AMC Networks Q2 2026 Earnings Report

AMC Networks EPS Results

• Actual EPS: -$0.28
• Consensus EPS: -$0.12
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.16
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.69

AMC Networks Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $547.50 million
• Expected Revenue: $555.74 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$8.24 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: -8.80%

AMC Networks Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2026
• Date: 7/30/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, July 30, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:30AM ET

AMC Networks (NASDAQ:AMCX) (NASDAQ: AMCX) is a global entertainment company that specializes in the development, production and distribution of premium content for television and streaming platforms. Headquartered in New York City, the company operates a portfolio of pay television channels in the U.S. and abroad, and offers direct-to-consumer streaming services that feature both original programming and licensed fare. AMC Networks is best known for critically acclaimed series such as “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men” and “The Walking Dead,” and it continues to invest in new scripted and unscripted content across a range of genres.

The company’s core television networks in the United States include AMC, IFC, Sundance TV and WE tv, while its joint venture with BBC Studios supports BBC America. AMC Networks also owns and operates subscription streaming services—AMC+, Shudder, Sundance Now and ALLBLK—each targeting distinct audiences with curated libraries and exclusive premieres. Revenue is generated through a combination of affiliate fees paid by distributors, advertising sales on its ad-supported networks and subscription fees from its OTT platforms.

AMC Networks traces its origins to Rainbow Programming Services, which launched the AMC channel in 1984. After operating as a division of Cablevision for decades, the company completed its IPO in March 2011 and rebranded as AMC Networks Inc. in 2013. Through its international arm, AMC Networks International, the company extends its reach to more than 125 countries across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

The company is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Christina Spade, who oversees strategic growth initiatives and day-to-day operations. AMC Networks’ executive team combines expertise in content creation, digital technology and global distribution, positioning the company to navigate a rapidly evolving media landscape and deliver compelling entertainment experiences to audiences worldwide.

AMC Networks Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: The Walking Dead licensing deal with Netflix covers all seven series and 371 episodes under a five-year, co-exclusive global agreement worth $500 million in contracted fees. AMC expects approximately $200 million–$225 million of revenue recognition in both 2026 and 2027, with cash payments extending through 2031.
• Positive Sentiment: AMC raised its 2026 guidance to consolidated revenue of $2.4 billion–$2.45 billion, adjusted operating income of $410 million–$420 million, and free cash flow of approximately $220 million, partly reflecting the Netflix agreement.
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue fell 9% year over year to $547 million and adjusted operating income was $46 million, while domestic subscription revenue declined 5%, affiliate revenue dropped 17%, and subscriber acquisition was below expectations in the first half.
• Positive Sentiment: Management cited improving engagement and retention across streaming services despite price increases, strong digital advertising growth, and ratings gains across most linear networks, including a 21% prime-time increase at WE tv.
• Neutral Sentiment: AMC ended the quarter with approximately $464 million of cash, $1.3 billion of net debt, and 4.1x net leverage after paying down its remaining Term Loan A; management said leverage should peak in the second quarter and remains focused on debt reduction.

Presentation

[Operator]

Thank you for standing by, welcome to AMC Global Media's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Currently, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. To remove yourself from the queue, you may press star one one again. I would now like to hand the call over to Nicholas Seibert, SVP Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thank you. Good morning, welcome to the AMC Global Media second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining us this morning are Kristin Dolan, Chief Executive Officer, Kim Kelleher, President and Chief Commercial Officer, Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Hozefa Lokhandwala, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin with prepared remarks, then we'll open the call for questions. Today's call may include certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. Please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements made today. We will discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures on this call.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

