廣告收入同比增長 5%。

Pricing was healthy versus last year, driven by scatter pricing that was up 40% year-over-year.

由於分散定價同比增長 40%，定價與去年相比是健康的。

Additionally, we continue to see strong demand for our discovery+ AdLite product, which contributed to the growth in the quarter.

此外，我們繼續看到對我們的發現+ AdLite 產品的強勁需求，這促成了本季度的增長。

This was partly offset by weaker audience delivery year-over-year, some of it's attributable to the Nielsen panel issues as well as the lapping of our very strong performance last year during the pandemic.

這部分被較弱的觀眾交付量所抵消，部分原因是尼爾森小組的問題以及我們去年在大流行期間非常強勁的表現。

Furthermore, some of our networks have lost share to the strong sports calendar this year.

此外，我們的一些網絡已經失去了今年強勁的體育日曆的份額。

While scatter pricing is still very healthy in Q4, up 30% to 35% over both upfront and last year, the overall tone in the market is a bit more subdued than last few quarters as clients work through the constraints in the global supply chain.

儘管分散定價在第四季度仍然非常健康，比前期和去年都增長了 30% 到 35%，但由於客戶正在克服全球供應鏈的限制，市場的整體基調比過去幾個季度更加低迷。

And though there is slightly less visibility as a result, we are very pleased with how our portfolio is positioned based on the strength from the upfront and contribution from direct to consumer.

儘管因此可見度略低，但我們對我們的產品組合如何根據前期實力和直接對消費者的貢獻進行定位感到非常滿意。

Distribution revenues increased 21% year-over-year, largely due to the continued growth of discovery+ as well as linear affiliate rate increases, in part helped by successful renewals with DIRECTV, Verizon, Hulu and Altice so far this year.

發行收入同比增長 21%，主要是由於發現 + 的持續增長以及線性會員費率的增長，部分得益於今年迄今為止與 DIRECTV、Verizon、Hulu 和 Altice 的成功續訂。

As disclosed in our earnings release, pay-TV subscribers to our fully distributed linear networks declined by 3% year-over-year, while total portfolio linear subscribers declined 4% excluding the impact of the sale of our Great American Country network last quarter.

正如我們在財報中披露的那樣，我們完全分佈式線性網絡的付費電視用戶同比下降 3%，而總投資組合線性用戶下降 4%，不包括上季度出售我們的 Great American Country 網絡的影響。

Turning to international, which I will, as always, discuss on a constant currency basis.

轉向國際，我將一如既往地在不變的貨幣基礎上進行討論。

International advertising increased 26% versus last year as the global advertising marketplace continued to recover from the pandemic.

隨著全球廣告市場繼續從大流行中復蘇，國際廣告與去年相比增長了 26%。

We also benefited from the Olympics in Europe across our linear and digital platform.

我們還通過我們的線性和數字平台從歐洲奧運會中受益。

Although as we've noted in the past, advertising for the Olympic Games is less consequential in Europe as compared to the U.S. All of our international regions, including many of our key markets like the U.K., Germany, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Australia and New Zealand and Mexico were up meaningfully compared to last year as well as compared to 2019.

儘管正如我們過去所指出的，與美國相比，奧運會廣告在歐洲的影響較小。我們所有的國際地區，包括我們的許多主要市場，如英國、德國、瑞典、挪威、西班牙、澳大利亞與去年和 2019 年相比，新西蘭和墨西哥都有顯著增長。

We see momentum continuing into Q4, even as, needless to say, the year-over-year comps get tougher from here on out.

我們看到勢頭持續到第四季度，儘管不用說，從現在開始，逐年對比變得更加艱難。

International distribution revenues grew 6% during the quarter, primarily due to the growth in direct-to-consumer subscribers, which have nearly tripled over the past year across our footprint outside the U.S., in part aided by the Olympic sign-ups.

本季度國際分銷收入增長了 6%，這主要是由於直接面向消費者的訂戶的增長，在過去一年中，我們在美國以外的足跡幾乎翻了三倍，部分得益於奧運會的註冊。

Turning to operating expenses.

轉向運營費用。

Total company OpEx increased 50% during the quarter or 17% excluding the Olympics, for which the overall AOIBDA losses were in line with our guidance of around $200 million for the quarter.

本季度公司總運營支出增加了 50%，或不包括奧運會增加了 17%，其中 AOIBDA 的整體虧損符合我們本季度約 2 億美元的指導。

We continue to focus on driving efficiency in our core linear networks, and we remain on track to reduce core linear OpEx in the low to mid-single-digit percentage range for the year.

我們繼續專注於提高核心線性網絡的效率，並且我們仍有望在今年的中低個位數百分比範圍內降低核心線性運營支出。

Turning to some housekeeping items.

轉向一些家務用品。

Net income for the quarter was $156 million or $0.24 per share on a diluted basis.

本季度的淨收入為 1.56 億美元或攤薄後每股 0.24 美元。

A couple of items to note.

有幾點需要注意。

First, we recognized a $0.12 per share noncash gain from the $15 billion of notional interest rate hedges that we recently implemented to mitigate interest rate risk for future debt issuances to finance the cash portion of the WarnerMedia transaction.

首先，我們從最近實施的 150 億美元名義利率對沖中確認每股 0.12 美元的非現金收益，該對沖是為了降低未來債務發行的利率風險，為華納媒體交易的現金部分提供資金。

The hedges provide additional security and visibility towards our overall cost of deal-related debt financing, which is now trending better than our initial expectations.

對沖為我們與交易相關的債務融資的總體成本提供了額外的安全性和可見性，該成本現在的趨勢好於我們最初的預期。

And the final note on this, as the derivatives do not qualify as hedges for accounting purposes, we are required to report the changes in fair market value on our income statement, which could result in some additional variability to our net income until the WarnerMedia transaction closes.

最後一點，由於衍生品不符合會計目的的對沖條件，我們需要在損益表上報告公允市場價值的變化，這可能會導致我們的淨收入出現一些額外的變化，直到華納媒體交易關閉。

We will, of course, call this impact out each quarter.

當然，我們每個季度都會將這種影響稱為影響。

Second, the impact of PPA amortization during the third quarter was $0.30 per share.

其次，第三季度 PPA 攤銷的影響為每股 0.30 美元。

Adjusted for the above, EPS would have been $0.42 per diluted share.

經上述調整後，每股攤薄收益為 0.42 美元。

Our effective tax rate during the quarter was 15%, and we continue to expect the full year effective book tax rate to be in the mid-teens range.

我們本季度的有效稅率為 15%，我們繼續預計全年有效賬面稅率將在十幾歲左右。

For cash taxes, we continue to anticipate a rate in the high 20% range for the year, excluding PPA amortization, though this is subject to change as we are carefully monitoring ongoing tax legislation.

對於現金稅，我們繼續預計今年的稅率在 20% 的高位範圍內，不包括 PPA 攤銷，儘管這可能會發生變化，因為我們正在密切關注正在進行的稅收立法。

And we expect FX to have roughly a negative $15 million year-over-year impact on revenues and a negative $10 million impact on AOIBDA in the fourth quarter.

我們預計第四季度外匯對收入的同比影響約為 1500 萬美元，對 AOIBDA 的影響為 1000 萬美元。

Now turning to free cash flow and our leverage.

現在轉向自由現金流和我們的槓桿。

We generated $705 million of free cash flow in the quarter, obviously, a very strong conversion rate of AOIBDA, notwithstanding the continuing investments we're making as well as the return to normalized content production levels.

我們在本季度產生了 7.05 億美元的自由現金流，顯然，AOIBDA 的轉換率非常高，儘管我們正在進行持續投資以及恢復到正常化的內容製作水平。

Year-to-date, our AOIBDA to free cash flow conversion rate is over 60%.

年初至今，我們的 AOIBDA 到自由現金流的轉換率超過 60%。

And with a few months left in the quarter, we see free cash flow topping $2.1 billion for the full year and clearly ahead of our 50% conversion guidance.

在本季度還剩幾個月的時候，我們預計全年自由現金流將超過 21 億美元，明顯高於我們 50% 的轉化率指導。

And to expand on the point that David made earlier, we now expect our net leverage to be at or below 4.5x by the time we close the WarnerMedia merger.

為了擴展大衛早些時候提出的觀點，我們現在預計到我們完成華納媒體合併時，我們的淨槓桿率將達到或低於 4.5 倍。

Over the past few months, having had the opportunity to dig further into WarnerMedia's draft carve-out financials and with better visibility on estimated working capital in conjunction with our better P&L and free cash flow performance, we now believe that we will have a healthy amount less net debt at closing than originally anticipated.

在過去的幾個月裡，我們有機會進一步深入了解 WarnerMedia 的分拆財務草案，並更好地了解估計的營運資金以及我們更好的損益和自由現金流表現，我們現在相信我們將擁有一個健康的數額收盤時的淨債務低於最初預期。

While naturally, these metrics are preliminary and a function of working capital at close, we now do expect to be in a position to reduce leverage to 3x meaningfully sooner than what we stated in May.

