The following table summarizes our expected contractual cash commitments as of December 31, 2015:

Debt obligations.    Debt obligations include principal payments on outstanding debt and capital lease obligations.

Cash interest payments.    Cash interest payments include interest due on outstanding debt and capital lease payments through maturity.

Satellite and transmission.    We have entered into agreements with third parties to operate and maintain the off-site satellite telemetry, tracking and control facilities and certain components of our terrestrial repeater networks.

Programming and content.    We have entered into various programming agreements. Under the terms of these agreements, our obligations include fixed payments, advertising commitments and revenue sharing arrangements. Our future revenue sharing costs are dependent upon many factors and are difficult to estimate; therefore, they are not included in our minimum contractual cash commitments.

Marketing and distribution.    We have entered into various marketing, sponsorship and distribution agreements to promote our brand and are obligated to make payments to sponsors, retailers, automakers and radio manufacturers under these agreements. Certain programming and content agreements also require us to purchase advertising on properties owned or controlled by the licensors. We also reimburse automakers for certain engineering and development costs associated with the incorporation of satellite radios into new vehicles they manufacture. In addition, in the event certain new products are not shipped by a distributor to its customers within 90 days of the distributor’s receipt of goods, we have agreed to purchase and take title to the product.

Satellite incentive payments.    Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc., the manufacturer of certain of our in-orbit satellites, may be entitled to future in-orbit performance payments with respect to XM-3 and XM-4 meeting their fifteen-year design life.  Boeing may also be entitled to additional incentive payments up to $10,000 if our XM-4 satellite continues to operate above baseline specifications during the five years beyond the satellite’s fifteen-year design life.

Space Systems/Loral, the manufacturer of certain of our in-orbit satellites, may be entitled to future in-orbit performance payments with respect to XM-5, FM-5 and FM-6 meeting their fifteen-year design life.

Operating lease obligations.    We have entered into both cancelable and non-cancelable operating leases for office space, equipment and terrestrial repeaters. These leases provide for minimum lease payments, additional operating expense charges, leasehold improvements and rent escalations that have initial terms ranging from one to fifteen years, and certain leases have options to renew. The effect of the rent holidays and rent concessions are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, including reasonably assured renewal periods.  Total rent recognized in connection with leases for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $47,679, $45,107 and $39,228, respectively.

Other.    We have entered into various agreements with third parties for general operating purposes. In addition to the minimum contractual cash commitments described above, we have entered into agreements with other variable cost arrangements. These future costs are dependent upon many factors and are difficult to anticipate; however, these costs may be substantial. We may enter into additional programming, distribution, marketing and other agreements that contain similar variable cost provisions.  The cost of our stock acquired from a third-party financial institution but not paid for as of December 31, 2015 is also included in this category.

We do not have any other significant off-balance sheet financing arrangements that are reasonably likely to have a material effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, we are a defendant or party to various claims and lawsuits, including those discussed below.  These claims are at various stages of arbitration or adjudication.

We record a liability when we believe that it is both probable that a liability will be incurred, and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. We evaluate developments in legal matters that could affect the amount of liability that has been previously accrued and make adjustments as appropriate.  Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount of a loss or potential loss.  We may be unable to reasonably estimate the reasonably possible loss or range of loss for a particular legal contingency for various reasons, including, among others, because: (i) the damages sought are indeterminate; (ii) the proceedings are in the relative early stages; (iii)  there is uncertainty as to the outcome of pending proceedings (including motions and appeals); (iv) there is uncertainty as to the likelihood of settlement and the outcome of any negotiations with respect thereto; (v) there remain significant factual issues to be determined or resolved; (vi) the relevant law is unsettled; or (vii) the proceedings involve novel or untested legal theories.  In such instances, there may be considerable uncertainty regarding the ultimate resolution of such matters, including a possible eventual loss, if any.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act Suits.  We are a defendant in several purported class action suits that allege that we, or call center vendors acting on our behalf, made calls which violate provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the “TCPA”).  The plaintiffs in these actions allege, among other things, that we called mobile phones using an automatic telephone dialing system without the consumer’s prior consent or, alternatively, after the consumer revoked his or her prior consent.  In one of the actions, the plaintiff also alleges that we violated the TCPA’s call time restrictions and in one of the other actions the plaintiff also alleges that we violated the TCPA’s do not call restrictions.  Our vendors make millions of calls each month to consumers, including our subscribers, as part of our customer service and marketing efforts.  The plaintiffs in these suits are seeking various forms of relief, including statutory damages of five hundred dollars for each violation of the TCPA or, in the alternative, treble damages of up to fifteen hundred dollars for each knowing and willful violation of the TCPA, as well as payment of interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and certain injunctive relief prohibiting any violations of the TCPA in the future.  

