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Other Matters | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Other matters | Other matters Commitments, contingencies and other matters We, along with a number of our subsidiaries, are defendants in judicial and administrative proceedings involving matters incidental to our business. We do not believe that any material liability will be imposed as a result of these matters. Voluntary Retirement Program During the first quarter of 2016, we initiated a Voluntary Retirement Program (VRP) at our Media Segment. Under the VRP, Media employees meeting certain eligibility requirements were offered buyout payments in exchange for voluntarily retiring. Eligible non-union employees had until April 7, 2016, to retire under the plan. In 2016, based on acceptances received, we recorded $16.0 million of severance expense. Upon separation, employees accepting the VRP received salary continuation payments primarily based on years of service, the majority of which occurred evenly over the 12-month period following separation date. As of September 30, 2017, we had less than $0.4 million of VRP buyout obligation remaining. FCC Broadcast Spectrum Program Congress authorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct a voluntary incentive auction to reallocate certain spectrum currently occupied by television broadcast stations to mobile wireless broadband services, along with a related “repacking” of the television spectrum for remaining television stations. The repacking requires that certain television stations move to different channels, and some stations will have smaller service areas and/or experience additional interference. Congress announced the results of the auction, including a list of the stations to be repacked, in April 2017. None of our stations will relinquish any spectrum rights as a result of the auction, and accordingly we will not receive any incentive auction proceeds. The FCC has, however, notified us that 13 of our stations will be repacked to new channels. The repacking process is scheduled to occur over a 39-month period, divided into ten phases. Our stations have been assigned to phases two through nine, and a majority of our capital expenditures in connection with the repack will occur in 2018 and 2019. We are eligible to seek reimbursement for costs associated with implementing changes to our facilities required by the repack. The legislation authorizing the incentive auction and repacking established a $1.75 billion fund for reimbursement of costs incurred by stations required to change channels in the repacking. The FCC has reported that the aggregate cost estimated by repacked stations to complete the repack will be almost $1.9 billion. In October 2017, the FCC announced that it had made an approximately $1 billion allocation from the fund to repacked stations to allow those stations to begin to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with the construction of facilities on reassigned channels. This allocation represents approximately 52% of the total estimated demand for repack funds. Although we expect the FCC to make additional allocations from the fund, it is not clear at this time whether the FCC ultimately will receive from Congress the additional funds necessary to completely reimburse each repacked station for all amounts incurred in connection with the repack. Beyond the potential for not being reimbursed for all amounts we incur, it is still too early to predict the ultimate impact of the incentive auction and repacking upon our business. As noted above, while we did not sell any of our spectrum in the auction, we did enter into a channel share agreement with another broadcaster that sold spectrum in the auction. Pursuant to the terms of our channel share agreement we received $32.6 million in cash proceeds during the third quarter of 2017. These proceeds were deferred and will be amortized on a straight-line basis as other revenue over a 20 year period. The $32.6 million cash proceeds were reflected as cash flow from operating activities on our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2127136 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2144648 + Details
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