Charter Communications 10-K 2020-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

or

For the Transition Period From to

Commission File Number: 001-33664

Charter Communications, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(203) 905-7801

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrants have submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrants were required to submit and post such files). Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:

Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer o Non-accelerated filer o Smaller reporting company ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No x

The aggregate market value of the registrant of outstanding Class A common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant at June 30, 2020 was approximately $75.8 billion, computed based on the closing sale price as quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on that date. For purposes of this calculation only,

directors, executive officers and the principal controlling shareholders or entities controlled by such controlling shareholders of the registrant are deemed to be affiliates of the registrant.

There were 193,730,992 shares of Class A common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2020. There was 1 share of Class B common stock outstanding as of the same date.

Documents Incorporated By Reference

Information required by Part III is incorporated by reference from Registrant’s proxy statement or an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed no later than 120 days after the end of the Registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC.

FORM 10-K — FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

This annual report on Form 10-K is for the year ended December 31, 2020. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) allows us to “incorporate by reference” information that we file with the SEC, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you directly to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this annual report. In addition, information that we file with the SEC in the future will automatically update and supersede information contained in this annual report. In this annual report, “Charter,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Charter Communications, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

i

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

This annual report includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), regarding, among other things, our plans, strategies and prospects, both business and financial including, without limitation, the forward-looking statements set forth in Part I. Item 1. under the heading “Business” and in Part II. Item 7. under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this annual report. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, without limitation, the factors described in Part I. Item 1A. under “Risk Factors” and in Part II. Item 7. under the heading, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this annual report. Many of the forward-looking statements contained in this annual report may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “will,” “may,” “intend,” “estimated,” “aim,” “on track,” “target,” “opportunity,” “tentative,” “positioning,” “designed,” “create,” “predict,” “project,” “initiatives,” “seek,” “would,” “could,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “upside,” “increases,” “focused on” and “potential,” among others. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this annual report are set forth in this annual report and in other reports or documents that we file from time to time with the SEC, and include, but are not limited to:

• our ability to sustain and grow revenues and cash flow from operations by offering Internet, video, voice, mobile, advertising and other services to residential and commercial customers, to adequately meet the customer experience demands in our service areas and to maintain and grow our customer base, particularly in the face of increasingly aggressive competition, the need for innovation and the related capital expenditures;

• the impact of competition from other market participants, including but not limited to incumbent telephone companies, direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") operators, wireless broadband and telephone providers, digital subscriber line (“DSL”) providers, fiber to the home providers and providers of video content over broadband Internet connections;

• general business conditions, unemployment levels and the level of activity in the housing sector and economic uncertainty or downturn, including the impacts of the Novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic to our customers, our vendors and local, state and federal governmental responses to the pandemic;

• our ability to obtain programming at reasonable prices or to raise prices to offset, in whole or in part, the effects of higher programming costs (including retransmission consents and distribution requirements);

• our ability to develop and deploy new products and technologies including mobile products and any other consumer services and service platforms;

• any events that disrupt our networks, information systems or properties and impair our operating activities or our reputation;

• the effects of governmental regulation on our business including costs, disruptions and possible limitations on operating flexibility related to, and our ability to comply with, regulatory conditions applicable to us;

• the ability to hire and retain key personnel;

• the availability and access, in general, of funds to meet our debt obligations prior to or when they become due and to fund our operations and necessary capital expenditures, either through (i) cash on hand, (ii) free cash flow, or (iii) access to the capital or credit markets; and

• our ability to comply with all covenants in our indentures and credit facilities, any violation of which, if not cured in a timely manner, could trigger a default of our other obligations under cross-default provisions.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. We are under no duty or obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this annual report.

ii

PART I

Introduction

We are a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 31 million customers in 41 states through our Spectrum brand. Over an advanced high-capacity, two-way telecommunications network, we offer a full range of state-of-the-art residential and business services including Spectrum Internet, TV, Mobile and Voice. For small and medium-sized companies, Spectrum Business® delivers the same suite of broadband products and services coupled with special features and applications to enhance productivity, while for larger businesses and government entities, Spectrum Enterprise provides highly customized, fiber-based solutions. Spectrum Reach® delivers tailored advertising and production for the modern media landscape. We also distribute award-winning news coverage, sports and high-quality original programming to our customers through Spectrum Networks and Spectrum Originals.

Our network, which we own and operate, passes over 53 million households and small and medium businesses ("SMBs") across the United States. Our core strategy is to use our network to deliver high quality products at competitive prices, combined with outstanding customer service. This strategy, combined with simple, easy to understand pricing and packaging, is central to our goal of growing our customer base while selling more of our core connectivity services, which include both fixed and mobile Internet, video and voice services, to each individual customer. We execute this strategy by managing our operations in a consumer-friendly, efficient and cost-effective manner. Our operating strategy includes insourcing nearly all of our customer care and field operations workforces, which results in higher quality service delivery. While an insourced operating model can increase the field operations and customer care costs associated with individual service transactions, the higher quality nature of insourced labor service transactions significantly reduces the volume of service transactions per customer, more than offsetting the higher investment made in each insourced service transaction. As we reduce the number of service transactions and recurring costs per customer relationship, we continue to provide our customers with products and prices that we believe provide more value than what our competitors offer. The combination of offering high quality, competitively priced products and outstanding service, allows us to both increase the number of customers we serve over our fully deployed network, and to increase the number of products we sell to each customer. This combination also reduces the number of service transactions we perform per relationship, yielding higher customer satisfaction and lower customer churn, resulting in lower costs to acquire and serve customers and greater profitability.

We have enhanced our service operations to allow our customers to (1) more frequently interact with us through our customer website and My Spectrum application, online chat and social media, (2) have their services installed at the time and in the manner of their own choosing, including self-installation, and (3) receive a variety of video packages on an increasing number of connected devices including those owned by us and those owned by the customer. By offering our customers growing levels of choices in how they receive and install their services and how they interact with us, we are driving higher overall levels of customer satisfaction and reducing our operating costs and capital expenditures per customer relationship. Ultimately, our operating strategy enables us to offer high quality, competitively priced services profitably, while continuing to invest in new products and services.

The capability and functionality of our network continues to grow in a number of areas, especially with respect to wireless connectivity. Our Internet service offers consumers the ability to wirelessly connect to our network using WiFi technology. We estimate that approximately 400 million devices are wirelessly connected to our network through WiFi. In addition, we extend Internet connectivity to our customers beyond the home via our Spectrum Mobile product through our mobile virtual network operator (“MVNO”) reseller agreement with Verizon Communications Inc. ("Verizon"). In 2020, we purchased 210 Citizens Broadband Radio Service (“CBRS”) Priority Access Licenses (“PALs”) within our footprint from the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"). We intend to use the licenses along with unlicensed CBRS spectrum to build our own fifth generation ("5G") mobile network which we plan to use in combination with our MVNO and WiFi network to enhance our customer’s experience and improve our cost structure.