The required definitions and reconciliations can be found in the press release we issued this morning, which is available on our website at amcglobalmedia.com. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Kristin.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Thanks, Nick, good morning, everyone. I'd like to start with some news that underscores the value of our owned IP and the importance of our studio business. This morning, we announced a global co-exclusive licensing agreement with Netflix for the streaming rights to the entire The Walking Dead universe, all seven series and 371 episodes. This agreement expands our relationship with one of our most important partners creates a global streaming home for this landmark franchise. It also allows us to bring the original The Walking Dead series to AMC+ for the first time. This new agreement highlights the strength of our studio model and ability of our owned IP to create long-term value for both AMC Global Media and our partners. Dark Winds is another example of how our content continues to find new audiences and generate value across platforms.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Season four launched on Netflix earlier this month as part of our branded AMC collection. As we've seen with prior seasons, it immediately reached their U.S. top 10 list. In the U.S. and around the world, our content is the foundation of partnerships with a broad range of industry leaders, including Sky, Deutsche Telekom, BBC, Canal+, HBO Max, ITV, Netflix, Amazon, and so many others. As we noted on our last call, we expected the second quarter to be the low point for AOI, with stronger performance in the back half of the year. Results were in line with these expectations. At the same time, we're pleased to share today that we are raising our guidance for the full year, which Hozefa will discuss in more detail.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Our updated outlook layers in The Walking Dead licensing agreement. Subscriber acquisition came in slightly below our expectations in the first half of the year. Geopolitical events and high-profile sports programming captured outsized consumer attention. Our streaming business is built around bringing passionate fans the content they love. This strategy creates an engaged and loyal base of subscribers with deep connections to our brands. We take a long-range view of this business and the critical role our distribution partners play across all of our platforms, streaming, linear, and FAST. As streaming and linear continue to converge, an increasing number of viewers experience our services through hard-bundled arrangements. This combined distribution delivers additional value to the customer, strengthens our affiliate relationships, and builds revenue partnerships focused on the future. Across Charter and Philo, AMC+ and ALLBLK have already generated 2.3 million activations.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

DirecTV recently launched AMC+ as a hard-bundle offering in their entertainment genre package, which will further contribute to the growth of this category. We recently renewed with major distributors Comcast and YouTube. Our new long-term agreement with YouTube includes the distribution of our seven streaming services, five linear networks, many of our FAST channels, as well as the future launch of our networks in YouTube TV's genre packages. Our recent affiliate activity demonstrates the value distributors see in our portfolio and the impact of our long-range view. Over the last 12 months, we have renewed with four of the five major domestic MVPDs, including Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, and YouTube. Our upfront discussions are progressing well with strong client engagement and constructive conversations across categories. Excluding the impact of an isolated technical issue in the second quarter, domestic advertising revenue decreased in the mid-single digits.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

We remain encouraged by the notable improvements in advertising revenue trends and strong growth in digital in the first half of the year. Our linear brands continue to resonate with viewers. Franchised reality hits like Love After Lockup and the new series This Is Polly are delivering strong viewership and reinforcing the power of our original programming. The majority of our linear networks have seen ratings growth in prime time from the previous quarter, led by gains of 21% at WE tv. On AMC, TNA Wrestling's Thursday Night Impact just hit an all-time ratings high earlier this month and is bringing new and live viewers to the network. Acorn TV was one of the earliest streamers built around a specific genre, in this case, international crime dramas and mysteries.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Last year, we launched an effort to re-energize Acorn with a slate of new shows and iconic talent, and the results have exceeded our expectations. We just renewed the breakout hit, "Art Detectives" for a second season. "Inspector Ellis," starring Sharon D. Clarke, has returned with big viewership gains over Season one. In addition to the strong performance at Acorn, our other services continue to super-serve their distinct audiences. In the second quarter, we saw a sequential improvement in retention and a double-digit increase in engagement across our portfolio of streaming services, even as we implemented price increases. Now for a few additional programming highlights. We are coming off another successful San Diego Comic-Con, where the strength of our franchises was on full display.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