雖然這些指標自然是初步的，並且是營運資本的函數，但我們現在確實希望能夠比我們在 5 月份所說的更早地將槓桿率降低到 3 倍。

Our long-term target net leverage range for Warner Bros.

我們對華納兄弟的長期目標淨槓桿範圍。

Discovery remains at 2.5 to 3x.

發現率保持在 2.5 到 3 倍。

As we work towards closing the WarnerMedia transaction in mid-2022, we have redirected our experienced integration and transformation office to hit the ground running.

隨著我們努力在 2022 年年中完成 WarnerMedia 交易，我們已將經驗豐富的整合和轉型辦公室重新定位，以開始運作。

And as we refine our strategic review and integration plans and as we develop our synergy capture plans further, we are as enthusiastic as ever about the prospects of combining these 2 world-class portfolios and franchises.

隨著我們完善我們的戰略審查和整合計劃，以及我們進一步製定我們的協同效應捕獲計劃，我們對合併這兩個世界級投資組合和特許經營權的前景一如既往地充滿熱情。

With that, we look forward to sharing a lot more in due time.

有了這個，我們期待在適當的時候分享更多。

And for now, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator to start taking your questions.

現在，我想把電話轉給接線員，開始回答你的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question is from the line of Doug Mitchelson from Credit Suisse.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Doug Mitchelson。

Okay.

好的。

Look, David, I appreciate the update on the merger and the lower debt leverage.

看，大衛，我很欣賞合併的最新情況和較低的債務槓桿。

Can you talk about the content vision for the combined company and how that's evolving?

你能談談合併後公司的內容願景以及它是如何發展的嗎？

I guess it's kind of a 3-part question, David.

我想這是一個由三部分組成的問題，大衛。

The first is, is Warner Bros.

第一個是華納兄弟。

investing enough now in content under AT&T while they're sort of focused on the merger?

現在在 AT&T 旗下的內容上投入足夠的資金，而他們有點專注於合併？

How are you thinking about how much content spend should be to winning in global streaming versus how much the companies are spending today?

您如何看待要在全球流媒體中獲勝應該花費多少內容與公司今天花費多少？

And do you have visibility on what Warner is making that's going to be coming out in late '22 and '23 and '24 since moving in particular is a 2- to 3-year cycle.

您是否了解華納正在製作的內容，這些內容將在 22 年末、23 年和 24 年推出，因為特別是移動是一個 2 到 3 年的周期。

Any thoughts on that would be helpful.

對此的任何想法都會有所幫助。

Thanks, Doug.

謝謝，道格。

First, this is something that John Stankey and I talked about as we created this vision together of this company being what we believe is the best media company with the greatest and most comprehensive content offering.

首先，這是 John Stankey 和我談到的，因為我們共同創造了這家公司的願景，我們認為這家公司是最好的媒體公司，提供最豐富、最全面的內容。

And as part of that, we're spending more money on content and leaning in, and WarnerMedia is spending more money on content and leaning in.

作為其中的一部分，我們在內容上投入更多資金並投入其中，而華納媒體也在內容投入和投入上投入更多資金。

We both committed to do that to keep both of our ecosystems nourished and strong and growing.

我們都承諾這樣做，以保持我們的生態系統得到滋養、強大和成長。

So when the deal -- when and if the deal gets approved, then we come together -- we'll come together with strength.

因此，當交易 - 當交易獲得批准時，我們會團結起來 - 我們將團結起來。

And you see that with -- on the Warner side, where we're cheering them on with the success of Dune around the world with Ann and Tobi on that side and Casey Bloys having an incredible run at HBO with succession, White LOTUS, Hacks, Mare of Easttown.

你會看到——在華納方面，我們為他們歡呼沙丘在世界各地的成功，安和托比在那邊，凱西·布洛伊斯在 HBO 的接班人、白蓮花、黑客隊取得了令人難以置信的成績，東鎮的母馬。

It's just -- if you look at the culture and the impact of that content, together with the extraordinary library they have, us leaning in on our side with more original content.

只是——如果你看看這些內容的文化和影響，再加上他們擁有的非凡的圖書館，我們就會以更多的原創內容站在我們這邊。

And so for us, we're also spending a lot more on the international side to get ready.

所以對我們來說，我們也在國際方面花費更多來做好準備。

We think that's a strategic advantage.

我們認為這是一個戰略優勢。

And when you look at the content, we think, in terms of the demographics, that we will appeal broadly to every demo.

當您查看內容時，我們認為，就人口統計而言，我們將廣泛吸引每個演示。

I mentioned this, but we're very strong with women.

我提到了這一點，但我們對女性非常強大。

That's a particular strength of Discovery where we're doing many quarters with the leading media company in America for women, together with the length of view of women watching our channels, whether it's food or HG or Oprah or ID and TLC and that's continuing.

這是 Discovery 的一個特殊優勢，我們與美國領先的女性媒體公司合作了許多季度，以及女性觀看我們頻道的時間長度，無論是食物、HG、奧普拉、ID 和 TLC，而且這種情況還在繼續。

In addition, we look around the world.

此外，我們環顧世界。

It's not just local content, but we're the leader in sports in Europe.

這不僅僅是本地內容，而且我們是歐洲體育界的領導者。

They have sports in Latin America.

他們在拉丁美洲有運動。

And CNN is the leader in news with the most compelling news brand around the world.

CNN 是新聞領域的領導者，擁有全球最引人注目的新聞品牌。

And one of the few global -- maybe the only global new service that has the kind of resources around the world in news gathering.

並且是為數不多的全球性新服務之一——也許是唯一擁有全球新聞採集資源的全球性新服務。

And so as we go out and build this service and make this offering, and I do think it's the best content wins, there's a great product in Netflix and entertainment.

因此，當我們走出去構建這項服務並提供這項服務時，我確實認為這是最好的內容獲勝，Netflix 和娛樂領域有一個很棒的產品。

There's a great product with Disney, with Chabeck is building with entertainment.

迪斯尼有一個很棒的產品，而查貝克正在建立娛樂。

And we think we have a comparable product, maybe even more diversely attractive in entertainment.

我們認為我們有一個類似的產品，也許在娛樂方面更具吸引力。

But on top of that, we also have sports, which we're using in Europe and learning a lot from.

但最重要的是，我們還有運動，我們在歐洲使用並從中學到了很多東西。

And in markets like Poland where we're doing news and sports together with broad entertainment and nonfiction, we're finding real meaningful traction and real reduction in churn.

在像波蘭這樣的市場中，我們將新聞和體育與廣泛的娛樂和非小說類結合起來，我們發現真正有意義的牽引力和客戶流失率的真正減少。

And so I think we have a lot to learn, but we have a terrific product, and we're working on our go to market.

所以我認為我們有很多東西要學，但我們有一個很棒的產品，我們正在努力進入市場。

We have brought on an old friend of mine who I've known for 15 years, one of the most talented people, I think, in the business.

我們請來了一位認識 15 年的老朋友，我認為他是業內最有才華的人之一。

He's busy with a lot of other things, but we do have a commitment now that Kevin Mayer, who built Disney+ will be in the car with -- as a consultant with JB and I and Bruce and Gunnar and the whole team, as we've already built, as we've talked about, a go-to-market strategy.

他忙於許多其他事情，但我們現在確實有一個承諾，創建迪士尼 + 的凱文·梅耶將與我、JB 和我、布魯斯和貢納爾以及整個團隊一起作為顧問，就像我們一樣正如我們所討論的，我們已經建立了進入市場的戰略。

We're going to be honing that.

我們將對此進行磨練。

Kevin has a big brain.

凱文有一個大腦袋。

He's learned a lot about this.

他在這方面學到了很多東西。

We've learned a lot in Europe and with discovery+.

我們在歐洲和發現+中學到了很多東西。

We've been at it for a long time, but he had a lot of success at Disney.

我們已經做了很長時間，但他在迪士尼取得了很大的成功。

He's super excited about getting in the car with us and helping us with everything that he's learned.

他對和我們一起上車並幫助我們學習他所學到的一切感到非常興奮。

A lot of knowledge about windowing, about how different pieces of content, whether it's movies perform.

很多關於窗口化的知識，關於不同的內容片段，無論是電影的表現。

We're anxious to get in a room with Ann and the team at Warner.

我們很想和 Ann 以及華納的團隊進一個房間。

I was there last week, meeting for the first time with Ann's whole team.

上週我在那裡，第一次與 Ann 的整個團隊會面。

But they're super smart over there, and so we think adding Kevin to the overall team is going to be helpful to us.

但他們在那邊非常聰明，所以我們認為將凱文加入整個團隊將對我們有所幫助。

And off we go.

我們走了。

Who's got the best menu?

誰的菜單最好？

I think we got the best menu.

我認為我們得到了最好的菜單。

And Doug, just one point I would add, obviously, sort of we scrutinize each other's investment plans as part of the deal discussions.

道格，我要補充一點，顯然，作為交易討論的一部分，我們會仔細審查彼此的投資計劃。

And as we said before, all the financial guidance that we've given around the deal is always assuming a pretty significant step-up in content investments over the coming years.