Our principal executive offices are located at 400 Atlantic Street, Stamford, Connecticut 06901. Our telephone number is (203) 905-7801, and we have a website accessible at www.corporate.charter.com. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments thereto, are available on our website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been filed. The information posted on our website is not incorporated into this annual report.

Corporate Entity Structure

The chart below sets forth our entity structure and that of our direct and indirect subsidiaries. The chart does not include all of our affiliates and subsidiaries and, in some cases, we have combined separate entities for presentation purposes. The equity ownership percentages shown below are approximations. Indebtedness amounts shown below are principal amounts as of December 31, 2020. See Note 9 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” which also includes the accreted values of the indebtedness described below.

Footprint

We operate in geographically diverse areas which are managed centrally on a consolidated level. The map below highlights our footprint as of December 31, 2020.

Products and Services

We offer our customers subscription-based Internet services, video services, and mobile and voice services. Our services are offered to residential and commercial customers on a subscription basis, with prices and related charges based on the types of service selected, whether the services are sold as a “bundle” or on an individual basis, and based on the equipment necessary to receive our services. Bundled services are available to substantially all of our passings, and approximately 56% of our residential customers subscribe to a bundle of services including some combination of our Internet, video and/or voice products.

The following table summarizes our customer statistics for Internet, video, voice and mobile as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in thousands except per customer data and footnotes).

Showing the first 8K of 75K characters. Open the full section

Risks Related to Our Business

We operate in a very competitive business environment, which affects our ability to attract and retain customers and can adversely affect our business, operations and financial results.

The industry in which we operate is highly competitive and has become more so in recent years. In some instances, we compete against companies with fewer regulatory burdens, access to better financing, greater personnel resources, greater resources for marketing, greater and more favorable brand name recognition, and long-established relationships with regulatory authorities and customers. Increasing consolidation in the telecommunications and content industries have provided additional benefits to certain of our competitors, either through access to financing, resources, or efficiencies of scale including the ability to launch new video services.

Our Internet service faces competition from the phone companies’ FTTH, FTTN, fixed wireless broadband, Internet delivered via satellite and DSL services. Various operators offer wireless Internet services delivered over networks which they continue to enhance to deliver faster speeds and also continue to expand 5G mobile services. Our voice and mobile services compete

with wireless and wireline phone providers, as well as other forms of communication, such as text, instant messaging, social networking services, video conferencing and email. Competition from these companies, including intensive marketing efforts with aggressive pricing and exclusive programming may have an adverse impact on our ability to attract and retain customers.

Our video service faces competition from a number of sources, including DBS services, and companies that deliver linear network programming, movies and television shows on demand and other video content over broadband Internet connections to televisions, computers, tablets and mobile devices often with password sharing among multiple users and security that makes content susceptible to piracy. Newer products and services, particularly alternative methods for the distribution, sale and viewing of content will likely continue to be developed, further increasing the number of competitors that we face.

The increasing number of choices available to audiences, including low-cost or free choices, could negatively impact not only consumer demand for our products and services, but also advertisers’ willingness to purchase advertising from us. We compete for the sale of advertising revenue with television networks and stations, as well as other advertising platforms, such as online media, radio and print. Competition related to our service offerings to businesses continues to increase as well, as more companies deploy more fiber to more buildings, which may negatively impact our growth and/or put pressure on margins.

Our failure to effectively anticipate or adapt to new technologies and changes in customer expectations and behavior could significantly adversely affect our competitive position with respect to the leisure time and discretionary spending of our customers and, as a result, affect our business and results of operations. Competition may also reduce our expected growth of future cash flows which may contribute to future impairments of our franchises and goodwill and our ability to meet cash flow requirements, including debt service requirements. For additional information regarding the competition we face, see “Item 1. Business -Competition” and “-Regulation and Legislation.”

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has increased economic and demand uncertainty. The current pandemic and continued spread of COVID-19 has caused an economic recession. At this time, we cannot predict the duration of any business disruption and the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our business, including the depth and duration of the economic impact to household formation and growth, our residential and business customers’ ability to pay for our products and services including the impact of extended unemployment benefits and other stimulus packages and the long-term impact on our business, including from consumer behavior, after the pandemic is over. We expect that some of the COVID-19 programs may result in incremental churn and bad debt in 2021. In addition, there is uncertainty regarding the impact of government emergency declarations, the ability of our suppliers and vendors to provide products and services to us, the pace of new housing construction, changes in business spend in our local and national ad sales business, the effects to our employees’ health and safety and resulting reorientation of our work activities, and the risk of limitations on the deployment and maintenance of our services (including by limiting our customer support and on-site service repairs and installations). The degree to which COVID-19 impacts our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including, but not limited to, the duration and spread of the outbreak, its severity, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, the timing of approval and distribution of vaccines and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

Programming costs per video customer are rising at a faster rate than wages or inflation, and we may not have the ability to reduce or moderate the growth rates of, or pass on to our customers, our increasing programming costs, which would adversely affect our cash flow and operating margins.

Video programming has been, and is expected to continue to be, our largest operating expense item. Media corporation and broadcast station group consolidation has resulted in fewer suppliers and additional selling power on the part of programming suppliers. We expect programming rates per video customer will continue to increase due to a variety of factors, including annual increases imposed by programmers with additional selling power as a result of media and broadcast station groups consolidation, increased demands by owners of broadcast stations for payment for retransmission consent or linking carriage of other services to retransmission consent, and additional programming, particularly new services. The inability to fully pass programming cost increases on to our customers has had, and is expected in the future to have, an adverse impact on our cash flow and operating margins associated with the video product. Programming contracts often restrict the structure of the video packages we offer which impacts the affordability and competitive positioning of our video service. The contracts set to expire in any particular year vary. There can be no assurance that these agreements will be renewed on favorable or comparable terms.