We announced the fourth season renewal of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire after the vampire Lestat delivered higher AMC+ viewership versus the prior season and strong fan and critical response. We also celebrated the Season three launch of The Walking Dead: Dead City with a standing-room-only Hall H panel and screening that demonstrated the strong ongoing fan engagement and cultural impact of the series. Next month, we start production on Thunder Road, the multigenerational racing drama starring Dennis Quaid that we are making in partnership with NASCAR. This series, which has already generated strong advertiser interest, will be produced at our studio facility in Senoia, Georgia, the longtime home of The Walking Dead franchise. In addition to creating programming for our own platforms, our studio team is actively developing projects with a range of leading distributors. Producing for others is a natural offshoot of our internal development process.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

You may recall that we developed and produced the breakout Apple TV+ hit, Silo. The strength of our studio operation is rooted in production expertise, enduring creative relationships, and a long track record of creating stories that resonate with audiences. We look forward to sharing more details on these projects as they progress. Since joining the company in June, our new CFO, Hozefa Lokhandwala, has hit the ground running. He is a great addition to our leadership team and brings deep experience across media, strategy, and finance. Before I hand the call over to Hozefa, I want to take a brief moment to thank all of our partners for recognizing the value and impact of our world-class content. I would also like to thank our team for their continued execution as we expand the audiences for our content and create additional value for our company. Hozefa, over to you.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Thank you, Kristin. As the media landscape continues to evolve, AMC Global Media stands out as a differentiated player with the assets and capabilities to succeed in this dynamic time. Having spent the past month and a half digging in, I am particularly impressed by the company's world-class studio, impactful portfolio of owned IP and franchises, the distinct valuable brands that drive monetization across multiple channels, including streaming, linear, FAST, AVOD, as well as our strong licensing business, which partners with third-party distributors that value our content. It is an exciting time to have joined the team and I am happy to be on the call today.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

As Kristin mentioned, we recently entered into a new content licensing agreement with Netflix for the co-exclusive global streaming rights to "The Walking Dead" universe, a powerful indication of the lasting global demand for this IP and a testament to our ability to build out valuable franchises. At the conclusion of the license period, the rights to this highly sought-after franchise revert back to us. With a license period of five years and total contracted license fees of $500 million, this agreement provides us visibility over a multiyear time horizon. License fees are payable by Netflix over the license period in quarterly cash installments on a title-by-title basis, with payments beginning at the start date for each individual title. In 2026, we expect to receive cash payments of approximately $25 million.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Looking further out, we anticipate annual cash payments of approximately $100 million in 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030, with the remainder due in 2031. As a result of the five-year payment schedule, we will recognize revenue based on the present value of the future payments and expect to recognize total revenue of approximately $445 million over the life of the agreement. We expect that approximately $200 million-$225 million of that revenue will be recognized in 2026 and in 2027. I'll have more to share regarding the financial implications of this agreement and how it benefits our full-year outlook later in my remarks. Moving on to our second quarter consolidated results. Net revenue declined 9% year-over-year to $547 million.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Consolidated AOI of $46 million represents the low point for this year, and as Kristin mentioned, was consistent with the expectations we laid out on our first quarter call. AOI reflected the timing of licensing revenue and increased marketing and investments related to the series premieres. These timing dynamics are now in the rearview mirror, and we anticipate AOI growth for the second half of the year. Free cash flow was $43 million for the quarter. With $108 million of free cash generated in the first six months of the year, we are on track to achieve our increased free cash flow guidance of approximately $220 million this year. Moving to our segment results. Domestic operations revenue decreased 11% to $470 million in the second quarter.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Overall, subscription revenue decreased by 5%, which reflects streaming revenue growth of 6% that partly offset declines in affiliate of 17%, which were in line with our expectations for the quarter. We anticipate that our affiliate revenue rate of decline will improve in the second half of the year as new agreements and contractual changes take effect. Streaming revenue growth in the second quarter was primarily driven by price increases across our services. Domestic operations advertising revenue included the one-time impact of a now-resolved system integration issue in the second quarter. Excluding this one-time impact, advertising revenue declined by mid-single-digit % due to lower ratings and marketplace pricing, partially offset by continued digital advertising growth. Second quarter content licensing revenue was $56 million and reflected the timing and availability of deliveries in the period.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

