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Organization, Nature of Operations, and Principles of Consolidation
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12 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2013
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| Organization, Nature of Operations, and Principles of Consolidation |
1. Organization, Nature of Operations, and Principles of Consolidation References in this report to “we”, “us”, “our” or “Gaiam” refer to Gaiam, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless we indicate otherwise. We are a lifestyle media company providing a broad selection of information, media, products and services to customers who value personal development, wellness, ecological lifestyles, and responsible media. We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Colorado on July 7, 1988. We have prepared the accompanying consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP, and they include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries. Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated. Discontinued Operations During 2013, we sold our non-branded entertainment media distribution operation and discontinued our DRTV operations. Accordingly, the assets and liabilities, operating results, and cash flows for these businesses are presented as discontinued operations, separate from our continuing operations, for all periods presented in these consolidated financial statements and footnotes, unless indicated otherwise. See Note 12. Discontinued Operations. Investment in Real Goods Solar – Reporting Changes On December 31, 2011, we converted our Real Goods Solar Class B common shares, which had ten votes per share, to Real Goods Solar Class A common shares, which have one vote per share. As a result of this conversion, our voting ownership decreased to 37.5% and, thus, we no longer had financial control of or made decisions about resources to be allocated to this investee, but retained significant financial influence. Since Real Goods Solar was not deconsolidated until the end of 2011, our consolidated statements of operations and cash flows reflect Real Goods Solar on a consolidated basis for the year ended December 31, 2011, except for the removal of Real Goods Solar’s cash balance at December 31, 2011. On May 28, 2013, we sold a portion of our investment in Real Goods Solar, reducing our voting ownership percentage to below 20%. Additionally, following this sale, our Chairman resigned as Chairman of RSOL’s board, and, thus, we no longer had significant influence over Real Goods Solar. Therefore, we changed our accounting for our investment in RSOL from the equity to cost method, and, consequently, going forward we no longer report our portion of RSOL’s net earnings or losses each year. See Note 3. Related Party Transactions. |