CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC. /MO/CHTR
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS, INC. /MO/ Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosure
Franchises, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets
Actual amortization expense in future periods could differ from these estimates as a result of new intangible asset acquisitions or divestitures, changes in useful lives, impairments, adoption of new accounting standards and other relevant factors.
Franchise rights represent the value attributed to agreements or authorizations with local and state authorities that allow access to homes in cable service areas. For valuation purposes, they are defined as the future economic benefits of the right to solicit and service potential customers (customer marketing rights), and the right to deploy and market new services to potential customers (service marketing rights).
Management estimates the fair value of franchise rights at the date of acquisition and determines if the franchise has a finite life or an indefinite life. The Company has concluded that all of its franchises qualify for indefinite life treatment given that there are no legal, regulatory, contractual, competitive, economic or other factors which limit the period over which these rights will
contribute to the Company's cash flows. The Company reassesses this determination periodically or whenever events or substantive changes in circumstances occur.
All franchises are tested for impairment annually or more frequently as warranted by events or changes in circumstances. Franchises are aggregated into essentially inseparable units of accounting to conduct valuations. The franchise units of accounting are geographical clustering of cable systems into groups representing the highest and best use if sold to market participants. The Company performed a quantitative impairment analysis as of October 31, 2025 utilizing a multi-period excess earnings method, a discounted cash flow income approach which isolates discrete cash flows attributable to the franchise intangibles from the business enterprise cash flows. The income approach incorporated updated projections of the business enterprise cash flows, allocations of cash flows attributable to franchise intangibles, and current market assumptions for growth rates and discount rates. Based on the Company’s quantitative analysis, the Company concluded that the fair value of the franchises in each unit of accounting exceeds the carrying value of such assets.
Goodwill is also tested for impairment annually or more frequently as warranted by events or changes in circumstances. The Company has determined that it has one reporting unit for purposes of the assessment of goodwill impairment. As with the Company’s franchise impairment testing, the Company elected to perform a quantitative goodwill impairment analysis as of October 31, 2025. The Company changed the annual goodwill impairment test date to October 31 from the November 30 date used in the prior year’s qualitative assessment to allow for sufficient time to complete the quantitative analysis in conjunction with the year-end financial reporting process. The quantitative analysis considers whether the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value of the reporting unit, in which case an impairment charge is recorded to the extent the reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value. As a result of that assessment, the Company concluded that goodwill is not impaired.
Customer relationships are recorded at fair value as of the date acquired less accumulated amortization. Customer relationships are amortized on an accelerated sum of years’ digits method over useful lives of 10-15 years based on the period over which current customers are expected to generate cash flows. The Company periodically evaluates the remaining useful lives of its customer relationships to determine whether events or circumstances warrant revision to the remaining periods of amortization. Customer relationships are evaluated for impairment upon the occurrence of events or changes in circumstances indicating that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Customer relationships are deemed impaired when the carrying value exceeds the projected undiscounted future cash flows associated with the customer relationships. No impairment of customer relationships was recorded in the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 or 2023.
The Company owns approximately $464 million of Citizens Broadband Radio Service ("CBRS") priority access licenses. The wireless spectrum licenses are considered indefinite life intangible assets recorded in other noncurrent assets on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. The Company elected to perform a qualitative impairment assessment in 2025 and concluded that its CBRS priority access licenses are not impaired.
As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, indefinite-lived and finite-lived intangible assets are presented in the following table:
| December 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross Carrying Amount | Accumulated Amortization | Net Carrying Amount | Gross Carrying Amount | Accumulated Amortization | Net Carrying Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indefinite-lived intangible assets: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Franchises | $ | 67,471 | $ | — | $ | 67,471 | $ | 67,462 | $ | — | $ | 67,462 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goodwill | 29,710 | — | 29,710 | 29,674 | — | 29,674 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wireless spectrum licenses | 464 | — | 464 | 464 | — | 464 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trademarks | 159 | — | 159 | 159 | — | 159 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 97,804 | $ | — | $ | 97,804 | $ | 97,759 | $ | — | $ | 97,759 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Finite-lived intangible assets: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Customer relationships | $ | 18,315 | $ | (17,875) | $ | 440 | $ | 18,294 | $ | (17,319) | $ | 975 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other intangible assets | 277 | (234) | 43 | 453 | (320) | 133 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 18,592 | $ | (18,109) | $ | 483 | $ | 18,747 | $ | (17,639) | $ | 1,108 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amortization expense related to customer relationships and other intangible assets for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $585 million, $838 million and $1.1 billion, respectively.
The Company expects amortization expense on its finite-lived intangible assets will be as follows.
| 2026 | $ | 330 | |||
| 2027 | 100 | ||||
| 2028 | 17 | ||||
| 2029 | 14 | ||||
| 2030 | 8 | ||||
| Thereafter | 14 | ||||
| $ | 483 | ||||
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Jan 30, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Jan 31, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Feb 2, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Jan 27, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Jan 28, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Jan 29, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Jan 31, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Jan 31, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Feb 2, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Feb 16, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Feb 10, 2016 | |
About Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosures
Goodwill and intangible asset disclosures reveal the premium paid in acquisitions and how management assesses whether that premium retains its value. Since goodwill is no longer amortized under US GAAP, the annual impairment test is the only mechanism that adjusts carrying values downward — making the assumptions behind that test critically important for investors.
Key signals: a history of goodwill impairments suggests management consistently overpays for acquisitions. Watch the gap between reporting unit fair value and carrying amount — when fair value exceeds carrying amount by less than 10-20%, a small decline in business performance could trigger a write-down. For finite-lived intangibles, examine useful life assumptions across customer relationships, technology, and trade names; aggressive estimates inflate near-term earnings. Compare total intangibles-to-total-assets ratios against peers to assess acquisition dependency. Rising goodwill as a percentage of equity can signal balance sheet fragility.