We see continued strong demand for our content as evidenced by the recent activity we've already covered in great detail. Regarding adjusted operating income for the quarter, domestic operations AOI was $61 million and reflected revenue performance and the timing of marketing investments, primarily related to the timing of series premieres. Moving to international. International revenue increased by 4% to $79 million for the second quarter. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency translation, international revenue increased approximately 2%. International subscription revenue, excluding FX, decreased 3%, reflecting the impact of the previously disclosed wind down of a joint venture that operated primarily in Poland and Africa. Second quarter international advertising revenue, excluding FX, increased 11%, primarily related to revenue from the outperformance of advertising in the fourth quarter of 2025. International AOI for the second quarter was $14 million with an 18% margin. Turning to the balance sheet.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

In the second quarter, we paid down our remaining Term Loan A and terminated our credit facility. We ended the quarter with approximately $464 million of cash. We've meaningfully improved our debt maturity profile, now with three-quarters of our total debt not due until July of 2032. At quarter end, we had net debt of approximately $1.3 billion and a consolidated net leverage ratio of 4.1x. As a result of the timing and cadence of AOI and cash generation throughout the year, our second quarter net leverage ratio represents the high point for the year. Regarding capital allocation, our philosophy has not changed. First, we look to fuel the business by creating and acquiring compelling programming that resonates with our audiences while maintaining healthy levels of free cash flow generation. Second, we remain focused on reducing gross debt and managing our maturity profile.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Lastly, M&A and share purchases will be opportunistic and measured. Moving to our updated outlook for 2026. First, regarding revenue, we now anticipate full-year consolidated revenue in the range of $2.4 billion-$2.45 billion. Our updated revenue outlook reflects the inclusion of approximately $200 million-$225 million of content licensing revenue related to "The Walking Dead" license agreement. This implies that the full-year domestic operations content licensing revenue will be in the range of $460 million-$485 million. Additionally, our updated revenue expectations reflect the effect of slower than anticipated subscriber acquisition that we experienced in the first half. As such, we now anticipate that domestic operations subscription revenue will decrease modestly by approximately 3% for the full year as compared to our 2025 results.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Moving to adjusted operating income, we are increasing our full-year AOI outlook to reflect our increased revenue expectations, partly offset by additional programming expenses related to "The Walking Dead" license agreement, and now anticipate AOI in the range of $410 million-$420 million for the full year. Regarding free cash flow, it is important to note that the content licensing revenue is recognized upon the delivery of a series, and the timing of cash payments is based upon a negotiated payment schedule. This causes a timing mismatch between when revenue is recognized and when cash is received. From an outside perspective, these dynamics can make licensing revenue appear volatile from quarter-to-quarter or year-to-year. Generally, IP licensing delivers a contracted stream of defined cash payments with high cash margins, providing us clarity and confidence into the longer-term cash generation potential of the business.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

We are increasing our free cash flow guidance to reflect anticipated in-year cash payments associated with the licensing agreement we announced today. As such, we now expect free cash flow of approximately $220 million for the full year. In closing, our content remains at the center of everything we do and remain committed to the engaging audiences across our multifaceted distribution ecosystem with comparable volumes of high-quality content every year. We'll continue building out our library of powerful franchises while maintaining our focus on cash flow generation and the balance sheet. With that, I'll now hand the call back to Nick.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thanks, Hozefa. Operator, please open the lines for the Q&A session.

[Operator]

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. To remove yourself from the queue, you may press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Sean Diffley of Morgan Stanley. Your line is open, Sean.