正如我們之前所說，我們圍繞這筆交易提供的所有財務指導總是假設未來幾年內容投資會大幅增加。

Your next question is from the line of John Hodulik from UBS.

您的下一個問題來自瑞銀的 John Hodulik。

Okay, guys.

好的，伙計們。

Couple of quick questions on advertising.

幾個關於廣告的快速問題。

Obviously, a lot of sort of trends going into the fourth quarter.

顯然，進入第四季度會有很多趨勢。

You got the step-up from the upfront, but potentially some slowdown from supply chain issues.

您從前期獲得了進步，但可能會因供應鏈問題而放緩。

David, is there any way that you guys could sort of characterize what you see going forward on that side and maybe break out what you're seeing in terms of the linear business versus the DTC business?

大衛，你們有沒有什麼方法可以描述你在這方面看到的未來，也許可以打破你在線性業務與 DTC 業務方面看到的情況？

Sure.

當然。

Well, I would just start with -- this is the most successful upfront that I've seen in my career.

好吧，我就從這開始——這是我職業生涯中看到的最成功的前期。

I think from an industry perspective, it's up 20, and it was very materially bigger upfront for us because of Premier and because of the length of view and the certain advertisers wanting to be aligned with the brands that we have and the characters that we have.

我認為從行業的角度來看，它上升了 20 倍，而且由於 Premier 和視野的長度以及某些廣告商希望與我們擁有的品牌和我們擁有的角色保持一致，這對我們來說是非常重要的前期.

And so I think it's a big, big helper to us that we had a very strong upfront.

所以我認為我們有一個非常強大的前期對我們來說是一個很大的幫助。

There are supply chain issues.

存在供應鏈問題。

There are put level issues.

存在放置水平問題。

But we're still seeing that there will be material growth in advertising, and we can't predict what's going to happen in the future.

但我們仍然看到廣告將出現實質性增長，我們無法預測未來會發生什麼。

But as I've said before, I saw a lot of people in the mid-90s saying that it's the end of broadcast television.

但正如我之前所說，我看到很多人在 90 年代中期說這是廣播電視的終結。

It may be a transition away from a lot of the younger demo being on there, but we see huge numbers.

這可能是與許多年輕演示的過渡，但我們看到了巨大的數字。

And we're not getting credit for it, but I think one of the reasons why the ad market was up so much for us is the advertisers know there's a massive audience over 55 watching food, watching HG, watching Discovery, watching ID, and they get those.

我們並沒有因此而受到讚揚，但我認為廣告市場對我們來說如此上漲的原因之一是廣告商知道有超過 55 歲的大量觀眾在觀看食物、觀看 HG、觀看 Discovery、觀看 ID 和他們得到那些。

Right now, they get them for free.

現在，他們免費獲得它們。

We talked about in the upfront, a number of us in the industry.

我們在前期談到了我們行業中的一些人。

Independently, we're out there trying to get credit for that.

獨立地，我們在那裡試圖獲得榮譽。

But I think that the linear platform is here for quite a long time, and there'll be ups and downs on advertising.

但我認為線性平台已經存在了相當長的時間，並且在廣告方面會有起伏。

But advertisers, they find it's very effective to be in linear video, much more effective than others.

但是廣告商，他們發現在線性視頻中非常有效，比其他人更有效。

And then we have the complement of discovery+, which is just a huge driver for us in terms of the demo complements and attractiveness.

然後我們有發現+的補充，就演示補充和吸引力而言，這對我們來說是一個巨大的驅動力。

Gunnar?

貢納爾？

I don't really have a lot to add to that, David.

大衛，我真的沒有什麼要補充的。

I mean we're feeling very, very good about our position, the upfront, the continued contributions from D2C.

我的意思是我們對我們的位置、前期以及 D2C 的持續貢獻感覺非常非常好。

But I did want to point out a little less visibility for the known reasons.

但由於已知原因，我確實想指出知名度較低。

So -- but we'll be growing very healthily in the fourth quarter, I believe, from today's perspective.

所以 - 但我相信，從今天的角度來看，我們將在第四季度非常健康地增長。

Your next question is 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 have 2 questions.

我有 2 個問題。

On the integration, I appreciate all the comments you did make.

關於集成，我感謝您所做的所有評論。

What is the most challenging areas?

最具挑戰性的領域是什麼？

And one area of opportunity, and you've actually gone through it at Discovery already in waves.

還有一個機會領域，你實際上已經在 Discovery 經歷了它。

But on your technology stack, on your tech stack, can you talk about you transitioned off of, oh my God, the Major League Baseball, BAMTech, sorry -- of BAMTech created your own.

但是在你的技術堆棧上，在你的技術堆棧上，你能談談你從美國職業棒球大聯盟、BAMTech 過渡出來的事情嗎？BAMTech 創造了你自己的。

So as you look at combining with HBO Max, like what are the challenges?

因此，當您考慮與 HBO Max 結合時，挑戰是什麼？

And what are the ultimate benefits and cost savings?

最終的好處和成本節約是什麼？

And then the second question, David, you said in your prepared remarks that you can make acquisitions without asset sales.

然後是第二個問題，大衛，你在準備好的發言中說你可以在不出售資產的情況下進行收購。

I'm just wondering what pieces do you think you're missing in the combined company.

我只是想知道您認為合併後的公司缺少哪些部分。

Okay.

好的。

Let me start by saying, look, I don't think we're missing anything.

首先讓我說，看，我不認為我們缺少任何東西。

And the first thing we're going to do is look to drive all the tremendous assets and a differentiated IP and the great library and local content that we have, pull it all together and go to market.

我們要做的第一件事是推動我們擁有的所有巨大資產和差異化 IP 以及出色的圖書館和本地內容，將它們整合在一起並進入市場。

We think we have something quite strong.

我們認為我們有一些非常強大的東西。

I'm just making the point that there will -- given that we're going to be delevering quicker given the fact that we're -- we will be much lower levered than expected that, over time, as others are struggling, that there'll be an opportunity for us to look at IP and to see where we need more help if we need more help.

我只是要指出，考慮到我們將更快地去槓桿，我們的槓桿率將遠低於預期，隨著時間的推移，隨著其他人的掙扎，我們將有機會研究知識產權，並了解如果我們需要更多幫助，我們在哪些方面需要更多幫助。

On the integration side, we're really lucky.

在集成方面，我們真的很幸運。

We got 2 big tent poles here.

我們這裡有 2 根大帳篷桿。

One is Gunnar will be the CFO of this company.

一是Gunnar將成為這家公司的首席財務官。

He did -- he's done an exceptional job.

他做到了——他做得非常出色。

He led the initiative with Scripps, where we said we'd be less than 3.5x levered 2 years later, and we did it in less than a year.

他領導了 Scripps 的倡議，我們說 2 年後我們的槓桿率將低於 3.5 倍，而我們在不到一年的時間裡就做到了。

And we said we'd deliver $350 million, and we delivered over $1 billion.

我們說我們將交付 3.5 億美元，我們交付了超過 10 億美元。

And all of that was just cost not revenue synergy.

所有這些只是成本而非收入協同效應。

He came up with these targets and he's quite confident in those targets.

他提出了這些目標，並且對這些目標非常有信心。

And so Gunnar will be kind of the lead horse.

所以貢納爾將成為領頭馬。

He'll talk to it.

他會跟它說話。

We have a very experienced team here.

我們這裡有一支經驗豐富的團隊。

Bruce Campbell and JB and Adrian and I have been together for 25 years.

Bruce Campbell、JB、Adrian 和我已經在一起 25 年了。

We're looking forward to bringing in some incredibly talented people at Warner.

我們期待在華納引進一些非常有才華的人。

But when we acquired Universal, JB was the one for Bob Reitan, for Jeff Immelt that ran the integration of that entire transaction, well, which was cable, movies, theme parks, with over 146 work teams and work groups and did a magnificent job on that.

但是當我們收購環球影業時，JB 是 Bob Reitan 和 Jeff Immelt 的負責人，負責整合整個交易，包括有線電視、電影、主題公園，擁有超過 146 個工作團隊和工作組，並且做得非常出色在那。

And so we're fully deployed.

所以我們已經完全部署了。

We got -- there's a lot that we can't do now, but Gunnar, why don't I pass it off to you and JB?

我們得到了——現在有很多事情我們不能做，但是 Gunnar，我為什麼不把它交給你和 JB 呢？

Yes.

是的。

And I'll let JB comment on the tech part of your question, Jessica.

傑西卡，我會讓 JB 評論你問題的技術部分。

But again, I mean, from the perspective of challenges, again, as I've been saying from the very beginning, we've taken a conservative approach to this, and we're very well aware of the size of the checks that we're writing here for this combination, and we have been careful with our assumptions.

但是，我的意思是，從挑戰的角度來看，正如我從一開始就一直在說的那樣，我們對此採取了保守的態度，並且我們非常清楚我們檢查的規模' 在這裡寫這個組合，我們對我們的假設很謹慎。

So all the work that we've done since gives me more and more confidence in our ability to deliver or outperform against these synergies.

