Kristin Dolan
Analyst · Morgan Stanley
Thanks, Nick. Good morning, everyone. It was 18 months ago on this call that we first talked about programming, partnerships and profitability as our three major areas of focus in running this business. Since then, I've been proud of our performance overall and particularly in these three categories, especially in a time of uncertainty and change. Every media company today is trying to find its own path forward in a world that is increasingly complex. Our path is focused on the clear advantages we have in this moment and in the future. We make great shows, we're nimble and independent with the freedom to experiment and evolve and our strong, distinct brands are home to some of the most passionate fandoms in entertainment. Our continued focus on profitability is driven by the strategic and disciplined steps we've taken to reimagine this company while prioritizing the generation of free cash flow. As a reminder, last quarter, we revised our two year cumulative free cash flow guidance upward to $550 million over the '24-'25 period. I'm pleased to report that we're off to a strong start this year generating $94 million in free cash flow in the quarter. In terms of distribution, we believe our strategic advantages in this or any environment are that we are fast moving, opportunistic and able to deliver products that create value for our company as well as for our partners. For example, we developed an ad supported version of AMC+ in part to give our partners additional flexibility in how their customers connect to our high quality programming. That product is now part of our long term affiliation agreement with Charter, serving both their desire to bundle streaming value into their existing video service and our own goal of expanding access to our shows and films. We're already seeing an excellent response to AMC+ from Charter subscribers as we did when we launched an integrated version of AMC+ on Philo last year. We continue to meet advertiser demand for our programming and brands while also making our services available to the broadest possible audience. As previously announced, later this year, we will be launching an ad supported version of Shudder, the world's best service for horror fans. We're also launching a new fast channel Acorn TV mysteries to drive interest and awareness in this beloved streaming service focused on thrilling mysteries and crime dramas from around the world. This FAST channel will raise the visibility of the Acorn streaming service, promote sampling of our content and for the first time, give advertisers early access to Acorn's loyal and highly engaged audience. We've made significant progress in partnership with Comcast Technology Solutions to standardize and modernize the back end support for our content distribution. This important and ongoing work will support our goal of meeting viewers wherever they are, while accelerating our time to market, enhancing cost predictability and ensuring we are supported by the most advanced, efficient technologies available. On the topic of partnerships, I do want to mention our recent upfront content showcase in New York. This year, we expanded the event to include our most important partners across advertising, distribution and technology, giving them exposure to the great slate of content we will be releasing in the coming months. It was a meaningful moment for the company and an approach we plan to continue in the years ahead. In our upfront conversations, we're seeing strong interest in the new AMCN Outcomes attribution product and have added new data sources that expand the categories of advertisers who can benefit from this technology. We've also announced several exciting new integrated marketing offers, including an innovative branding opportunity with Sphere as part of our annual FearFest programming event. I'll end with our high quality premium programming and the vibrant franchises that drive everything we do, particularly as a company with a studio able to create lasting value by developing, owning and distributing distinctive IP. This quarter, we saw the celebrated series Dark Winds return for a third season, once again earning high praise from critics and fans. The series delivered a premier night audience of approximately 2.2 million viewers with direct-to-consumer acquisition on AMC+ up significantly from the prior season. The show has the incredibly rare distinction of a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes for all three seasons. Dark Winds is currently in production on season four, and we see a very long life for this series that has become a franchise unto itself, led by star and executive producer, Zahn McClarnon, who is already generating Emmy buzz. Just last week, The Walking Dead: Dead City returned for its second season with an international promotional push that generated significant attention and delighted the active and engaged fans of this franchise. AMC+ saw its biggest single day of direct-to-consumer subscriber acquisition since last year's season two premiere of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Later this year, Norman Reedus and Melissa McBride will return for a third season of Daryl. Also along the way this year is an important expansion of our Anne Rice Immortal Universe. A third series will feature the Talamasca, a secretive organization that has been present in both Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches. Talamasca: The Secret Order, will serve as a bit of a through line connecting all three shows while being bold and distinctive in its own right. Interview and Mayfair are preparing third seasons that will take the storytelling in exciting new directions next year. We recently announced a new franchise in development called Great American Stories. Each season of this anthology series will be devoted to a different classic novel, play or moment in history that is distinctly American. We're planning a first season around The Grapes of Wrath, the John Steinbeck classic that is as timely and relevant today as when it was published in 1939. More to come on this exciting concept, which has already generated strong interest in the creative community. We're currently in production on a new series called The Audacity from talented writer Jonathan Glatzer that we'll bring to viewers next year. This series set in Silicon Valley has a stellar cast led by Billy Magnusson and including Sara Goldberg, Simon Helberg, Rob Corddry and the unique talent that is Zach Galifianakis. Our targeted streaming services, which are built to super serve fans of specific programming genres for a reasonable price remain a strong differentiator for us. Acorn TV, the home of thrilling crime dramas and engaging mysteries has new shows on the way from beloved stars Alicia Silverstone and Brooke Shields, along with an expanding slate of returning originals. Last week, we launched a new month long programming event on Acorn called Murder Mystery May. Similar to AMC's popular and long running FearFest, this event offers Acorn's loyal fans a packed month of new shows and continuing franchises like Harry Wylde, Murdoch Mysteries, The Brokenwood Mysteries and many more. Shudder continues to cement its reputation as the premier service for horror fans. Later this year, we'll debut a new competition reality show from Greg Nicotero called Guts & Glory, shot on the set of The Walking Dead: In The Woods of Georgia. I also want to call out We TV, which continues to serve up some of the most entertaining and conversation sparking franchises on television. The success of Love After Lockup helped to make We TV a top cable network with women on Friday nights and is enormously popular on streaming, in CTV and FAST, everywhere we have aired this real life prison and relationship drama. Mama June delivers viewers season after season and relative newcomer Toya and Rejonnais has also become a breakout hit, returning for its second season in the quarter and growing viewers in key demos from season one. Our film group, which is seeing significant success across theaters, EST and our own streaming platforms just rebranded under a new name IFC Entertainment Group. This banner includes the Independent Film Company, IFC Center, RLJE Films and Shudder. Our newest release Clown in a Cornfield is already generating significant buzz from horror fans and premiers tonight in theaters. This is just a snapshot of what we're doing in programming, furthering the vibrant franchises we are building and level of creative talent with whom we work. We're proud of our continued strong commitment to quality and of the kinds of shows and stories we're bringing to fans even during a time of change and transformation in our industry. I want to thank you all for your time this morning and for your continued interest in AMC Networks. Now I'll turn the call over to Patrick for a more detailed look at our financial results.