[Sean Diffley, Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

Great. Thanks so much team, and congrats on the Netflix deal for "The Walking Dead." I was hoping you could take us behind the scenes on the competitive bidding process. How many bidders were there? What drove your decision to go with Netflix? Then

[Sean Diffley, Analyst at Morgan Stanley]

If you could, obviously, they're the incumbent and they know the property well, just how many other parties were interested, and why you chose to stay with them. Then just on the core adjustment to the full year, I think you mentioned geopolitical uncertainty, sports, I'd imagine some World Cup impact, just to mention some of the other drivers that are headwinds for the full-year guide. Thanks very much.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Great. Hi, Sean, it's Kristin. On the bidding process, as we said last quarter, we had a lot of the major players involved. There was a variety of things to consider. We always knew we wanted to do a co-exclusive deal, the opportunity to license everything to everybody to one group globally versus piecemeal, there were a lot of different factors that impacted the decision. I agree with you that Netflix has been an incredible partner for us and for this franchise. At the end of the day, it was just the right choice for us to make. Then on the core adjustment, I think there's a variety of things going on. Your World Cup statement is something we've talked about a lot over this quarter, the impact across the world of the World Cup on a variety of businesses, including ours.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

We're seeing some green shoots, and we're excited about the increase in the streaming over the course of the year. We were actually really positively impacted in a bunch of ways by our linear performance. I'll let some of the others weigh in on that question. We're more focused now on the back half of the year, and as we said, we anticipate much better performance coming out of what we knew was going to be a lumpy quarter. Good?

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Yep. Next question please, operator.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from the line of David Karnovsky of J.P. Morgan. Your line is open, David.

[Doug Wardlaw, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Hi, Doug Wardlaw on for David. I guess further kind of hammering into The Walking Dead deal, can you just give a little bit more perspective on why this was the right structure, how long you've been thinking about co-exclusive rights? Given that it is co-exclusive, what impact do you expect to AMC+ engagement from having the full content universe there?

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Yeah. I will say on the AMC+ side, Kim really led the negotiation, so I'll let her speak a little bit to your prior question. The overall engagement that we're seeing on our streaming services is really giving us a lot of optimism here for the value of streaming and the way that we present it. For AMC+ in particular, that is a destination for our core fan base. The co-exclusivity regarding Netflix, I think, we feel really positive that it is going to increase and build on the increasing engagement that we're already seeing for AMC+ and our other services. People do associate this IP very specifically with AMC, so I think it can cohabitate quite nicely on AMC+ and on Netflix and do really good work for both streaming services, which is why we're so enthusiastic about this deal.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Anything you want to add, Kim?

[Kim Kelleher, President and Chief Commercial Officer at AMC Global Media]

Yeah, sure. Doug, as we've mentioned on past quarterly calls, we've worked for years to align the rights around this valuable franchise ahead of this deal with the goal of generating the best economic outcome possible with the right partner, which we think we've accomplished with Netflix. I think that took a lot of work over the years to align all of our international rights, et cetera, so we're excited at the outcome of that. To what Kristin said, I think that this co-exclusive arrangement allows us to bring the original The Walking Dead series back to AMC+ for the first time. We're really excited about that. Our fans are really excited about that, and I think we will see the results as it reverts to the platform in January.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thanks. Let's go to the next question, operator. Oh, sorry. You got a follow-up. Go ahead, Doug.

[Doug Wardlaw, Analyst at J.P. Morgan]

Yeah. Sorry, no problem. Just, I guess a little bit separately, you recently leaned into live sports and sports adjacent content between wrestling and some sports docuseries. I'm curious on how engagement has looked for those properties and as sports rights and shoulder programming associated with them continue to drive programming industry-wide. How much further do you anticipate the company pushing into this space?

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

That's a great question. The live sports program, we've been really pleasantly surprised. I keep saying that on this call, but there's been a lot of good things coming out of the quarter with the performance of TNA. We talked a lot before we launched that content, does it fit into our strategy for AMC. Wrestling, it really is story-driven, character-driven content, which is why we thought it would align nicely with what AMC, the linear channel represents. What the other benefit of having wrestling on is it does tie quite nicely to the audiences for some of our other content. Skewing younger, male, but a lot of women also watch wrestling. The wrestling thing has been great for us.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

I'll let Dan speak to the further ideas that he has. I will say, as we commented last year, "Rise of the 49ers" was another big bright spot for us in the programming category. We have another sort of episode in that docuseries, called "The Rise of the Saints," which speaks to what happened in New Orleans post-Katrina, with the New Orleans Saints. Dan, anything else on sports?

[Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios at AMC Global Media]

Nope, just same thing. As we see live sports continue to engage the audience, we can be a real provider of sports adjacent content that can service that audience, which has demonstrated a real affinity for all this kind of content. We're very much in this business, not only with our "Rise" franchise, but our "Cursed" franchise that we announced about six weeks ago, and other sports adjacent content that we have in the works.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

It is worth noting, Doug, that in our Central and Northern Europe group, where we have about 250 employees in Budapest, we actually operate the number one and number two sports channels in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and the former Czech Republic. We do a significant amount of live sports programming internationally. In the U.S., I think our focus continues to be scripted dramas and intriguing unscripted with supplemental, as you said, shoulder programming that still sticks to our regular genre. Like you won't see us going out and trying to license games or anything like that. That's not where we're going. As great storytellers in the U.S. and in some of our other territories, it's been beneficial for us to tell stories about some of these characters and teams as well.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thanks, Doug. Let's go to the next question, operator.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo. Your line is open, Steven.

[Steven Cahall, Analyst at Wells Fargo]

Thank you. Good morning. I joined the call late, so I apologize if some of this has already been answered. I was just wondering if you could talk through the sort of ratable recognition I think you're going to have for The Walking Dead. If I understand it correctly, you'll have a couple hundred million in 2026 and 2027 as revenue. How should we think about the AOI contribution in those years, and also the AOI contribution after those years, given the cash profile that you laid out? With the guidance that you're changing for 2026, I'm just wondering what the underlying ex-The Walking Dead changes to guidance versus how much of it is from the new transaction. Thank you.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

Sure. Thank you. Thanks, Steven. On the revenue recognition, it's not out of the ordinary. It's standard procedure. We're going to recognize $200 million-$225 million of the revenue in year 2026 and also in 2027. That is driven by ASC 606 revenue recognition rules, which require revenue to be recorded at the present value of the future payments. It's going to be approximately $445 million for the life of the agreement. AOI will be high margin, as you would suspect in a content licensing deal, just like all of our content licensing deals. We won't speak to the specific margins with resolve with regards to this specific contract, but it's a content licensing construct. Free cash flow will come in at $25 million in year 2026, $100 million in years 2027 through 2030, with the remainder in 2031.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

That follows the contractual provisions.

[Steven Cahall, Analyst at Wells Fargo]

Just on the guidance?

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

On the guidance, look, we're keeping to the guidance on advertising revenue. I think we talked about $200 million-$225 million of new licensing revenue coming in, which implies domestic content licensing of $460 million-$485 million for the year. Domestic subscription revenue for the year will come in at about a 3% decline year-over-year. That reflects the offset.

[Steven Cahall, Analyst at Wells Fargo]

Got it. Thank you.

[Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media]

You're welcome.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thank you.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thanks, Steve. Operator, we'll go to the next question.

[Operator]

Yes, sir. Once again, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone. Again, that's star one one to ask a question. Our next question comes from the line of Michael Morris of Guggenheim Securities. Please go ahead, Michael.

[Michael Morris, Analyst at Guggenheim Securities]