因此，我們從那以後所做的所有工作讓我越來越相信我們有能力提供或超越這些協同效應。

As I -- as David said and as I said earlier in the prepared remarks, doing more work now, having transparency into albeit draft carve-out financials for the WarnerMedia carve-out group, as I said, the cash payment is going to be a significantly lower one from today's perspective.

正如我 - 正如大衛所說，正如我之前在準備好的評論中所說，現在做更多的工作，儘管 WarnerMedia 剝離集團的剝離財務草案具有透明度，正如我所說，現金支付將是從今天的角度來看，這是一個顯著降低的值。

That gives us a better starting point from a leverage perspective.

從槓桿的角度來看，這為我們提供了一個更好的起點。

And as we said earlier, this sort of below 4.5x leverage that we're seeing right now is, to a large extent, driven by working capital adjustments.

正如我們之前所說，我們現在看到的這種低於 4.5 倍的槓桿率在很大程度上是由營運資金調整驅動的。

But to some extent, it's also driven by our current performance, both for the P&L and the free cash flow being above what we assumed in our conservative agency model that we base our first communication on.

但在某種程度上，它也受到我們當前業績的驅動，無論是損益表還是自由現金流都高於我們在我們第一次溝通所依據的保守代理模型中假設的值。

So again, it's early still.

再說一次，現在還早。

We obviously still can only do so much until we have regulatory clearance.

顯然，在獲得監管許可之前，我們仍然只能做這麼多。

But as we said, the team is up and running.

但正如我們所說，團隊已經啟動並運行。

Simon Robinson, our Chief Transformation Officer, and his team fully redirected at this now so that we hit the ground running, and I think we're in very good shape.

我們的首席轉型官 Simon Robinson 和他的團隊現在完全重新定向，這樣我們就開始運轉了，我認為我們的狀態非常好。

You are pointing out, obviously, one of the key questions here with the tech platforms.

顯然，您指出的是技術平台的關鍵問題之一。

JB, why don't you give a perspective on how we're looking at that?

JB，你為什麼不就我們如何看待它提出一個觀點？

Yes, Jessica.

是的，傑西卡。

It's obviously a big opportunity for us.

這對我們來說顯然是一個很大的機會。

We look at it as one where we're undergoing right now essentially an audit of both platforms.

我們將其視為我們現在正在對這兩個平台進行審計的地方。

And I don't think necessarily the decision is a monolithic one.

而且我認為這個決定不一定是一個單一的決定。

We look at these as multiple different modules that make up all the different components of both their and our tech platforms.

我們將這些視為多個不同的模塊，它們構成了他們和我們的技術平台的所有不同組件。

And we have a lot of experience, as you mentioned, in terms of the effort and the work and the discipline required in re-platforming either one to the other -- in one direction or the other.

正如你所提到的，我們有很多經驗，在將一個方向或另一個方向重新平台所需的努力、工作和紀律方面。

That decision, we haven't made yet, but we're undergoing obviously a significant diligence process to underscore which is the best in class on both.

這個決定，我們還沒有做出，但我們顯然正在經歷一個重要的盡職調查過程，以強調這兩者都是同類中最好的。

And it may be a little bit of a combination of those depending on certain modules in the platform that we may apply.

根據我們可能應用的平台中的某些模塊，它可能是這些組合的一點點。

And so we think it's actually a great opportunity because Rich and Jason and the team on their side have obviously spent a lot of time and are investing a lot in upgrading their tech platform as we speak.

所以我們認為這實際上是一個很好的機會，因為 Rich 和 Jason 以及他們身邊的團隊顯然已經花了很多時間，並且在我們說話的時候投入了大量資金來升級他們的技術平台。

We've obviously spent a lot of time and a lot of money doing the same over the course of the last 12 to 18 months.

在過去 12 到 18 個月的過程中，我們顯然花了很多時間和金錢做同樣的事情。

And as the 2 groups come together, we will have essentially a choice of a -- what we think will be an incredibly attractive kind of tech buffet that we will look to make the best of both to decide how we move into a common platform going forward.

隨著這兩組人走到一起，我們基本上可以選擇一種——我們認為這將是一種非常有吸引力的技術自助餐，我們將尋求充分利用兩者來決定我們如何進入一個共同的平台向前。

And just maybe just -- I just want to clarify one thing, Jessica, because if I understand your question correctly, you were referring to acquisitions.

也許只是——我只想澄清一件事，傑西卡，因為如果我正確理解你的問題，你指的是收購。

That's nothing that we said in our prepared remarks.

這不是我們在準備好的評論中所說的。

And just to clarify, we're not anticipating or planning for any acquisitions at this point.

澄清一下，我們目前沒有預期或計劃進行任何收購。

No, David, it was really clear.

不，大衛，這真的很清楚。

It just gives you opportunity.

它只是給你機會。

But JB, I just wanted to follow up on the -- did it take a lot -- you've gone through this, as you said, already with BAMTech.

但是 JB，我只是想跟進 - 是否需要很多 - 正如你所說，你已經通過 BAMTech 完成了這個。

Can you just talk a little bit or give us any color on what the cost savings will be from combining and what the benefits are from having 1 platform?

您能否簡單談談或告訴我們組合將節省多少成本以及擁有 1 個平台的好處是什麼？

Well, there will be meaningful cost savings from coming -- combining into one platform.

好吧，通過整合到一個平台中，將會顯著節省成本。

I think there also will be meaningful consumer benefits from combining into one platform.

我認為整合到一個平台中也會給消費者帶來有意義的好處。

And I think the other thing to keep in mind is, yes, part of what -- in David's comments about us being more disciplined and tactical at this stage of phasing the further rollouts of discovery+, for example, is also a view towards we may be able to more quickly in markets where we may not have launched discovery+ to be able to quickly fold -- more quickly fold the content offering into a joint platform at that stage versus having to replatform 2 existing platforms in a market into one.

而且我認為要記住的另一件事是，是的，部分內容——例如，在大衛關於我們在分階段進一步推出發現+的階段更加自律和戰術的評論中，也是對我們可能的看法能夠更快地在我們可能尚未推出 Discovery+ 的市場中快速折疊——在那個階段更快地將內容提供折疊到一個聯合平台中，而不必將市場中的 2 個現有平台重新整合為一個平台。

And so I think speed to market will be a variant of both where we have and haven't launched, number one.

因此，我認為上市速度將是我們已經推出和尚未推出的第一款產品的變體。

And number two, while we -- the final decisions on exactly which parts of the tech platform we migrate to will influence how long it takes us to get there.

第二，雖然我們 - 關於我們遷移到技術平台的哪些部分的最終決定將影響我們到達那裡需要多長時間。

But remember that there may be 2 phases to this where there may be an initial phase, which allows for more of a quick bundling of services and a second phase, which eventually allows for, obviously, a common service on one tech platform.

但請記住，這可能有兩個階段，其中可能有一個初始階段，允許更多地快速捆綁服務和第二個階段，顯然最終允許在一個技術平台上提供公共服務。

That's the time line and evolution, certainly, Jessica, that we'll talk to you more in detail as soon as we can give you more color.

那是時間線和演變，當然，傑西卡，一旦我們能給你更多色彩，我們會盡快與你更詳細地交談。

Maybe if I can add one thing, Jessica.

也許如果我可以補充一件事，傑西卡。

Again, what we said when we first announced this deal was, remember, there's roughly $6 billion in technology and marketing spend between the 2 platforms, and we're assuming growth.

同樣，當我們第一次宣布這筆交易時，我們所說的是，請記住，這兩個平台之間的技術和營銷支出約為 60 億美元，我們假設會增長。

We brought together 2 companies with significant expansion plans.

我們匯集了 2 家具有重大擴張計劃的公司。

A lot of that spend is, by its nature, a fixed cost, relatively independent of the subscriber number.

就其性質而言，大部分支出都是固定成本，相對獨立於訂戶數量。

Obviously, there's streaming related costs, et cetera.

顯然，還有流媒體相關的成本等等。

But a lot of it is fixed.

但是很多都是固定的。

And so there's a huge opportunity to completely sort of deduplicate that spend base.

因此，有一個巨大的機會可以完全消除該支出基礎的重複數據。

And to JB's point of multiple ways, especially on the marketing side, I have no doubt that we will, out of the gate sort of even in the first phase before fully aligning tech platforms, we'll be able to get a lot of leverage out of the combined marketing spend.

就 JB 的觀點而言，尤其是在營銷方面，我毫不懷疑，即使在完全調整技術平台之前的第一階段，我們也將能夠獲得很大的影響力從合併的營銷支出中扣除。

Your next question is from the line of Alexia Quadrani from JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Alexia Quadrani。

Just a couple of questions, if I can.

有幾個問題，如果可以的話。

How do you think about growing sort of local content following the success you've seen by others with that strategy?

在其他人使用該策略取得成功之後，您如何看待增加本地內容的種類？

And then secondly, really on the news side, is it better to have sort of stand-alone news streaming service in your opinion or combine it with entertainment streaming?

其次，在新聞方面，您認為擁有獨立的新聞流媒體服務更好還是與娛樂流媒體結合更好？

Thanks, Alexia.

