UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K (Mark One) ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 OR ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Registrant; State of Incorporation; Address and IRS Employer Identification Commission File Number Telephone Number No. 001-38126 38-3980194 Altice USA, Inc. Delaware 1 Court Square West Long Island City, New York 11101 (516) 803-2300 Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act Yes ☐ No ☒ Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer", "accelerated filer", "smaller reporting company", and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one) Large Accelerated Filer ☒ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Emerging growth company ☐ If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒ Aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of Altice USA, Inc. computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold on the New York Stock Exchange as of June 30, 2019: $ 7,942,908,370 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered Class A Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share ATUS NYSE Number of shares of common stock outstanding as of February 6, 2020 627,953,994 Documents incorporated by reference - Altice USA, Inc. intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not later than 120 days after the close of its fiscal year, a definitive proxy statement or an amendment to this report filed under cover of Form 10-K/A containing the information required to be disclosed under Part III of Form 10-K. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Part I 1. Business 2 1A. Risk Factors 18 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 39 2. Properties 39 3. Legal Proceedings 40 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 40 Part II 5. Market for the Registrants' Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 40 6. Selected Financial Data 42 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 48 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 72 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 74 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 74 9A. Controls and Procedures 74 9B. Other Information 75 Part III 10. Directors and Executive Officers and Corporate Governance * 11. Executive Compensation * 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholders Matters * 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence * 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services * Part IV 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 76 * Some or all of these items are omitted because Altice USA, Inc. intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, not later than 120 days after the close of its fiscal year, a definitive proxy statement or an amendment to this report filed under cover of Form 10-K/A containing the information required to be disclosed under Part III of Form 10-K. 1 PART I Item 1. Business Altice USA, Inc. ("Altice USA" or the "Company") was incorporated in Delaware on September 14, 2015. Through June 8, 2018, the Company was majority- owned by Altice Europe N.V. ("Altice Europe"), a public company with limited liability ("naamloze vennootshcap") under Dutch law. On June 8, 2018, Altice Europe distributed substantially all of its equity interest in the Company through a distribution in kind to holders of Altice Europe's common shares A and common shares B (the “Distribution”). The Company is now controlled by Patrick Drahi through Next Alt. S.a.r.l. ("Next Alt"). Altice USA is a holding company that does not conduct any business operations of its own. Altice Europe, through a subsidiary, acquired Cequel Corporation ("Cequel" or "Suddenlink") on December 21, 2015 (the "Cequel Acquisition") and Cequel was contributed to Altice USA on June 9, 2016. Altice USA acquired Cablevision Systems Corporation ("Cablevision" or "Optimum") on June 21, 2016 (the "Cablevision Acquisition"). The Company principally provides broadband communications and video services in the United States and markets its services primarily under two brands: Optimum, in the New York metropolitan area, and Suddenlink, principally in markets in the south-central United States. We deliver broadband, video, and telephony services to approximately 4.9 million residential and business customers. Our footprint extends across 21 states through a fiber-rich hybrid-fiber coaxial ("HFC") broadband network with more than 8.8 million homes passed as of December 31, 2019. Additionally, we offer news programming and content, and advertising services. In September 2019, the Company launched Altice Mobile, a full service mobile offering, to consumers across its footprint. We are building a fiber-to-the-home ("FTTH") network, which will enable us to deliver more than 10 Gbps broadband speeds to meet the growing data needs of residential and business customers. Concurrent to our FTTH network deployment, we also continue to upgrade our existing HFC network through the deployment of digital and data over cable service interface specification ("DOCSIS") 3.0 technology in order to roll out enhanced broadband services to customers. 1 Gbps broadband services are available in many areas of our footprint and will continue to expand across our service areas throughout 2020. Altice USA’s broadband service provides a connectivity experience to support the most data-intensive activities, including streaming 4K ultra-high-definition ("UHD") and high-definition ("HD") video on multiple devices, online multi-player video game streaming platforms, video chatting, streaming music, high-quality virtual-and augmented reality experiences, and downloading large files. During the fourth quarter of 2017, we introduced an entertainment and connectivity hub, Altice One, and we continue to expand the availability of this device across our footprint, as well as its functionality. Altice One is an innovative, integrated platform with a dynamic and sophisticated user interface, combining a set- top box, Internet wireless router and cable modem in one device, and it is our most advanced home communications hub. Altice One is available to customers across over 80% of our entire footprint. We had approximately 540 thousand Altice One customers as of December 31, 2019. The following table presents certain financial data and metrics for Altice USA: Years ended December 31, 2019 2018 2017 (in thousands, except percentage data) Customer Relationships (a) 4,931.5 4,914.7 4,898.5 % growth 0.3 % 0.3 % Revenue $ 9,760,859 $ 9,566,608 $ 9,306,950 Adjusted EBITDA (b) $ 4,265,471 $ 4,163,078 $ 3,981,410 % of Revenue 43.7 % 43.5 % 42.8 % Net income attributable to stockholders (c) $ 138,936 $ 18,833 $ 1,493,177 (a) Customer metrics do not include Altice Mobile customers. Customer metrics for 2018 and 2017 have been adjusted to conform definitions between Suddenlink and Optimum in connection with the migration of Suddenlink customers to the Optimum billing system in 2019. Refer to "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for further details. (b) For additional information regarding Adjusted EBITDA, including a reconciliation of Net Income to Adjusted EBITDA, please refer to "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." 2 (c) Pursuant to the enactment of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act ("Tax Reform") on December 22, 2017, the Company recorded a non-cash deferred tax benefit of approximately $2.3 billion in 2017 to remeasure the net deferred tax liability to adjust for the reduction in the corporate federal income tax rate from 35% to 21% which was effective on January 1, 2018. In 2018, the Company recorded a non-cash deferred tax benefit of $52.9 million based on a remeasurement of the Company's net deferred tax liability. See Note 14 to the consolidated financial statements for further details. Our Products and Services We provide broadband, video and telephony services to both residential and business customers. We also provide enterprise-grade fiber connectivity, bandwidth and managed services to enterprise customers through our Lightpath business (also marketed as Altice Business) and we provide advertising time and services to advertisers.