These purported class action cases are titled Erik Knutson v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., No. 12-cv-0418-AJB-NLS (S.D. Cal.), Francis W. Hooker v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc., No. 4:13-cv-3 (E.D. Va.), Yefim Elikman v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc. and Career Horizons, Inc., No. 1:15-cv-02093 (N.D. Ill.), and Anthony Parker v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc., No. 8:15-cv-01710-JSM-EAJ (M.D. Fla).  These actions were commenced in February 2012, January 2013, April 2015 and July 2015, respectively.  Information concerning each of these actions is publicly available in court filings under their docket numbers.  

We have notified certain of our call center vendors of these actions and requested that they defend and indemnify us against these claims pursuant to the provisions of their existing or former agreements with us. We believe we have valid contractual claims against call center vendors in connection with these claims and intend to preserve and pursue our rights to recover from these entities; however, no assurance can be made as to our ability to fully recover all claims we may have against these entities.

Pre-1972 Sound Recording Matters.  In August 2013, SoundExchange, Inc. filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that we underpaid royalties for statutory licenses during the 2007-2012 period in violation of the regulations established by the Copyright Royalty Board for that period.  SoundExchange principally alleges that we improperly reduced our calculation of gross revenues, on which the royalty payments are based, by deducting non-recognized revenue attributable to pre-1972 recordings and Premier package revenue that is not “separately charged” as required by the regulations.  SoundExchange is seeking compensatory damages of not less than $50,000 and up to $100,000 or more, payment of late fees and interest, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

In August 2014, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted our motion to dismiss the complaint without prejudice on the grounds that the case properly should be pursued before the Copyright Royalty Board rather than the district court.  In December 2014, SoundExchange filed a petition with the Copyright Royalty Board requesting an order interpreting the applicable regulations.

This matter is titled SoundExchange, Inc. v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc., No.13-cv-1290-RJL (D.D.C.), and Determination of Rates and Terms for Preexisting Subscription Services and Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services, United States Copyright Royalty Board, No. 2006-1 CRB DSTRA.  Information concerning each of these actions is publicly available in filings under their docket numbers.

In addition, since 2013, we have been named as a defendant in several suits, including putative class action suits, challenging our use and public performance via satellite radio and the Internet of sound recordings fixed prior to February 15, 1972 (“pre-1972 recordings”) under various state laws.  In June 2015, we settled the suit brought by Capitol Records LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Inc., Warner Music Group Corp. and ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. relating to our use and public performance of pre-1972 recordings for $210,000 which amount was paid in July 2015. These settling record companies claim to own, control or otherwise have the right to settle with respect to approximately 85% of the pre-1972 recordings we have historically played.  We have also entered into certain direct licenses with other owners of pre-1972 recordings, which in many cases include releases of any claims associated with our use of pre-1972 recordings.  The portion of the June 2015 settlement covering the remaining future service periods is being amortized to Revenue share and royalties within our statements of comprehensive income through December 2017 and as of December 31, 2015, $39,808 was recorded to Prepaid expenses and other current assets and $43,442 was recorded to Other long-term assets within our consolidated balance sheets.

Several putative class actions suits challenging our use and public performance of other pre-1972 recordings under various state laws remain pending.  We believe we have substantial defenses to the claims asserted, we are defending these actions vigorously, and do not believe that the resolution of these remaining cases will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

With respect to certain matters described above under the captions “Telephone Consumer Protection Act Suits” and “Pre-1972 Sound Recording Matters”, we have determined that the outcome of these matters is inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control.  No provision was made for losses to the extent such are not probable and estimable.  We believe we have substantial defenses to the claims asserted, and intend to defend these actions vigorously.

Other Matters.  In the ordinary course of business, we are a defendant in various other lawsuits and arbitration proceedings, including derivative actions; actions filed by subscribers, both on behalf of themselves and on a class action basis; former employees; parties to contracts or leases; and owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property.  None of these matters, in our opinion, is likely to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.