謝謝，亞歷克西亞。

One of the real advantages of Discovery is, for 20 years, we've been in market with local teams, selling locally, producing local content throughout Latin America, throughout Europe.

Discovery 的真正優勢之一是，20 年來，我們一直與當地團隊一起進入市場，在當地銷售，在整個拉丁美洲和整個歐洲製作當地內容。

In Europe, we expanded into free-to-air in a number of markets where we're the equivalent of NBC or CBS.

在歐洲，我們在與 NBC 或 CBS 相當的一些市場擴展到免費廣播。

In some markets, we're the equivalent of like NBC and CBS combined.

在某些市場，我們相當於 NBC 和 CBS 的總和。

In Northern Europe, in Poland, we're quite big with a number of free-to-air channels in Italy and Germany.

在北歐，在波蘭，我們規模很大，在意大利和德國擁有許多免費頻道。

And we have a library that's meaningful in each of those markets.

我們有一個對每個市場都有意義的圖書館。

And we have a lot of data on what people are watching.

我們有很多關於人們在看什麼的數據。

We have a good sense of what kind of content they're looking at on the direct-to-consumer platforms because we've been at it for a long time.

我們很清楚他們在直接面向消費者的平台上查看什麼樣的內容，因為我們已經研究了很長時間。

We also have sports in Europe.

我們在歐洲也有運動。

And we've tried a lot of things.

我們已經嘗試了很多東西。

Some haven't worked out as well as we'd expect, and that's a good thing because we've learned that sometimes packaging the sports independently doesn't work as well as packaging it more broadly.

有些沒有我們預期的那麼好，這是一件好事，因為我們了解到，有時獨立包裝運動並沒有像更廣泛地包裝那樣有效。

A number of sports together reduces the churn significantly, makes the appeal higher when you put sports together with entertainment, together with nonfiction.

多項運動一起顯著降低了流失率，當您將運動與娛樂、非小說結合在一起時，吸引力會更高。

We came out with the Olympics.

我們帶著奧運會出來了。

We had a million-plus sign-ups for the Olympics.

我們有超過一百萬的奧運會報名人數。

And so we continue to learn.

所以我們繼續學習。

That's a good thing.

這是好事。

We're continuing to invest, learn and grow.

我們將繼續投資、學習和成長。

That's what John and Jason and Ann and the team is continuing to do on a parallel basis independently.

這就是 John、Jason 和 Ann 以及團隊繼續在平行的基礎上獨立做的事情。

But as we come together, we'll all be smarter.

但當我們走到一起時，我們都會變得更聰明。

You look at what people thought about windowing of just as a student of this and the meetings I'm having.

你看看人們對開窗的看法，就像我學習這個和我正在開的會議一樣。

What's the right windowing strategy?

什麼是正確的窗口策略？

What works best for a direct-to-consumer product?

什麼最適合直接面向消費者的產品？

Is it better to have -- to build up a movie in the theater and then bring it?

是不是更好——在劇院裡製作一部電影然後帶來它？

Is it stronger on the platform if it goes day and date?

如果它日復一日，它在平台上是否更強大？

Is it stronger if it goes day and date at $30 versus free?

如果它以 30 美元的價格與免費相比，它會更強大嗎？

There's a lot that we are learning just as observers.

作為觀察者，我們正在學習很多東西。

And there's a tremendous amount that Jason has learned and Ann and that Disney has learned and that the industry has learned.

傑森和安、迪斯尼和整個行業都學到了很多東西。

And one of the great benefits for me is I have this ability to really listen.

對我來說最大的好處之一是我有這種真正傾聽的能力。

And also, this has been a great experiment in how people are consuming content and when people come on for a movie or series, what's the reaction.

而且，這是一個關於人們如何消費內容以及人們來觀看電影或連續劇時的反應的偉大實驗。

A lot of what is on the Warner side I haven't seen because, at this point, we can't see it.

華納方面的很多東西我都沒有看到，因為在這一點上，我們看不到它。

But the general industry knowledge and trends are things that we're noting aggressively, and we're learning from.

但是一般行業知識和趨勢是我們積極關注的事情，我們正在從中學習。

And we're continuing to experiment in Europe.

我們將繼續在歐洲進行試驗。

On the news side, we've been experimenting ourselves.

在新聞方面，我們一直在試驗自己。

And in Poland, we went independent.

在波蘭，我們獨立了。

Now we're packaging it together.

現在我們將它打包在一起。

I think it's going to -- it is probably going to depend on the market, and it depends on the offering.

我認為它會 - 它可能取決於市場，並且取決於產品。

We have a very, very strong service in Poland, and it's been very helpful to us.

我們在波蘭有非常非常強大的服務，這對我們很有幫助。

We're one of the leading voices in the market.

我們是市場上的主要聲音之一。

We have a 24-hour news channel there that's quite compelling.

我們在那裡有一個非常引人注目的 24 小時新聞頻道。

We don't know what the right answer yet, but having news and sports -- news is -- the more people go to a direct-to-consumer product, the lower the churn.

我們還不知道正確的答案是什麼，但是擁有新聞和體育——新聞就是——越多的人購買直接面向消費者的產品，流失率就越低。

The more time they spend, the lower the churn.

他們花費的時間越多，流失率就越低。

That's why we're so excited about how much time people are spending with discovery+, which has a library that's being broadly viewed and the idea that people spending hours on that product and the churn is low is encouraging for what bodes for the combination of the two.

這就是為什麼我們對人們在discovery+上花費了多少時間感到如此興奮，它有一個被廣泛關注的圖書館，人們在該產品上花費數小時並且流失率低的想法是令人鼓舞的，這預示著結合二。

But as people -- if you could put news or sports and people also go regularly for that, it's another reason to have the service.

但作為人——如果你可以發布新聞或體育節目，而且人們也經常為此而去，這是擁有這項服務的另一個原因。

It's another reason to value the service.

這是重視服務的另一個原因。

It's another reason not to churn out of the service.

這是不放棄服務的另一個原因。

And Disney has been very effective in doing packaging of services where you don't put them together, bundling.

迪斯尼在打包服務方面非常有效，你不需要把它們放在一起，捆綁。

And so -- and that's the current plan right now for CNN as we've read about it.

所以——這就是我們目前了解的 CNN 的當前計劃。

And so it's exciting, and we'll look and see.

所以這很令人興奮，我們將拭目以待。

Your next question is from the line of Kutgun Maral from RBC Capital Markets.

您的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Kutgun Maral。

I wanted to ask about DTC investments for stand-alone Discovery and then drill in a bit on the deleveraging comments.

我想詢問 DTC 對獨立 Discovery 的投資，然後深入了解去槓桿化的評論。

So first, given the deal, it clearly makes sense to take a more disciplined approach to your DTC strategy.

因此，首先，考慮到這筆交易，對您的 DTC 策略採取更嚴格的方法顯然是有意義的。

I assume this will drive some near-term financial benefits.

我認為這將帶來一些近期的財務收益。

So can you provide a bit more color on the DTC investment levels going ahead?

那麼，您能否為未來的 DTC 投資水平提供更多信息？

I know you called out the low $200 million range for Q3 and Q4.

我知道你提到了第三季度和第四季度的低 2 億美元範圍。

Where are you seeing some opportunities here?

您在哪裡看到了一些機會？

And is that a good quarterly run rate through deal close?

通過交易完成，這是一個良好的季度運行率嗎？

Or can the losses continue to be narrow given the strong top line trends?

或者鑑於強勁的頂線趨勢，損失能否繼續縮小？

And then just second, the accelerated path to deleveraging post deal close is very encouraging.

其次，交易完成後去槓桿的加速路徑非常令人鼓舞。

Is there any more color you can provide on the drivers for both Discovery stand-alone where you continue to deliver robust free cash flow and then on the pro forma outlook?

您是否可以在繼續提供強勁自由現金流的 Discovery 獨立驅動程序以及備考前景的驅動程序上提供更多顏色？

Just Gunnar, it's fantastic to hear about your continued role here and I know you provided a lot of details already, but any more specifics on the improved pro forma leverage targets, particularly if there's an updated view on pro forma EBITDA given maybe some minor asset sales from the WarnerMedia side?

只是 Gunnar，很高興聽到你在這裡繼續擔任的角色，我知道你已經提供了很多細節，但是關於改進的備考槓桿目標的更多細節，特別是如果考慮到可能有一些小資產，對備考 EBITDA 有更新的看法華納媒體方面的銷售？

Great.

偉大的。

Thank you, Kutgun.

謝謝你，庫特根。

So let me start with the delevering piece here and give a little more color.

因此，讓我從這裡的去槓桿部分開始，並提供更多顏色。

Again, there are 2 things that we have updated.

同樣，我們更新了兩件事。

One is sort of our model of how we look at pro forma combined financials for the company.

一種是我們如何看待公司的備考綜合財務模型。

And number two is just flowing through our current performance.

第二個只是我們目前的表現。

And that's, by the way, linked to your first question as well because we're just doing a lot better and we're generating a lot more free cash flow than what we anticipated half a year ago.

順便說一句，這也與您的第一個問題有關，因為我們做得更好，而且我們產生的自由現金流比我們半年前的預期要多得多。

But if you take a step back, the challenge here is that WarnerMedia is not a stand-alone company, but is a carve-out group.

