Basis of Presentation |
12 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2016 | |
| Basis of Presentation [Abstract] | |
| Basis of presentation |
Basis of Presentation
QVC, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries ("QVC" or the "Company") is a retailer of a wide range of consumer products, which are marketed and sold primarily by merchandise-focused televised shopping programs, the Internet and mobile applications.
In the United States ("U.S."), QVC's live programming is distributed via its nationally televised shopping program 24 hours per day, 364 days per year ("QVC-U.S."). Internationally, QVC's program services are based in Germany, the United Kingdom ("U.K."), Italy, Japan and France.
In Germany, QVC distributes its program 24 hours per day with 17 hours of live programming. In Japan, QVC distributes live programming 24 hours per day. In the U.K., QVC distributes its program 24 hours per day with 16 hours of live programming. In Italy, QVC distributes programming live for 17 hours per day on satellite and digital terrestrial television and an additional seven hours per day of recorded programming on satellite and seven hours per day of general interest programming on digital terrestrial television. On weekdays, QVC distributes shopping programming in France live for eight hours per day, and distributes an additional 14 hours per day of recorded programming and two hours per day of general interest programming. On weekends, QVC distributes shopping programming in France live for 12 hours per day, and distributes an additional 10 hours per day of recorded programming and two hours per day of general interest programming.
The Company's Japanese operations ("QVC-Japan") are conducted through a joint venture with Mitsui & Co., LTD ("Mitsui") for a television and multimedia retailing service in Japan. QVC-Japan is owned 60% by the Company and 40% by Mitsui. The Company and Mitsui share in all profits and losses based on their respective ownership interests. During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, QVC-Japan paid dividends to Mitsui of $39 million, $36 million and $42 million, respectively.
The Company also has a joint venture with CNR Media Group, formerly known as China Broadcasting Corporation, a limited liability company owned by China National Radio (''CNR''). The Company owns a 49% interest in a CNR subsidiary, CNR Home Shopping Co., Ltd. (''CNRS''). CNRS operates a retail business in China through a shopping television channel with an associated website. Live programming is distributed for 15 hours per day and recorded programming for nine hours per day. This joint venture is accounted for as an equity method investment recorded as equity in losses of investee in the consolidated statements of operations.
The Company is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Interactive Corporation ("Liberty"), which owns interests in a broad range of digital commerce businesses. On October 3, 2014, the Company declared and paid a dividend in cash to Liberty in the amount of $1 billion with funds drawn from the Company's credit facility. Additionally, Liberty reattributed from the Interactive Group to the Ventures Group $970 million in cash and certain of its digital commerce companies, including Backcountry.com, Inc., Bodybuilding.com, LLC, CommerceHub, Inc. ("CommerceHub"), Provide Commerce, Inc. and Evite, Inc. As a result of these transactions, the Interactive Group is now referred to as the QVC Group, which tracks the economic performance, assets and liabilities of the Company, zulily (defined below) (as of October 1, 2015) and Liberty's 38% equity interest in HSN, Inc., one of the Company's two closest televised shopping competitors, along with cash and certain liabilities. The Liberty Interactive tracking stock trading symbol "LINTA" was changed to "QVCA" and the "LINTB" tracking stock trading symbol was changed to "QVCB," effective October 7, 2014. Effective June 4, 2015, the name of the “Liberty Interactive common stock” was changed to the “QVC Group common stock.” The QVC Group does not represent a separate legal entity; rather, it represents those businesses, assets and liabilities that are attributed to that group.
On October 1, 2015, Liberty acquired all of the outstanding shares of zulily, inc. ("zulily") (now known as zulily, llc) and QVC declared and paid a dividend to Liberty in the amount of $910 million with funds drawn from the Company’s credit facility to support Liberty’s purchase. zulily is an online retailer offering customers a fun and entertaining shopping experience with a fresh selection of new product styles launched each day for a limited time period. zulily is attributed to the QVC Group and the Company believes that its business is complementary to the Company. zulily is not part of the results of operations or financial position of QVC presented in these consolidated financial statements.
Additionally, on June 23, 2016, QVC amended and restated its senior secured credit facility (the "Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement") increasing the revolving credit facility from $2.25 billion to $2.65 billion as explained further in note 8.
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of QVC, Inc. and its majority-owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions were eliminated in consolidation.
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