“It's worth noting, however, that the absence of the Big 10 is expected to drive overall operating income favorability in Q4 versus the prior year.”

In context

“sus the prior year were due to lower TV/SVOD and theatrical results. For Q4, we expect this business to generate operating losses up to $100 million worse than last year's fourth quarter. And at Linear Networks, operating income declined versus the prior year by $580 million driven by declines at both domestic and international channels. The decrease at domestic channels was driven by lower advertising and affiliate revenue and by higher programming and production costs driven by the NBA and the new Formula One agreement. While domestic linear advertising revenue declined year-over-year, ESPN ad revenue increased by 4%, demonstrating the relative strength of sports. Quarter-to-date, ESPN domestic linear cash ad sales are pacing down, reflecting in part the absence of the Big 10 this year. It's worth noting, however, that the absence of the Big 10 is expected to drive overall operating income favorability in Q4 versus the prior year. The fourth quarter will also hold one additional Monday night football game versus the prior year. Linear advertising continues to see impacts from market softness. While sports is healthy, entertainment continues to face headwinds. Note that we expect D2C advertising year-over-year growth to partially offset linear declines in the fourth quarter. And we wrap this year's upfront with overall volume roughly in line with the prior year. Growth in addressable revenue increased, representing over 40% of the total upfront volume, and sports pricing is up single digits across the board. Domestic Linear Networks affiliate revenue decreased by 2% from the prior year due to a 6-point decline from fewer subscribers, partially offset by 4 points of growth from contractual rate increases. Internation”