但如果你退後一步，這裡的挑戰是華納媒體不是一家獨立的公司，而是一個獨立的集團。

We obviously made certain assumptions about what the balance sheet of that company and carve-out group would look like, but had to wait for some still draft carve-out financials to get full confidence in the financial setup of that combined entity.

我們顯然對該公司和剝離集團的資產負債表做出了某些假設，但不得不等待一些仍在起草的剝離財務報表才能對合併後實體的財務設置充滿信心。

And accordingly, what we put into our model and what I presented to rating agencies for the rating discussion was a conservative model not fully flowing through certain adjustments.

因此，我們在模型中以及我提交給評級機構進行評級討論的內容是一個保守的模型，並沒有完全通過某些調整。

The most important one of which is the working capital adjustment.

其中最重要的一項是營運資金調整。

So we have always talked about the $43 billion as subject to adjustments, and that's the working capital adjustment.

因此，我們一直在談論需要調整的 430 億美元，這就是營運資金調整。

From today's perspective, that looks like it's going to be $4 billion, $5 billion lower in terms of what the net payment is going to be with an impact on the net debt balance that we're going to start this company with.

從今天的角度來看，這看起來將是 40 億美元，就淨支付額而言，它會降低 50 億美元，這將對我們將要創辦這家公司的淨債務餘額產生影響。

And then that has obviously a very significant impact on leverage.

然後這顯然對槓桿有非常重要的影響。

So the second thing, though, is about 25% or 30% of this improvement here is just driven by our better operating performance.

因此，第二件事是，這里大約 25% 或 30% 的改進只是由我們更好的運營業績驅動的。

obviously, better AOIBDA improves the denominator of that leverage equation, and that's developed very nicely as well.

顯然，更好的 AOIBDA 改進了該槓桿方程的分母，這也得到了很好的發展。

And I do want to caveat this.

我確實想警告這一點。

As we said, right now, it looks below 4.5x.

正如我們所說，現在它看起來低於 4.5 倍。

This number is going to move around with working capital.

這個數字將隨著營運資金而變化。

But what's not going to change, in my view, is the very significantly increased confidence that I have in our ability to very, very quickly delever below the 3x and to very quickly get us into the long-term comfortable leverage target range.

但在我看來，不會改變的是，我對我們能夠非常、非常迅速地將槓桿率降至 3 倍以下並很快讓我們進入長期舒適的槓桿目標範圍的信心大大增強。

And again, the other point I want to keep pointing out is we have already -- I got a lot of questions on this, we have already anticipated very significant reinvestments in our business case.

再一次，我想繼續指出的另一點是我們已經 - 我對此有很多問題，我們已經預計對我們的業務案例進行非常重大的再投資。

To your first question, on the D2C investment, I'll let JB talk about some of the opportunities a little more because we do have, obviously, the Olympics coming up and market launches kicking in here.

對於你的第一個問題，關於 D2C 投資，我會讓 JB 多談一些機會，因為我們確實有，顯然，奧運會即將到來，市場啟動在這裡開始。

But you're right in general, we've always looked at and we'll continue to look at capital allocation through the lens of risk and return.

但總的來說，你是對的，我們一直在關注，我們將繼續通過風險和回報的視角來看待資本配置。

The return side is almost fairly easy in this space because it's just the relationship between customer lifetime value and subscriber acquisition costs.

在這個領域，回報方面幾乎相當容易，因為它只是客戶生命週期價值和訂戶獲取成本之間的關係。

And it is fair to say that I've asked the marketing teams to give us a little more cushion between the two in order to manage some of the uncertainties as we go into the scenarios for next year.

公平地說，我已經要求營銷團隊在兩者之間給我們更多的緩衝，以便在我們進入明年的情景時管理一些不確定性。

So you're right, we should see lower investment losses, especially if you keep in mind that at the beginning of next year, we're starting to comp against the very significant investments that we made in the first quarter of 2020 as we launched the U.S. product.

所以你是對的，我們應該看到更低的投資損失，特別是如果你記住，在明年年初，我們開始與我們在 2020 年第一季度推出時進行的非常重大的投資相提並論美國產品。

At the same time, I also do want to point out, we're continuing -- and as David said it, we're continuing to really nourish the existing subscriber base that we have.

同時，我還想指出，我們正在繼續——正如大衛所說，我們正在繼續真正滋養我們現有的用戶群。

We're continuing to invest in content in a significant way.

我們將繼續以重要的方式投資於內容。

So keep that in mind as well over the next few quarters.

因此，在接下來的幾個季度中也要記住這一點。

You will continue to see content expense coming up.

您將繼續看到內容費用的增加。

We're also continuing to invest in technology and product features, but just a little less focused, I would say, in the mix on necessarily driving for every last subscriber.

我們還在繼續投資於技術和產品功能，但我想說的是，在為每一個訂閱者提供必要驅動方面，我們的關注度有所降低。

JB?

傑布?

Yes.

是的。

And the only other thing I'd add, Gunnar, is obviously, as we approach the deal term, not surprisingly, many of the partners that we work with internationally that have been a great part of our success and that you've heard us talk about, we're also asking the fair questions about how much money and how much effort they should put behind launching in new markets as we go into 2022, given questions about the future brand, the future product offering, et cetera.

Gunnar，我唯一要補充的另一件事顯然是，當我們接近交易期限時，毫不奇怪，我們與國際合作的許多合作夥伴是我們成功的重要組成部分，您已經聽說過我們談到，我們還提出了一些公平的問題，即隨著我們進入 2022 年，他們應該在新市場推出多少資金和投入多少精力，考慮到關於未來品牌、未來產品供應等的問題。

So we are getting the same questions from partners, which is totally legitimate and sort of that is making us, in some cases, rethink when is the right time to launch.

所以我們從合作夥伴那裡得到了同樣的問題，這是完全合理的，這讓我們在某些情況下重新考慮什麼時候是合適的發佈時間。

And a lot of that is largely when there -- those things are being pushed off is a pushing off of marketing and, in some cases, content expense to later when we have a better view of what the combined product will look like and we can come back to our partners with a more definitive sense of when and what we will be launching together.

其中很多主要是在那裡——這些事情被推遲是營銷的推遲，在某些情況下，內容費用推遲到以後我們對組合產品的外觀有更好的了解時，我們可以以更明確的方式回到我們的合作夥伴那裡，了解我們將在何時以及一起推出什麼產品。

Your next question is from the line of Rich Greenfield from LightShed Partners.

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

A few months ago, WarnerMedia left the Amazon channel platform.

幾個月前，華納傳媒離開了亞馬遜渠道平台。

I think they've joined sort of Disney, Netflix, Hulu, even Apple TV Plus.

我認為他們已經加入了迪士尼、Netflix、Hulu 甚至 Apple TV Plus 的行列。

Basically, just looking at the D2C subscriber business in wanting to be a fully direct relationship versus sort of a wholesale relationship with Amazon, so I think that sort of puts a Discovery by common star as sort of the 3 largest players on Amazon channels.

基本上，只看 D2C 訂戶業務，希望與亞馬遜建立完全直接的關係，而不是與亞馬遜的批發關係，所以我認為這讓普通明星的發現成為亞馬遜頻道上的 3 大玩家。

I guess I'd love to get sort of, David, your perspective, big picture, how you think about the puts and takes of Amazon, whether going fully independent is something you can see in Discovery's future or whether you think companies like WarnerMedia, Disney have been in the state not working with Amazon channels.

我想我很想知道，大衛，你的觀點，大局，你如何看待亞馬遜的投入和收益，是否完全獨立是你可以在 Discovery 的未來看到的事情，或者你是否認為像 WarnerMedia 這樣的公司，迪士尼一直處於不與亞馬遜渠道合作的狀態。

I'd just be curious how you think about that.

我只是好奇你是怎麼想的。

And then just lastly, I couldn't tell on your commentary, are you planning on keeping HBO Max and discovery+ separate?

最後，我無法判斷您的評論，您是否打算將 HBO Max 和 Discovery+ 分開？

Was that sort of the bundling comments you were making?

你做的是那種捆綁評論嗎？

Or is that decision of integration still not make?

還是沒有做出整合的決定？

That would helpful.

那會很有幫助。

Thanks, Rich.

謝謝，里奇。

We have a go-to-market strategy that we feel that we've built.

我們有一個我們認為我們已經建立的進入市場的戰略。

I think having Kevin Mayer in the passenger seat with JB and Bruce and I and eventually with the Warner team, with all of his knowledge and expertise having built and driven Disney+ globally, I think a little -- will help to finalize and fully inform our strategy.

我認為讓 Kevin Mayer 與 JB、布魯斯和我一起坐在乘客座位上，最終與華納團隊一起，憑藉他所有的知識和專業知識在全球範圍內建立和推動 Disney+，我認為有點 - 將有助於最終確定並充分告知我們戰略。

But we're -- given where we are in the regulatory process, we're just not ready at this point to share all of that with you guys.