Thank you. Good morning. Wanted to ask first about your comment that the rate of affiliate declines can improve in the back half of the year with the new agreements. Would love to hear some more detail on those new agreements. I know they've been sort of evolving in shape and components, as you've pointed out. Would love to hear a little bit more about how that can lead to an improved rate of decline. That would be helpful. Bigger picture, there are several very large transactions in the media market that have been announced or contemplated, whether it's Fox acquiring Roku, whether it's what Comcast has announced with their split. I'd love to hear your view of the broader landscape and how these changes may or may not impact your business. Thank you.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Okay. I'll give you a high level on the affiliate. We're starting to see improving video sub trends in cable, although it's still earlier. Obviously a healthier distribution ecosystem will benefit everybody. We were happy for Charter to see that they were only down 21,000 on the video subs in their earnings call. The TV Select Plus, the hard bundle that we're part of, is now I think over $125 in streaming value for subscribers. As we mentioned, we're seeing significant engagement and authentication for people who have the opportunity to engage with AMC+ in some of these hard bundles. Overall, like I said, we saw a 21% improvement on WE tv audiences for the quarter, and we think things are starting to settle in.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

Obviously we announced our YouTube TV renewal, which Kim can add a little color to on the distribution side, then we'll come back to your second question.

[Kim Kelleher, President and Chief Commercial Officer at AMC Global Media]

Sure. As Kristin mentioned, we renewed our carriage agreement with YouTube during the quarter. It was a smooth and very constructive renewal, completed without any disruption for our viewers. I think this is notable at a time where recent renewals across the industry have involved a lot of public dispute and blackouts. We think it says something about the value of our programming strength and of our affiliate relationships and the impact of really our partner-focused approach to distribution. I'm excited that we've renewed distribution agreements with four of the top five major domestic MVPDs in the last 12 months, including Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, and YouTube, and feel very strongly about the lengths and economics we achieved in those renewals.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

As far as consolidation, it can be a tailwind for us because there's fewer larger platforms, and they all need high-quality content to differentiate, right? We're one of the few independent suppliers of premium programming and owned IP. The Walking Dead deal is evidence of this. We also, I think, we've said for the last three and a half years, our goal is to continue to make great IP, to meet audiences wherever they are in our distribution strategies, whether it's streaming, AVOD, SVOD, FAST. I think we're well-positioned. We're watching closely with what goes on throughout the marketplace, and as a public company, we'll always answer the phone when it rings. We're just sort of in a watch-and-see moment. We're not changing our strategy that we have been talking about for the last three and a half years.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

We're just going to keep going. I think we have a small but mighty, mixing metaphors, a little engine that could here, we're just going to keep going, we're optimistic about our opportunities going forward.

[Michael Morris, Analyst at Guggenheim Securities]

Thank you both.

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thanks, Mike. Operator, we can go to the next question.

[Operator]

Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Douglas Creutz of TD Cowen. Your line is open, Douglas.

[Douglas Creutz, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Hey, thank you. Just wondering how the $100 million in annual cash licensing payments you'll be getting for "The Walking Dead" rights over the next 5 years compares to, let's say, the average annual licensing payment you got for the franchise over the last five years. Thanks.

[Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media]

You can't really compare them, Doug, because, as Kim said, things were licensed in different countries to different people in all different tenures. It was really hard even going into this process for us to think through what would be a really good deal and a great deal, right? It's not really a one-to-one, but again, we're thrilled that we were able to take the time to bring all the rights back, to be able to position them in the marketplace as a global offering across every single piece of the library, the 371 episodes that we have. It's nearly impossible to answer the question the way you framed it. Sorry.

[Douglas Creutz, Analyst at TD Cowen]

Okay. Thank you.

[Operator]

I would now like to turn the conference back to Nicholas Seibert for closing remarks. Sir?

[Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media]

Thank you all for joining us today. We appreciate your interest in AMC Global Media. Have a nice day.

[Operator]

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Analysts

• Nicholas Seibert, SVP of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at AMC Global Media
• Kristin Dolan, CEO at AMC Global Media
• Hozefa Lokhandwala, CFO at AMC Global Media
• Sean Diffley, Analyst at Morgan Stanley
• Doug Wardlaw, Analyst at J.P. Morgan
• Kim Kelleher, President and Chief Commercial Officer at AMC Global Media
• Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios at AMC Global Media
• Steven Cahall, Analyst at Wells Fargo
• Michael Morris, Analyst at Guggenheim Securities
• Douglas Creutz, Analyst at TD Cowen