In addition, a number of programmers have begun to sell their services through alternative distribution channels, including IP-based platforms, which are less secure than our own video distribution platforms. There is growing evidence that these less secure video distribution platforms are leading to video product theft via password sharing among consumers. Password sharing may drive down the number of customers who pay for certain programming, putting programmer revenues at risk, and which in

turn may cause certain programmers to seek even higher programming fees from us. The ability for consumers to receive the same content for free through such unauthorized channels has devalued our video product which could impact sales, customer retention and our ability to pass through programming costs to consumers, which increases the risk of non-renewal when programmers seek increases. To the extent that we are unable to reach agreement with certain programmers on terms that we believe are reasonable, we have been, and may be in the future, forced to remove such programming channels from our line-up, which may result in a loss of customers. Our failure to carry programming that is attractive to our customers could adversely impact our customer levels, operations and financial results. In addition, if our Internet customers are unable to access desirable content online because content providers block or limit access by our customers as a class, our ability to gain and retain customers, especially Internet customers, may be negatively impacted.

Increased demands by owners of some broadcast stations for carriage of other services or payments to those broadcasters for retransmission consent are likely to further increase our programming costs. Federal law allows commercial television broadcast stations to make an election between “must-carry” rights and an alternative “retransmission-consent” regime. When a station opts for the retransmission consent regime, we are not allowed to carry the station’s signal without that station’s permission. In some cases, we carry stations under short-term arrangements while we attempt to negotiate new long-term retransmission agreements. If negotiations with these programmers prove unsuccessful, they could require us to cease carrying their signals, possibly for an indefinite period. Any loss of stations could make our video service less attractive to customers, which could result in less subscription and advertising revenue. In retransmission-consent negotiations, broadcasters often condition consent with respect to one station on carriage of one or more other stations or programming services in which they or their affiliates have an interest. Carriage of these other services, as well as increased fees for retransmission rights, may increase our programming expenses and diminish the amount of capacity we have available to introduce new services, which could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Our inability to respond to technological developments and meet customer demand for new products and services could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively.

We operate in a highly competitive, consumer-driven and rapidly changing environment. From time to time, we may pursue strategic initiatives to launch products or enhancements to our products. Our success is, to a large extent, dependent on our ability to acquire, develop, adopt, upgrade and exploit new and existing technologies to address consumers’ changing demands and distinguish our services from those of our competitors. We may not be able to accurately predict technological trends or the success of new products and services. If we choose technologies or equipment that are less effective, cost-efficient or attractive to customers than those chosen by our competitors, if technologies or equipment on which we have chosen to rely cease to be available to us on reasonable terms or conditions, if we offer services that fail to appeal to consumers, are not available at competitive prices or that do not function as expected, or we are not able to fund the expenditures necessary to keep pace with technological developments, or if we are no longer able to make our services available to our customers on a third-party device on which a substantial number of customers have relied to access our services, our competitive position could deteriorate, and our business and financial results could suffer.

The ability of some of our competitors to introduce new technologies, products and services more quickly than we do may adversely affect our competitive position. Furthermore, advances in technology, decreases in the cost of existing technologies or changes in competitors’ product and service offerings may require us in the future to make additional research and development expenditures or to offer, at no additional charge or at a lower price, certain products and services that we currently offer to customers separately or at a premium. In addition, the uncertainty of our ability, and the costs, to obtain intellectual property rights from third parties could impact our ability to respond to technological advances in a timely and effective manner.

Our inability to maintain and expand our upgraded systems and provide advanced services in a timely manner, or to anticipate the demands of the marketplace, could materially adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers. In addition, as we continue to grow our mobile services using virtual network operator rights from a third party, we expect continued growth-related sales and marketing and other customer acquisition costs as well as negative working capital impacts from the timing of device-related cash flows when we provide devices pursuant to equipment installation plans. We also continue to consider and pursue opportunities in the mobile space which may include the acquisition of additional licensed spectrum and may include entering into or expanding joint ventures or partnerships with wireless or cable providers which may require significant investment. For example, we now hold CBRS PALs to support existing and future mobile services. These licenses are subject to revocation and expiration. Although we expect to be able to maintain and renew these licenses, the loss of one or more licenses could significantly impair our ability to offload mobile traffic and achieve cost reductions. If we are unable to continue to grow our mobile business and achieve the outcomes we expect from our investments in the mobile business, our growth, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We depend on third-party service providers, suppliers and licensors; thus, if we are unable to procure the necessary services, equipment, software or licenses on reasonable terms and on a timely basis, our ability to offer services could be impaired, and our growth, operations, business, financial results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We depend on a limited number of third-party service providers, suppliers and licensors to supply some of the services, hardware, software and operational support necessary to provide some of our services. Some of our hardware, software and operational support vendors, and service providers represent our sole source of supply or have, either through contract or as a result of intellectual property rights, a position of some exclusivity. If any of these parties breach or terminate or elect not to renew their agreements with us or otherwise fail to perform their obligations in a timely manner, demand exceeds these vendors’ capacity, tariffs are imposed that impact vendors' ability to perform their obligations or significantly increase the amount we pay, they experience operating or financial difficulties, they significantly increase the amount we are required to pay (including demands for substantial non-monetary compensation) for necessary products or services, or they cease production of any necessary product due to lack of demand, profitability or a change in ownership or are otherwise unable to provide the equipment or services we need in a timely manner, at our specifications and at reasonable prices, our ability to provide some services might be materially adversely affected, or the need to procure or develop alternative sources of the affected materials or services might interrupt or delay our ability to serve our customers. In addition, the existence of only a limited number of vendors of key technologies can lead to less product innovation and higher costs. These events could materially and adversely affect our ability to retain and attract customers and our operations, business, financial results and financial condition.

Our business may be adversely affected if we cannot continue to license or enforce the intellectual property rights on which our business depends.

We rely on patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and licenses and other agreements with our employees, customers, suppliers and other parties to establish and maintain our intellectual property rights in technology and the products and services used in our operations. Also, because of the rapid pace of technological change, we both develop our own technologies, products and services and rely on technologies developed or licensed by third parties. However, any of our intellectual property rights, or the rights of our suppliers, could be challenged or invalidated, or such intellectual property rights may not be sufficient to permit us to take advantage of current industry trends or otherwise to provide competitive advantages, which could result in costly redesign efforts, discontinuance of certain product or service offerings or other competitive harm. We may not be able to obtain or continue to obtain licenses from these third parties on reasonable terms, if at all. In addition, claims of intellectual property infringement could require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements on unfavorable terms, incur substantial monetary liability or be enjoined preliminarily or permanently from further use of the intellectual property in question, which could require us to change our business practices or offerings and limit our ability to compete effectively. Even unsuccessful claims can be time-consuming and costly to defend and may divert management’s attention and resources away from our business. Infringement claims continue to be brought frequently in the communications and entertainment industries, and we are also often a party to such litigation alleging that certain of our services or technologies infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

Various events could disrupt or result in unauthorized access to our networks, information systems or properties and could impair our operating activities and negatively impact our reputation and financial results.