但是我們 - 鑑於我們在監管過程中所處的位置，我們目前還沒有準備好與你們分享所有這些。

We will -- we expect to, and we will soon.

我們將——我們期望，而且很快就會。

JB?

傑布?

Yes.

是的。

I mean, Rich, on the channel store question, the reality is they've obviously been a very good partner of ours on the Discovery side.

我的意思是，Rich，關於渠道商店的問題，現實情況是他們顯然是我們在 Discovery 方面非常好的合作夥伴。

We're well aware that, as you said, HBO is taking a different position.

我們很清楚，正如你所說，HBO 採取了不同的立場。

I think the 3 questions that we have -- that we are waiting to engage further with the HBO side is, number one, we have found so far that there's -- the question about these channel stores bringing in a different customer base than what we might be able to address directly is an ongoing question.

我認為我們有 3 個問題 - 我們正在等待與 HBO 進一步接觸也許能夠直接解決是一個持續的問題。

And we've certainly seen some good incremental subscriber growth coming from that channel store ecosystem and how much of that is cannibalistic versus what we could do direct or not is an ongoing set of analysis that we have going.

我們當然已經看到來自該渠道商店生態系統的一些良好的增量用戶增長，其中有多少是自相殘殺的，而我們可以直接做或不做的事情是我們正在進行的一組持續分析。

And obviously, we want to compare notes with the HBO team at the right time.

顯然，我們希望在合適的時間與 HBO 團隊進行比較。

But that's a question because, ultimately, we want to try and get our product out to as many consumers on whatever platforms as necessary.

但這是一個問題，因為最終，我們希望嘗試在任何必要的平台上將我們的產品提供給盡可能多的消費者。

The second is the data element and the customer relationship, which I think is a little less known.

第二個是數據元素和客戶關係，我認為這點鮮為人知。

And I think as some of the Amazon executives have talked about publicly now, we do have access to customer information as part of our relationship, and that's an important differentiator.

而且我認為正如一些亞馬遜高管現在公開談論的那樣，我們確實可以訪問客戶信息作為我們關係的一部分，這是一個重要的差異化因素。

That doesn't make this just a sort of traditional anonymized handle store relationship, but where we actually have customer information on the channel store consumer.

這不僅使這只是一種傳統的匿名處理商店關係，而是我們實際上擁有有關渠道商店消費者的客戶信息。

And so that makes the equation a little bit different.

所以這使得等式有點不同。

And so you overlay those 2 things, and we say -- the third thing is, obviously, we want to have more engaged conversations with the Warner team and look and see whether the strategy that they're following today or the strategy that we are following today makes sense for the combined.

所以你把這兩件事疊加起來，我們說——第三件事，顯然，我們希望與華納團隊進行更多參與的對話，看看他們今天遵循的策略還是我們的策略以下今天對合併有意義。

And the North Star will be 2 things, which is ultimately how do we get the product in front of more consumers in aggregate and how do we do it in a financially strong way.

北極星將是兩件事，最終是我們如何將產品總體上呈現在更多消費者面前，以及我們如何以財務強勁的方式做到這一點。

And if we think we can deliver a -- still get the customer relationship, but get in front of more people with the right economics, I think it's one that we will certainly remain very open to.

如果我們認為我們可以提供 - 仍然獲得客戶關係，但在更多具有正確經濟性的人面前，我認為我們肯定會保持非常開放的態度。

So we haven't made a decision definitively, but we're remaining very open, and we'll certainly -- that will be part of the story when we come back to you, Rich and the team.

所以我們還沒有最終做出決定，但我們仍然非常開放，我們肯定會 - 當我們回到你，Rich 和團隊時，這將成為故事的一部分。

We'll tell you more about it at the right time.

我們會在適當的時候告訴你更多關於它的信息。

Your next question is from the line of Steven Cahall from Wells Fargo.

您的下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Steven Cahall。

Maybe, Gunnar, thanks for the color on the lower leverage and the expectation for the merger.

也許，Gunnar，感謝較低杠桿的顏色和對合併的期望。

You also mentioned that you're having some pretty encouraging conversations raising the debt.

你還提到你正在進行一些非常令人鼓舞的對話來提高債務。

So I'm just wondering if that's going to come in a little cheaper.

所以我只是想知道這是否會便宜一點。

And I think you gave some steady-state guidance of around 3x for the combined company initially and getting there in about 2 years.

而且我認為您最初為合併後的公司提供了大約 3 倍的穩態指導，並在大約 2 年內達到目標。

Should we assume that you get there a little more quickly just because you're going to be starting from a lower base?

我們是否應該僅僅因為您將從較低的基礎開始就假設您更快到達那裡？

Or is it more that you'll just have a bit more flexibility starting from that 4.5x or below?

或者，從 4.5 倍或以下開始，您將擁有更多的靈活性？

And then maybe one for JB on discovery+ and NEXTGEN.

然後可能是 JB 關於discovery+ 和 NEXTGEN 的一個。

Is it logical for us to assume maybe just a little bit slower pace of net adds going forward as you take a more focused approach and sort of avoid stepping into places where HBO is strong and be a bit more selective?

當您採取更專注的方法並避免進入 HBO 強大且更具選擇性的地方時，我們假設可能只是稍微慢一點的淨增加速度是合乎邏輯的嗎？

And if that is the case, I'm wondering if there's some free cash flow benefit to that near-term strategy just because stock expense runs a little bit lower.

如果是這樣的話，我想知道這種短期策略是否有一些自由現金流的好處，只是因為股票費用稍微低了一點。

Great.

偉大的。

Yes, Steve.

是的，史蒂夫。

So yes, I mean, I'll start with the flexibility.

所以是的，我的意思是，我將從靈活性開始。

I mean, as I said in my prepared remarks, I am very convinced from today's perspective that we're going to hit that upper end of our target range of 3x earlier than we originally mentioned.

我的意思是，正如我在準備好的評論中所說，從今天的角度來看，我非常確信我們將比我們最初提到的更早地達到目標範圍的上限 3 倍。

And it is the 2.5x to 3x range that I want to see going forward.

這是我希望看到的 2.5 倍到 3 倍的範圍。

And to your question about flexibility, we don't need flexibility because our deal model already assumes very significant reinvestments and further investments in building out the DTC product and growing content expenses over the 5-year term here that we have modeled.

對於您關於靈活性的問題，我們不需要靈活性，因為我們的交易模型已經假設了非常重大的再投資和進一步投資，以構建 DTC 產品並在我們建模的 5 年內增加內容費用。

So clear answer is, yes, very hopeful that we will be hitting that upper end of the 2.5 to 3x range earlier.

如此明確的答案是，是的，非常希望我們能夠更早地達到 2.5 到 3 倍範圍的上限。

Regarding raising debt, again, we've mentioned the $15 billion hedge that we have put on and pretty much in line with what I said earlier about the conservatism in our initial model.

關於舉債，我們再次提到了我們已經進行的 150 億美元的對沖，這與我之前所說的關於我們初始模型中的保守主義的內容幾乎一致。

The answer is, yes, there is some room.

答案是，是的，還有一些空間。

We have obviously taken some conservatism as well as we modeled out our interest rates.

我們顯然採取了一些保守主義態度，並模擬了我們的利率。

We've locked in very attractive rates with this $15 billion hedge program.

通過這個 150 億美元的對沖計劃，我們鎖定了非常有吸引力的利率。

Again, I don't want to make any promises.

再說一次，我不想做出任何承諾。

We'll -- it still will be some time before we implement the financing, but a good part is hedged now.

我們將 - 在我們實施融資之前還需要一段時間，但現在有很大一部分是對沖的。

We'll have to monitor the spreads as well.

我們還必須監控價差。

But I believe that we're in a very, very comfortable position relative to what we put out in the original statement and in our deal models.

但我相信，相對於我們在原始聲明和交易模型中提出的內容，我們處於非常非常舒適的位置。

And before I hand it off to JB for the subscriber outlook here, the financial part of that question is you should absolutely assume further free cash flow performance here as we move forward.

在我把它交給 JB 來了解這裡的訂戶前景之前，這個問題的財務部分是，隨著我們前進，你絕對應該在這裡假設進一步的自由現金流表現。

I do want to have the balance sheet in the best possible shape as we come up on closing the deal.

在我們完成交易時，我確實希望資產負債表處於最佳狀態。

And as I said earlier, I now explicitly guided to at least $2.1 billion of free cash flow, so a significantly higher conversion than what we went into the year with and what we guided at the beginning of the year, and that's all part of our ambition here to be disciplined and get this balance sheet in perfect shape.

正如我之前所說，我現在明確指導至少 21 億美元的自由現金流，因此轉換率明顯高於我們今年和年初的指導，這都是我們的一部分這裡的雄心是紀律嚴明，使資產負債表處於完美狀態。

JB?

傑布?

Yes.

是的。

And I think it's consistent with what Gunnar just said, we should assume -- obviously, we're continuing to obviously push and see good growth in the markets where we're in, and we'll be launching our newest market in Brazil here over the course of the next 2 weeks.

