“And as we gear up for the May 2025 opening, we expect to incur pre-opening costs of about $150 million in total over the fourth quarter this year and the first quarter next year.”

In context

“4% in the quarter compared to last year's all-time record high. The majority of the decline was driven by lower attendance at our domestic parks when compared to last year. As we've highlighted, our view is there was both a pull-forward of demand that we clearly saw in 2022 and 2023, which were record years for the theme parks and beyond our expectations, as well as the new attraction pipeline, which is light this year, but building towards a substantial pipeline next year. We think these factors will likely be in place until the second quarter of next year, which is both when we start to lap the pressure we saw this year and the launch of Epic Universe. Looking ahead, we couldn't be more excited about Epic Universe and how it will transform Universal Orlando into a week-long destination. And as we gear up for the May 2025 opening, we expect to incur pre-opening costs of about $150 million in total over the fourth quarter this year and the first quarter next year. We remain bullish about the long-term trajectory of parks. In addition to Epic Universe, we have a fantastic slate of new attractions and experiences on the horizon. Donkey Kong Country in Osaka and a Fast and Furious roller coaster in Hollywood, as well as Universal Horror Unleashed in Vegas and our Universal Kids Resort coming to Texas. Now, let's turn to Media, where revenue increased 37% to $8.2 billion, including the strong results from the Paris Olympics, which generated $1.9 billion in revenue, a record level for any Olympics. Strength in the Olympics was mainly driven by a record $1.4 billion in advertising revenue, with Peacock contributing over $300 million of that. Excluding the Olympics, total advertising revenue was flat year-over-year as the overall market remained stable, w”