Network and information systems technologies are critical to our operating activities, both for our internal uses, such as network management and supplying services to our customers, including customer service operations and programming delivery. Network or information system shutdowns or other service disruptions caused by events such as computer hacking, phishing, dissemination of computer viruses, worms and other destructive or disruptive software, “cyber attacks,” process breakdowns, denial of service attacks and other malicious activity pose increasing risks. Both unsuccessful and successful “cyber attacks” on companies have continued to increase in frequency, scope and potential harm in recent years. While we develop and maintain systems seeking to prevent systems-related events and security breaches from occurring, the development and maintenance of these systems is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as techniques used in such attacks become more sophisticated and change frequently. We, and the third parties on which we rely, may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventive measures. While from time to time attempts have been made to access our network, these attempts have not as yet resulted in any material release of information, degradation or disruption to our network and information systems.

Our network and information systems are also vulnerable to damage or interruption from power outages, telecommunications failures, accidents, natural disasters (including extreme weather arising from short-term or any long-term changes in weather patterns), terrorist attacks and similar events. Our system redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities.

Any of these events, if directed at, or experienced by, us or technologies upon which we depend, could have adverse consequences on our network, our customers and our business, including degradation of service, service disruption, excessive call volume to call centers, and damage to our or our customers’ equipment and data. Large expenditures may be necessary to repair or replace damaged property, networks or information systems or to protect them from similar events in the future. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance that we maintain against losses resulting from any such events or security breaches may not be sufficient to cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for any disruptions to our business that may result. Any such significant service disruption could result in damage to our reputation and credibility, customer dissatisfaction and ultimately a loss of customers or revenue. Any significant loss of customers or revenue, or significant increase in costs of serving those customers, could adversely affect our growth, financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, our operating activities could be subject to risks caused by misappropriation, misuse, leakage, falsification or accidental release or loss of information maintained in our information technology systems and networks and those of our third-party vendors, including customer, personnel and vendor data. We provide certain confidential, proprietary and personal information to third parties in connection with our business, and there is a risk that this information may be compromised.

We process, store, and transmit large amounts of data, including the personal information of our customers. Ongoing increases in the potential for mis-use of personal information, the public’s awareness of the importance of safeguarding personal information, and the volume of legislation that has been adopted or is being considered regarding the protection, privacy, and security of personal information have resulted in increases to our information-related risks. We could be exposed to significant costs if such risks were to materialize, and such events could damage our reputation, credibility and business and have a negative impact on our revenue. We could be subject to regulatory actions and claims made by consumers in private litigations involving privacy issues related to consumer data collection and use practices. We also could be required to expend significant capital and other resources to remedy any such security breach.

Our exposure to the economic conditions of our current and potential customers, vendors and third parties could adversely affect our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition.

We are exposed to risks associated with the economic conditions of our current and potential customers, the potential financial instability of our customers and their financial ability to purchase our products. If there were a general economic downturn, we may experience increased cancellations or non-payment by our customers or unfavorable changes in the mix of products purchased. This may include an increase in the number of homes that replace their video service with Internet-delivered and/or over-air content, as well as an increase in the number of Internet and voice customers substituting mobile data and voice products for wireline services, which would negatively impact our ability to attract customers, increase rates and maintain or increase revenue. In addition, our ability to gain new customers is dependent to some extent on growth in occupied housing in our service areas, which is influenced by both national and local economic conditions. Weak economic conditions may also have a negative impact on our advertising revenue. These events have adversely affected us in the past, and may adversely affect our cash flow, results of operations and financial condition if a downturn were to occur.

In addition, we are susceptible to risks associated with the potential financial instability of the vendors and third parties on which we rely to provide products and services or to which we outsource certain functions. The same economic conditions that may affect our customers, as well as volatility and disruption in the capital and credit markets, also could adversely affect vendors and third parties and lead to significant increases in prices, reduction in output or the bankruptcy of our vendors or third parties upon which we rely. Any interruption in the services provided by our vendors or by third parties could adversely affect our cash flow, results of operation and financial condition.

For tax purposes, Charter could experience a deemed ownership change in the future that could limit its ability to use its tax loss carryforwards.

Charter had approximately $5.3 billion of federal tax net operating loss carryforwards resulting in a gross deferred tax asset of approximately $1.1 billion as of December 31, 2020. These losses resulted from the operations of Charter Communications Holding Company, LLC ("Charter Holdco") and its subsidiaries and from loss carryforwards received as a result of the merger with TWC. Federal tax net operating loss carryforwards expire in the years 2022 through 2035. In addition, Charter had state tax net operating loss carryforwards resulting in a gross deferred tax asset (net of federal tax benefit) of approximately $223 million as of December 31, 2020. State tax net operating loss carryforwards generally expire in the years 2021 through 2040.

In the past, Charter has experienced ownership changes as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). In general, an ownership change occurs whenever the percentage of the stock of a corporation owned,

directly or indirectly, by 5-percent stockholders (within the meaning of Section 382 of the Code) increases by more than 50 percentage points over the lowest percentage of the stock of such corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by such 5-percent stockholders at any time over the preceding three years. As a result, Charter is subject to an annual limitation on the use of its loss carryforwards which existed at November 30, 2009 for the first ownership change, those that existed at May 1, 2013 for the second ownership change, and those created at May 18, 2016 for the third ownership change. The limitation on Charter's ability to use its loss carryforwards, in conjunction with the loss carryforward expiration provisions, could reduce Charter's ability to use a portion of its loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income, which could result in Charter being required to make material cash tax payments. Charter's ability to make such income tax payments, if any, will depend at such time on its liquidity or its ability to raise additional capital, and/or on receipt of payments or distributions from Charter Holdco and its subsidiaries.

If Charter were to experience additional ownership changes in the future (as a result of purchases and sales of stock by its 5-percent stockholders, new issuances or redemptions of our stock, certain acquisitions of its stock and issuances, redemptions, sales or other dispositions or acquisitions of interests in its 5-percent stockholders), Charter's ability to use its loss carryforwards could become subject to further limitations.

If we are unable to retain key employees, our ability to manage our business could be adversely affected.

Our operational results have depended, and our future results will depend, upon the retention and continued performance of our management team. Our ability to retain and hire new key employees for management positions could be impacted adversely by the competitive environment for management talent in the broadband communications industry. The loss of the services of key members of management and the inability or delay in hiring new key employees could adversely affect our ability to manage our business and our future operational and financial results.

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

We have a significant amount of debt and expect to incur significant additional debt, including secured debt, in the future, which could adversely affect our financial health and our ability to react to changes in our business.