我認為這與 Gunnar 剛才所說的一致，我們應該假設 - 顯然，我們正在繼續推動並看到我們所在市場的良好增長，我們將在這裡推出我們在巴西的最新市場在接下來的 2 週內。

And so we're excited about that, and we still see healthy growth out of those markets, and we're spending at levels, to Gunnar's point, that we think are reasonable without leaning too far in, but they'd be the sort of slightly more conservative fact to LTV ratios that we're spending at plus the slowdown in some of the new market launches as we go towards the end of the year and into 2022.

所以我們對此感到興奮，我們仍然看到這些市場的健康增長，而且我們的支出水平，在 Gunnar 的觀點上，我們認為是合理的，而不是過於依賴，但他們會是那種隨著我們接近年底和進入 2022 年，我們支出的 LTV 比率稍微保守一點，加上一些新市場推出的放緩。

It doesn't mean that the net adds numbers will be a little bit slower than they might have been in the past.

這並不意味著淨增加的數字會比過去慢一點。

And maybe worth just, Rich -- I realized we didn't hit Rich's second question about the bundling clarification.

也許值得，Rich——我意識到我們沒有回答 Rich 關於捆綁澄清的第二個問題。

I think David and my point on the bundling was purely that in -- back to Jessica's question about the tech rollout, it will take a bit of time, no question to come to one platform.

我認為 David 和我對捆綁的觀點純粹是在 - 回到 Jessica 關於技術推出的問題，這將需要一些時間，毫無疑問，來到一個平台。

And so while that process is underway, there will be opportunities in a much quicker fashion closer to day 1 to potentially do some very creative bundling propositions.

因此，當這個過程正在進行時，在接近第一天的時候會有機會以更快的方式進行一些非常有創意的捆綁提議。

That is an interim strategy, not a long-term strategy, I think, at this point is what we'd say.

我認為，這是一個臨時戰略，而不是長期戰略，這就是我們要說的。

This will be your last question from the line of Ben Swinburne from Morgan Stanley.

這將是摩根士丹利的 Ben Swinburne 提出的最後一個問題。

I think the release noted renewals with DIRECTV and Verizon during the quarter.

我認為該版本指出了本季度與 DIRECTV 和 Verizon 的續訂。

I'm just wondering if you guys could give us a little bit of color on sort of the key takes there and whether you see healthy affiliate fee growth coming out of that or any changes in packaging.

我只是想知道你們是否可以給我們一些關於那裡的關鍵點的顏色，以及您是否看到健康的會員費用增長或包裝的任何變化。

And if the merger impacted how you approach those deals, given, David, you made that point that bringing the Turner networks in is a real maybe underappreciated asset and part of this transaction.

如果合併影響了你處理這些交易的方式，鑑於大衛，你曾指出，將特納網絡引入是一項真正可能被低估的資產，也是該交易的一部分。

So that's my first one.

所以這是我的第一個。

And then I just wanted to come back, David, there's obviously a lot of focus on the merger and including your management team that you're putting together.

然後我只是想回來，大衛，顯然有很多重點放在合併上，包括你正在組建的管理團隊。

Congratulations on bringing Kevin onboard.

恭喜凱文加入。

Is that -- I don't know how much you can say, but is there a hope that, that converts from a consultancy to an employeeship?

是嗎 - 我不知道你能說多少，但有沒有希望從諮詢公司轉變為僱員？

And I'm just curious if he's still going to remain Chairman of Dazn, which I think at least in some regard, a competitor to you guys in Europe.

我只是好奇他是否仍將繼續擔任 Dazn 的董事長，我認為至少在某些方面，這是歐洲你們的競爭對手。

Len Blavatnik is a very old friend, and he's out -- he is -- he worked with me and Kevin in providing the opportunity for us to get a good amount of Kevin's time, but he's fully committed to Len and Dazn, and he's doing some other things as well.

Len Blavatnik 是一位非常老的朋友，他已經出局了 - 他是 - 他與我和凱文一起為我們提供了獲得凱文大量時間的機會，但他完全致力於 Len 和 Dazn，他正在做還有一些其他的事情。

He's driven down all of these paths, and he's a great entrepreneur and he's got a number of really exciting things he's doing and working on.

他走上了所有這些道路，他是一位偉大的企業家，他正在做和致力於許多非常令人興奮的事情。

This is one of them, and I think it's going to be really helpful to JB and I and Bruce and he's having a great time doing what he's doing, but he's super excited about kind of really coming in and giving us the full scope of his experience and brain on everything he's seen and learned.

這就是其中之一，我認為這對 JB、我和布魯斯很有幫助，他在做他正在做的事情時玩得很開心，但他對真正進來並為我們提供他的全部範圍感到非常興奮他所見所聞的經驗和頭腦。

And working with Len has been a good thing.

與 Len 合作是一件好事。

I think he's seen and learned more about Europe and sports.

我認為他已經看到並了解了更多關於歐洲和體育的知識。

And so I think that's exciting.

所以我認為這很令人興奮。

The team at Warner and the way they're growing, the knowledge, the capability there, the attack plan that they have is really impressive.

華納的團隊以及他們的成長方式、知識、能力以及他們擁有的攻擊計劃確實令人印象深刻。

Andy Forssell is super strong.

Andy Forssell 超級強壯。

If this -- you look at the strength of that product.

如果這是 - 你看看那個產品的實力。

You look at the strength of our product.

你看看我們產品的實力。

So I think we got a lot of really good people.

所以我認為我們有很多非常好的人。

You've seen through the -- for our history with Scripps that we're really about who are the best people.

你已經看透了我們與斯克里普斯的歷史，我們真正關心的是誰是最好的人。

I think we're going to have to be able to build a really strong team and bring in some outside experience as well, but it's really encouraging how well they're doing and what we're learning along the way, and that's a big helper to us.

我認為我們必須能夠建立一個非常強大的團隊並引入一些外部經驗，但這確實令人鼓舞，他們的表現以及我們在此過程中學到的東西，這是一個很大的我們的幫手。

On the affiliate side, and Gunnar, you could fill in some more.

在附屬公司和 Gunnar 方面，您可以填寫更多信息。

But I think we reached deals that were very favorable for us.

但我認為我們達成了對我們非常有利的交易。

On the carriage side, very strong.

在馬車一側，非常強大。

And I think it's win-win.

我認為這是雙贏的。

They want to commit to carry all of our channels.

他們想承諾承載我們所有的頻道。

This whole idea that a bunch of our channels were going to get dropped, that never happened.

我們的許多頻道將被丟棄的整個想法從未發生過。

They're good value.

它們物有所值。

I don't say that with great glee.

我不是很高興地這麼說。

But when you look at the overall package and the viewership, we're a great value, and they're making a lot of money selling advertising on our services.

但是，當您查看整體包裝和收視率時，我們的價值很高，而且他們通過在我們的服務上銷售廣告賺了很多錢。

So it went very well for us with meaningful increases and real security, and I think it went well for them and continuing to get really good products.

因此，有意義的增長和真正的安全性對我們來說非常順利，我認為這對他們來說進展順利，並繼續獲得非常好的產品。

And in terms of how do we -- how does this align with Warner has nothing to do with it.

就我們如何 - 這與華納如何保持一致與它無關。

We're operating as an independent company, and we're operating on the strength of the channels that Kathleen Finch and Nancy have been building here with Discovery and Oprah and Food and HG.

我們作為一家獨立公司運營，我們依靠 Kathleen Finch 和 Nancy 與 Discovery 和 Oprah 以及 Food 和 HG 在這裡建立的渠道優勢運營。

And so it's -- we've been overdelivering.

所以它 - 我們一直在超額交付。

People love our stuff, and it's just a reinforcing of this narrative that, despite the fact that the world is changing, that we were able to get deals with some of the toughest and strongest and most knowledgeable distributors on very favorable terms with strong carriage commitments as we make this transition together.

人們喜歡我們的產品，這只是強化了這種說法，儘管世界正在發生變化，但我們能夠以非常優惠的條件與一些最艱難、最強大和最博學的分銷商達成交易，並做出強有力的運輸承諾當我們一起進行這種轉變時。

And so I think that's -- it's a very good sign for the 2 sides.

所以我認為這對雙方來說都是一個非常好的跡象。

Gunnar, anything to add?

Gunnar，有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, I mean, just obviously, the caveat that we don't support the -- or we don't control the subscriber trends.

不，我的意思是，很明顯，我們不支持 - 或者我們不控制訂戶趨勢的警告。

So that's always the -- when we have as much visibility into that as many of you on the call here.

因此，當我們在電話中與你們中的許多人一樣了解這一點時，總是如此。

But I'm very, very pleased with the distribution team's successes this year.

但我對分銷團隊今年的成功感到非常非常滿意。

And we've gotten so many questions about sort of the outlook, and we just continue to go through deal after deal after deal with very encouraging results.

我們已經收到了很多關於前景的問題，我們只是繼續進行一次又一次的交易，並取得了非常令人鼓舞的結果。

Thank you for joining us today.

感謝您今天加入我們。

And with that, this concludes today's conference call.

至此，今天的電話會議到此結束。

Thank you for attending.

感謝您的出席。

You may now disconnect.

您現在可以斷開連接。