We have a significant amount of debt and expect to (subject to applicable restrictions in our debt instruments) incur additional debt in the future as we maintain our stated objective of 4.0 to 4.5 times Adjusted EBITDA leverage (net debt divided by the last twelve months Adjusted EBITDA). As of December 31, 2020, our total principal amount of debt was approximately $82.1 billion with a leverage ratio of 4.4 times Adjusted EBITDA.

Our significant amount of debt could have consequences, such as:

• impact our ability to raise additional capital at reasonable rates, or at all;

• make us vulnerable to interest rate increases, in part because approximately 13% of our borrowings as of December 31, 2020 were, and may continue to be, subject to variable rates of interest;

• expose us to increased interest expense to the extent we refinance existing debt with higher cost debt;

• require us to dedicate a significant portion of our cash flow from operating activities to make payments on our debt, reducing our funds available for working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate expenses;

• limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business, the cable and telecommunications industries, and the economy at large;

• place us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors that have proportionately less debt; and

• adversely affect our relationship with customers and suppliers.

To the extent our current debt amounts increase more than expected, our business results are lower than expected, or credit rating agencies downgrade our debt limiting our access to investment grade markets, the related risks that we now face will intensify.

In addition, our variable rate indebtedness may use London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) as a benchmark for establishing the rate. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced that it intends to stop one week and 2 month U.S. Dollar (“USD”) LIBOR rates after 2021 with remaining USD LIBOR rates ceasing to be published on June 30, 2023 (the “FCA Announcement”). In the United States, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee has proposed the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as an alternative to LIBOR. It is not presently known whether SOFR or any other alternative reference rates that have been proposed will attain market acceptance as replacements of LIBOR. In addition, the overall financial markets may be disrupted as a result of the phase-out or replacement of LIBOR. Uncertainty as to the nature of

such phase out and selection of an alternative reference rate, together with disruption in the financial markets, could increase in the cost of our variable rate indebtedness.

The agreements and instruments governing our debt contain restrictions and limitations that could significantly affect our ability to operate our business, as well as significantly affect our liquidity.

Our credit facilities and the indentures governing our debt contain a number of significant covenants that could adversely affect our ability to operate our business, our liquidity, and our results of operations. These covenants restrict, among other things, our and our subsidiaries’ ability to:

• incur additional debt;

• repurchase or redeem equity interests and debt;

• issue equity;

• make certain investments or acquisitions;

• pay dividends or make other distributions;

• dispose of assets or merge;

• enter into related party transactions; and

• grant liens and pledge assets.

Additionally, the Charter Communications Operating, LLC ("Charter Operating") credit facilities require Charter Operating to comply with a maximum total leverage covenant and a maximum first lien leverage covenant. The breach of any covenants or obligations in our indentures or credit facilities, not otherwise waived or amended, could result in a default under the applicable debt obligations and could trigger acceleration of those obligations, which in turn could trigger cross defaults under other agreements governing our long-term indebtedness. In addition, the secured lenders under our notes and the Charter Operating credit facilities could foreclose on their collateral, which includes equity interests in substantially all of our subsidiaries, and exercise other rights of secured creditors.

Risks Related to Ownership Position of Liberty Broadband Corporation and Advance/Newhouse Partnership

Liberty Broadband Corporation ("Liberty Broadband) and Advance/Newhouse Partnership (“A/N”) have governance rights that give them influence over corporate transactions and other matters.

Liberty Broadband currently owns a significant amount of Charter Class A common stock and is entitled to certain governance rights with respect to Charter. A/N currently owns Charter Class A common stock and a significant amount of membership interests in our subsidiary Charter Communications Holdings, LLC (“Charter Holdings”), which are convertible into Charter Class A common stock, and is entitled to certain governance rights with respect to Charter. Members of the Charter board of directors include a director who is also an officer and director of Liberty Broadband and directors who are current or former officers and directors of A/N. Mr. Greg Maffei is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Broadband. Steven Miron is the Chief Executive Officer of A/N and Michael Newhouse is an officer or director of several of A/N’s affiliates. As of December 31, 2020, Liberty Broadband beneficially held approximately 27.23% of Charter’s voting stock and A/N beneficially held approximately 12.71% of Charter’s voting stock. Pursuant to the stockholders agreement between Liberty Broadband, A/N and Charter, Liberty Broadband currently has the right to designate up to three directors as nominees for Charter’s board of directors and A/N currently has the right to designate up to two directors as nominees for Charter’s board of directors. Each of A/N and Liberty Broadband is entitled to nominate at least one director to each of the committees of Charter's board of directors, subject to applicable stock exchange listing rules and certain specified voting or equity ownership thresholds for each of A/N and Liberty Broadband, and provided that the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Compensation and Benefit Committee each have at least a majority of directors independent from A/N, Liberty Broadband and Charter (referred to as the “unaffiliated directors” in the stockholders agreement).

In connection with the closing of the acquisition of Bright House, A/N and Liberty Broadband entered into a proxy agreement pursuant to which A/N granted to Liberty Broadband a 5-year irrevocable proxy expiring in May 2021 (which we refer to as the “A/N proxy”) to vote, subject to certain exceptions, that number of shares of Charter Class A common stock and Charter Class B common stock, in each case held by A/N (such shares are referred to as the “proxy shares”), that will result in Liberty Broadband having voting power in Charter equal to 25.01% of the outstanding voting power of Charter, provided, that the voting power of the proxy shares is capped at 7.0% of the outstanding voting power of Charter. As of December 31, 2020, Liberty Broadband’s voting power in Charter exceeded 25.01% and therefore, the A/N proxy had no impact on Liberty Broadband’s voting power. The stockholders agreement and Charter’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation fixes the size of the board at 13 directors. Liberty Broadband and A/N are required to vote (subject to the applicable voting cap) their

respective shares of Charter Class A common stock and Charter Class B common stock for the director nominees nominated by the nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors, including the respective designees of Liberty Broadband and A/N, and against any other nominees, except that, with respect to the unaffiliated directors, Liberty Broadband and A/N must instead vote in the same proportion as the voting securities are voted by stockholders other than A/N and Liberty Broadband or any group which includes any of them are voted, if doing so would cause a different outcome with respect to the unaffiliated directors. In addition, because Liberty Broadband’s voting power exceeds its voting cap of 25.01%, Liberty Broadband must vote and exercise rights to consent with respect to voting securities held in excess of the voting cap in the same proportion as all other votes cast by stockholders other than A/N and Liberty Broadband with respect to the applicable matter. As a result of their rights under the stockholders agreement and their significant equity and voting stakes in Charter, Liberty Broadband and/or A/N, who may have interests different from those of other stockholders, will be able to exercise substantial influence over certain matters relating to the governance of Charter, including the approval of significant corporate actions, such as mergers and other business combination transactions.

The stockholders agreement provides A/N and Liberty Broadband with preemptive rights with respect to issuances of Charter equity in connection with certain transactions, and in the event that A/N or Liberty Broadband exercises these rights, holders of Charter Class A common stock may experience further dilution.

The stockholders agreement provides that A/N and Liberty Broadband will have certain contractual preemptive rights over issuances of Charter equity securities in connection with capital raising transactions, merger and acquisition transactions, and in certain other circumstances. Holders of Charter Class A common stock will not be entitled to similar preemptive rights with respect to such transactions. As a result, if Liberty Broadband and/or A/N elect to exercise their preemptive rights, (i) these parties would not experience the dilution experienced by the other holders of Charter Class A common stock, and (ii) such other holders of Charter Class A common stock may experience further dilution of their interest in Charter upon such exercise.

Risks Related to Regulatory and Legislative Matters

Our business is subject to extensive governmental legislation and regulation, which could adversely affect our business.

Regulation of the cable industry has increased cable operators’ operational and administrative expenses and limited their revenues. Cable operators are subject to numerous laws and regulations including those covering the following:

• the provision of high-speed Internet service, including net neutrality and transparency rules;

• the provision of voice communications;

• cable franchise renewals and transfers;

• the provisioning and marketing of cable and Internet equipment;

• customer and employee privacy and data security;

• copyright royalties for retransmitting broadcast signals;

• when a cable system must carry a particular broadcast station and when it must first obtain retransmission consent to carry a broadcast station;

• limitations on our ability to enter into exclusive agreements with multiple dwelling unit complexes and control our inside wiring;

• equal employment opportunity;

• emergency alert systems, disability access, pole attachments, commercial leased access and technical standards;

• marketing practices, customer service, and consumer protection; and

• approval for mergers and acquisitions often accompanied by the imposition of restrictions and requirements on an applicant’s business in order to secure approval of the proposed transaction.

Legislators and regulators at all levels of government frequently consider changing, and sometimes do change, existing statutes, rules, regulations, or interpretations thereof, or prescribe new ones. Any future legislative, judicial, regulatory or administrative actions may increase our costs or impose additional restrictions on our businesses.

Changes to existing statutes, rules, regulations, or interpretations thereof, or adoption of new ones, could have an adverse effect on our business.

There are ongoing efforts to amend or expand the federal, state, and local regulation of some of the services offered over our cable systems, which may compound the regulatory risks we already face. For example, with respect to our retail broadband Internet access service, the FCC has reclassified the service twice in the last few years, with the first change adding federal

regulatory obligations and the second change largely removing those new regulatory obligations. A change in Administration and a new Congress in 2021 may result in the re-imposition of obligations, through legislation or regulation.

Other potential legislative and regulatory changes could adversely impact our business by increasing our costs and competition and limiting our ability to offer services in a manner that that would maximize our revenue potential. These changes could include, for example, the adoption of new privacy restrictions on our collection, use and disclosure of certain customer information, new data security and cybersecurity mandates that could result in additional network and information security requirements for our business, new restraints on our discretion over programming decisions, new restrictions on the rates we charge for video programming and the marketing and packaging of that video programming and other services to consumers, changes to the cable industry’s compulsory copyright license to carry broadcast signals, new requirements to assure the availability of navigation devices (such as digital receivers) from third-party providers, new Universal Service Fund obligations on our provision of Internet service that would add to the cost of that service; increases in government-administered broadband subsidies to rural areas that could result in subsidized overbuilding of our more rural facilities, changes to the FCC's administration of spectrum, and changes in the regulatory framework for VoIP phone service, including the scope of regulatory obligations associated with our VoIP service and our ability to interconnect our VoIP service with incumbent providers of traditional telecommunications service.

If any of these such laws or regulations are enacted, they could affect our operations and require significant expenditures. We cannot predict future developments in these areas, and any changes to the regulatory framework for our Internet, video or VoIP services could have a negative impact on our business and results of operations.

It remains uncertain what rule changes, if any, will ultimately be adopted by Congress and the FCC and what operating or financial impact any such rules might have on us, including on our programming agreements, customer privacy and the user experience. In addition, the FCC, the FTC, and various state agencies and attorney generals actively investigate industry practices and could impose substantial forfeitures for alleged regulatory violations.

Tax legislation and administrative initiatives or challenges to our tax and fee positions could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We operate cable systems in locations throughout the United States and, as a result, we are subject to the tax laws and regulations of federal, state and local governments. From time to time, legislative and administrative bodies change laws and regulations that change our effective tax rate or tax payments. For instance, there are initiatives at the federal level to reverse the corporate tax cuts in the favorable Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Certain states and localities have imposed or are considering imposing new or additional taxes or fees on our services or changing the methodologies or base on which certain fees and taxes are computed. Potential changes include additional taxes or fees on our services which could impact our customers, changes to income tax sourcing rules and other changes to general business taxes, central/unit-level assessment of property taxes and other matters that could increase our income, franchise, sales, use and/or property tax liabilities. For example, some local franchising authorities are seeking to impose franchise fee assessments on our broadband Internet access service (in addition to our video service), and more may do so in the future. If they do so, and challenges to such assessments are unsuccessful, it could adversely impact our costs. Although the FCC issued a decision precluding the imposition of such duplicative fees, that favorable decision is currently subject to judicial review. In addition, federal, state and local tax laws and regulations are extremely complex and subject to varying interpretations. There can be no assurance that our tax positions will not be challenged by relevant tax authorities or that we would be successful in any such challenge.

Our cable system franchises are subject to non-renewal or termination and are non-exclusive. The failure to renew a franchise or the grant of additional franchises in one or more service areas could adversely affect our business.

Our cable systems generally operate pursuant to franchises, permits, and similar authorizations issued by a state or local governmental authority controlling the public rights-of-way. Many franchises establish comprehensive facilities and service requirements, as well as specific customer service standards and monetary penalties for non-compliance. In many cases, franchises are terminable if the franchisee fails to comply with significant provisions set forth in the franchise agreement governing system operations. Franchises are generally granted for fixed terms and must be periodically renewed. Franchising authorities may resist granting a renewal if either past performance or the prospective operating proposal is considered inadequate. Franchise authorities often demand concessions or other commitments as a condition to renewal. In some instances, local franchises have not been renewed at expiration, and we have operated and are operating under either temporary operating agreements or without a franchise while negotiating renewal terms with the local franchising authorities.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with all significant provisions of our franchise agreements and certain of our franchisers have from time to time alleged that we have not complied with these agreements. Additionally, although historically we have renewed our franchises without incurring significant costs, we cannot assure you that we will be able to renew, or to renew as favorably, our franchises in the future. A termination of or a sustained failure to renew a franchise in one or more service areas could adversely affect our business in the affected geographic area.

Our cable system franchises are non-exclusive. Consequently, local and state franchising authorities can grant additional franchises to competitors in the same geographic area or operate their own cable systems. In some cases, local government entities and municipal utilities may legally compete with us on more favorable terms.

None.

Our principal physical assets consist of cable distribution plant and equipment, including signal receiving, encoding and decoding devices, headend reception facilities, distribution systems, and customer premise equipment for each of our cable systems.

Our cable plant and related equipment are generally attached to utility poles under pole rental agreements with local public utilities and telephone companies, and in certain locations are buried in underground ducts or trenches. We own or lease real property for signal reception sites, and own our service vehicles.

We generally lease space for business offices. Our headend and tower locations are located on owned or leased parcels of land, and we generally own the towers on which our equipment is located.

The physical components of our cable systems require maintenance as well as periodic upgrades to support the new services and products we introduce. See “Item 1. Business – Our Network Technology and Customer Premise Equipment.” We believe that our properties are generally in good operating condition and are suitable for our business operations.

The legal proceedings information set forth in Note 21 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated herein by reference.

Not applicable.

PART II

Charter’s Class A common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “CHTR.” As of December 31, 2020, there were approximately 11,200 holders of record of Charter’s Class A common stock and one holder of Charter's Class B common stock. Charter has not paid cash dividends on its common stock and does not intend to do so in the foreseeable future. During 2020, there were no unregistered sales of securities of the registrant.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following information is provided as of December 31, 2020 with respect to equity compensation plans:

(1) This total does not include 5,992 shares issued pursuant to restricted stock grants made under our 2019 Stock Incentive Plan, which are subject to vesting based on continued service.

For information regarding securities issued under our equity compensation plans, see Note 16 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

Performance Graph

The performance graph required by Item 5 will be included in Charter’s 2021 Proxy Statement (the “Proxy Statement”) under the headings “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” or in amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer

The following table presents Charter’s purchases of equity securities completed during the fourth quarter of 2020 (dollars in millions, except per share data).

(1)Includes 7,007, 385,164 and 1,735 shares withheld from employees for the payment of taxes and exercise costs upon the exercise of stock options or vesting of other equity awards for the months of October, November and December 2020, respectively.

(2)During the three months ended December 31, 2020, Charter purchased approximately 6.5 million shares of its Class A common stock for approximately $4.2 billion. Charter Holdings purchased 0.9 million Charter Holdings common units from A/N at an average price per unit of $629.92, or $578 million during the three months ended December 31, 2020. As of December 31, 2020, Charter had remaining board authority to purchase an additional $1.5 billion of Charter’s Class A

common stock and/or Charter Holdings common units. In addition to open market purchases including pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 plans adopted from time to time, Charter may also buy shares of Charter Class A common stock, from time to time, pursuant to private transactions outside of its Rule 10b5-1 plan and any such repurchases may also trigger the repurchases from A/N pursuant to and to the extent provided in the Letter Agreement or Liberty pursuant to the stockholders' agreement. See "Part II. Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources."

The following table presents selected consolidated financial data for the periods indicated (dollars in millions, except per share data):

Comparability of the above information from year to year is affected by acquisitions and dispositions completed by us, including the merger with TWC and acquisition of Bright House in 2016.

Reference is made to “Part I. Item 1A. Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” which describe important factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations and non-historical information contained herein. In addition, the following discussion should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes thereto of Charter included in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

Overview

We are a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 31 million customers in 41 states through our Spectrum brand. Over an advanced high-capacity, two-way telecommunications network, we offer a full range of state-of-the-art residential and business services including Spectrum Internet, TV, Mobile and Voice. For small and medium-sized companies, Spectrum Business delivers the same suite of broadband products and services coupled with special features and applications to enhance productivity, while for larger businesses and government entities, Spectrum Enterprise provides highly customized, fiber-based solutions. Spectrum Reach delivers tailored advertising and production for the modern media landscape. We also distribute award-winning news coverage, sports and high-quality original programming to our customers through Spectrum Networks and Spectrum Originals. See “Part I. Item 1. Business — Products and Services” for further description of these services, including customer statistics for different services.

The COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken to prevent its spread impacted our business and presented significant challenges throughout 2020. To reduce the transmission of COVID-19, federal, state and local governments implemented a wide range of restrictions on business and individual activities, including closures or limitations on the operations of businesses along with restrictions on large gatherings, travel and other actions to promote or enforce physical distancing. Despite these restrictions, we have continued to deliver our services uninterrupted across our footprint. The pandemic has significantly impacted how our customers use our products and services, how they interact with us, and how our employees work and provide services to our customers. The impacts of COVID-19 have significantly impacted our results of operations during the year ended December 31, 2020 and we expect that there will continue to be impacts through 2021.

• Beginning in March 2020, we offered our customers a set of programs, including our Remote Education Offer (“REO”) pursuant to which new customers with students or educators in the household were eligible to receive our Internet service for free for 60 days; and the Keep Americans Connected (“KAC”) pledge which paused collection efforts and related disconnects for residential and small and medium business (“SMB”) customers with COVID-19 related payment challenges through June 30, 2020. These programs resulted in higher customer net additions in 2020 than prior year with retention rates for these customers similar to our average customer base. In an effort to assist COVID-19 impacted customers with overdue balances at the end of the KAC and certain state-mandated programs, we waived approximately $102 million of receivables which was recorded as a reduction of revenue.

• The interruption of professional sports seasons resulted in $163 million lower programming expenses as a result of estimated sports rebates from sports programming networks as a result of canceled sporting events and a $217 million reduction in regulatory, connectivity and produced content costs as a result of a shortened 2020 baseball season and a delay to the start of the 2020-2021 basketball season which will push some expense that otherwise would have been recognized in 2020 to 2021 and beyond. In the third quarter of 2020, we recognized $218 million of estimated credits that we intend to provide on our customers' invoices related to the rebates to be received from sports programming networks. The difference between the estimated credits and the estimated rebates is due to an expected reduction in sports rights content costs which is being amortized over the life of the contract.

• Economic conditions and temporary closures or reductions in operations of businesses resulted in reduced advertising spend and lower revenues from seasonal plans offered to SMB and Enterprise hospitality customers that have requested a reduced level of service due to temporary business closure or because these customers have reduced their service offering to their own customers ("Seasonal Plan"). Despite the economic conditions, we saw improved collections of residential customer receivables which we believe were enhanced by government stimulus benefits. We expect bad debt expense and churn in 2021 to return to pre-pandemic levels.

• We increased wages for all hourly field operations and customer service call center employees and gave our employees additional paid sick time for COVID-19-related illnesses and a flex time program to address other COVID-19 issues. We also committed to raise our minimum starting wage for hourly employees to $20 an hour over the next 2 years.

• Through accelerated network capacity increases we have been able to respond to the significant increase in data demands on our network to enable social distancing through telecommuting and e-learning with usage by our Internet-only customers averaging over 600 gigabytes per month, up nearly 20% from the end of 2019.

• WiFi access points were opened across our footprint for public use.

• Requests from government, healthcare and educational institutions for new fiber connections, bandwidth upgrades and new services were prioritized.

• We have invested significantly in our self-service infrastructure, and customers have accelerated the adoption of our digital self-service capabilities and self-installation program with nearly 80% of installations using the program.

• A significant portion of our workforce was temporarily moved to remote work arrangements.

• We enhanced safety protocols for field and other employees working outside their home.

• We offered public access to our Spectrum News websites to ensure people have access to high-quality local news and information and donated significant airtime to run public service announcements to our entire footprint.

Our ability to successfully operate our business and deliver services during the COVID-19 pandemic is a result of investments we have made in our network, our employees and our systems. Our operating and investment strategy has allowed us to sustain and accelerate our customer and financial growth during the pandemic.

We cannot predict the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our business, including the depth and duration of the economic impact to household formation and growth, our residential and business customers’ ability to pay for our products and services including the impact of extended unemployment benefits and other stimulus packages and the long-term impact on our business, including from consumer behavior, after the pandemic is over. Some of the COVID-19 programs discussed above may result in incremental churn and bad debt in 2021 and may have accelerated demand into 2020. In addition, there is uncertainty regarding the impact of government emergency declarations, the ability of our suppliers and vendors to provide products and services to us, the pace of new housing construction, changes in business spend in our local and national ad sales

business, the effects to our employees’ health and safety and resulting reorientation of our work activities, and the risk of limitations on the deployment and maintenance of our services (including by limiting our customer support and on-site service repairs and installations).

Although the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be predicted,

Showing the first 8K of 83K characters. Open the full section

We use derivative instruments to manage foreign exchange risk on the Sterling Notes, and do not hold or issue derivative instruments for speculative trading purposes.

Cross-currency derivative instruments are used to effectively convert £1.275 billion aggregate principal amount of fixed-rate British pound sterling denominated debt, including annual interest payments and the payment of principal at maturity, to fixed-rate U.S. dollar denominated debt. The cross-currency derivative instruments have maturities of June 2031 and July 2042. We are required to post collateral on the cross-currency derivative instruments when such instruments are in a liability position. In April 2019, we entered into a collateral holiday agreement for 60% of both the 2031 and 2042 cross-currency swaps, which eliminates the requirement to post collateral for three years, as well as a ten year collateral cap on the remaining 40% of the cross-currency swaps which limits the required collateral posting on that 40% of the cross-currency swaps to $150 million. The fair value of our cross-currency derivatives included in other long-term liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets was $184 million and $224 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For more information, see Note 12 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements contained in “Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the weighted average interest rate on the credit facility debt was approximately 1.7% and 3.3%, respectively, and the weighted average interest rate on the senior notes was approximately 5.1% and 5.4%, respectively, resulting in a blended weighted average interest rate of 4.7% and 5.1%, respectively. The interest rate on approximately 87% and 86% of the total principal amount of our debt was fixed as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

The table set forth below summarizes the fair values and contract terms of financial instruments subject to interest rate risk maintained by us as of December 31, 2020 (dollars in millions):

Interest rates on variable-rate debt are estimated using the average implied forward LIBOR for the year of maturity based on the yield curve in effect at December 31, 2020 including applicable bank spread.

Our consolidated financial statements, the related notes thereto, and the reports of independent accountants are included in this annual report beginning on page F-1.

None.

Conclusion Regarding the Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of the end of the period covered by this report, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of disclosure controls and procedures with respect to the information generated for use in this annual report. The evaluation was based upon reports and certifications provided by a number of executives. Based on, and as of the date of that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurances that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.

In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, our management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based upon the above evaluation, we believe that our controls provide such reasonable assurances.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2020, there was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) for the Company. Our internal control system was designed to provide reasonable assurance to our management and board of directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements.

Management has assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, we used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on management’s assessment utilizing these criteria we believe that, as of December 31, 2020, our internal control over financial reporting was effective**.**

Our independent auditors, KPMG LLP, have audited our internal control over financial reporting as stated in their report on page F-2.

None.

PART III

The information required by Item 10 will be included in the Proxy Statement under the headings “Election of Class A Directors,” “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements,” and “Code of Ethics,” or in amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by Item 11 will be included in the Proxy Statement under the headings “Executive Compensation,” “Election of Class A Directors – Director Compensation” and “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” or in an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference. Information contained in the Proxy Statement or an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the caption “Report of Compensation and Benefits Committee” is furnished and not deemed filed with the SEC.

The information required by Item 12 will be included in the Proxy Statement under the heading “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” or in amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by Item 13 will be included in the Proxy Statement under the heading “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” and “Election of Class A Directors” or in amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by Item 14 will be included in the Proxy Statement under the heading “Accounting Matters” or in amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

PART IV

(a) The following documents are filed as part of this annual report:

(1) Financial Statements.

A listing of the financial statements, notes and reports of independent public accountants required by "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" begins on page F-1 of this annual report.

(2) Financial Statement Schedules.

No financial statement schedules are required to be filed by Items 8 and 15(c) because they are not required or are not applicable, or the required information is set forth in the applicable financial statements or notes thereto.

(3) The index to the exhibits begins on page E-1 of this annual report.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Charter Communications, Inc. has duly caused this annual report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

S-1

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Richard R. Dykhouse and Kevin D. Howard, and each of them (with full power to each of them to act alone), his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign on his or her behalf individually and in each capacity stated below any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this annual report, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents and either of them, or their substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of Charter Communications, Inc. and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

S-2

Exhibit Index

Exhibits are listed by numbers corresponding to the Exhibit Table of Item 601 in Regulation S-K.

Showing the first 8K of 306K characters. Open the full section