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Accounting Policies (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Basis of presentation | Basis of presentation: Our accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for interim financial reporting, the instructions for Form 10-Q and Article 10 of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all information and footnotes which are normally included in the Form 10-K and annual report to shareholders. In our opinion, the condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of results for the interim periods presented. The condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our (or “TEGNA’s”) audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.
Use of estimates | The preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Significant estimates include, but are not limited to, evaluation of goodwill and other intangible assets for impairment, business combinations, fair value measurements, post-retirement benefit plans, income taxes including deferred taxes, and contingencies.
Consolidation | The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of subsidiaries we control and variable interest entities (VIEs) if we are the primary beneficiary. We eliminate all intercompany balances, transactions, and profits in consolidation. Investments in entities over which we have significant influence, but do not have control, are accounted for under the equity method. Our share of net earnings and losses from these ventures is included in “Equity income (loss) in unconsolidated investments, net” in the Consolidated Statements of Income. In addition, certain reclassifications have been made to prior year’s consolidated financial statements to conform to the current year’s presentation, specifically as it relates to our presentation of Investments and other assets in Note 3 of the condensed consolidated financial statements.
Recent accounting standards | Accounting guidance adopted in 2018: In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued new guidance related to revenue recognition. Under the new guidance, recognition of revenue occurs when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration which the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. In addition, the guidance requires disclosure of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. We adopted the guidance beginning January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective method. We began recognizing revenue under this new guidance in the first quarter of 2018 and did not restate prior years. We applied the standard to all contracts open as of January 1, 2018. The cumulative prior period effect of applying the guidance was $3.7 million which was recorded as a decrease to retained earnings upon adoption. This adjustment represents a deferral of revenue associated with certain performance obligations that were not fully completed as of the reporting date. In addition, with the adoption of the new guidance, we have determined that certain barter revenue and expense related to syndicated programming will no longer be recognized. The revenue and expense previously recognized for this type of barter transaction would have been approximately $0.5 million in the third quarter of 2018 and $1.5 million in the nine months ended 2018. Other than these two items, there were no other changes to the timing and amount of revenue recognition for our contracts. For contracts with an effective term of less than one year, and for our subscription revenue contracts, we applied certain of the standard’s practical expedients relating to disclosure that permit the exclusion of quantifying and disclosing unsatisfied performance obligations. In addition, the adoption of this standard did not result in significant changes to our accounting policies, business processes, systems or controls. See discussion of our revenue policy below. In August 2016, the FASB issued new guidance which clarifies several specific cash flow classification issues. The objective of the new guidance is to reduce the existing diversity in practice in how these cash flows are presented in the Statement of Cash Flows. The guidance updated the classification in the Statement of Cash Flows in several areas. The most relevant updates for us are the following: 1) payments made for premiums, fees paid to lenders and other related third party costs when debt is repaid early will each be classified as financing cash outflows (we have historically classified these types of cash payments as operating outflows), 2) contingent consideration payments made for acquisitions will be classified as either operating, investing, or financing cash outflows depending on the timing and nature of the payment, 3) cash receipts received due to the settlement of insurance claims will be classified as either operating or investing cash inflows, depending on the nature of the underlying loss, 4) proceeds received from trust owned life insurance policies will be classified as investing cash inflows (we have historically classified these types of cash receipts as operating inflows), and 5) distributions received from equity method investments will be classified as either operating or investing cash inflows, depending on the amount of cash received as compared to the amount of inception to date earnings recognized on the individual investment. We adopted the guidance retrospectively beginning in the first quarter of 2018. As a result of adopting this guidance, we reclassified approximately $0.9 million of life insurance proceeds received in the first nine months of 2017 from operating to investing inflows. In January 2016, the FASB issued new guidance that amended several elements surrounding the recognition and measurement of financial instruments. Most notably for our company, the new guidance requires equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting, or those that result in consolidation) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. For equity investments that do not have readily determinable prices, those investments may be recorded at cost less impairments, if any, plus or minus changes in observable prices for those investments. This new guidance requires us to adjust the value of our cost method investments to account for any observable price changes in those investments. Cost method investments had previously been recorded at cost, less any impairments. We adopted the new guidance in the first quarter of 2018 and the provision discussed above has been adopted on a prospective basis. There was no impact to our financial statements as a result of adopting this new guidance. In February 2018, the FASB issued guidance on accounting for certain tax effects that resulted from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Tax Act), that was enacted into law as of December 22, 2017. The guidance addresses the accounting for amounts that had previously been recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income on a net tax basis, using the tax rate that was in effect at the time. Due to the reduction in the tax rates under the Tax Act, certain tax effects were “stranded” in accumulated other comprehensive income. This new guidance allows these stranded tax effects to be reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. Other tax amounts stranded in accumulated other comprehensive income due to reasons other than the Tax Act may not be reclassified. As a result of adopting this guidance, in the first quarter of 2018, we reclassified approximately $24.8 million from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings. We believe that reclassifying these amounts more accurately presents the balance of accumulated other comprehensive loss. In November 2016, the FASB issued guidance on the presentation of restricted cash which requires that on the statement of cash flows, amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents should be included within the beginning and ending balances of cash and cash equivalents. We adopted this guidance in the first quarter of 2018 on a retrospective basis. As a result, restricted cash amounts that have historically been included in prepaid expenses and other current assets and investments and other assets on our Consolidated Balance Sheets are now included with cash and cash equivalents on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. We did no t have any restricted cash as of September 30, 2018, however, these restricted cash balances totaled $29.2 million as of December 31, 2017, $29.6 million as of September 30, 2017 and $28.2 million as of December 31, 2016. Our restricted cash was used to pay deferred compensation and TEGNA Supplemental Retirement Plan (SERP) obligations. The adoption of this standard did not change our balance sheet presentation. See Note 10 for additional information about our restricted cash balances. New accounting guidance not yet adopted: In February 2016, the FASB issued new guidance related to leases which will require lessees to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for leases with lease terms of more than 12 months. Consistent with current GAAP, the recognition, measurement, and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee primarily will depend on its classification as a finance or operating lease. However, unlike current GAAP—which requires only capital leases (renamed financing leases under the new guidance) to be recognized on the balance sheet—the new guidance will require both finance and operating leases to be recognized on the balance sheet. The new guidance will be effective for TEGNA beginning in the first quarter of 2019. In July 2018, the FASB issued an amendment giving companies the option to apply the requirements of the standard in the period of adoption (January 1, 2019), with no restatement of prior periods. A cumulative effect of applying the guidance would be recorded to the opening balance of retained earnings. We plan to utilize this adoption method. We have formed a cross-functional team to oversee the implementation of the new guidance. Our ongoing implementation efforts include the review of our lease contracts, review of service contracts for embedded leases, and the deployment of a new lease software solution. In conjunction with adopting the new guidance, we are evaluating any changes needed to our current lease accounting policies and business practices. Based on the work performed to date, we currently estimate that our total assets and liabilities as presented on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2018, will increase by less than 5% as a result of adopting this standard. We do not expect the standard to have a material impact on our Consolidated Statements of Income. Additionally, we do not expect there to be a significant difference in our pattern of lease expense recognition under the new standard. In June 2016, the FASB issued new guidance related to the measurement of credit losses on financial instruments. The new guidance changes the way credit losses on accounts receivable are estimated. Under current GAAP, credit losses on accounts receivable are recognized once it is probable that such losses will occur. Under the new guidance, we will be required to estimate credit losses based on the expected amount of future collections which may result in earlier recognition of doubtful accounts. The new guidance is effective for public companies beginning in the first quarter of 2020 and will be adopted using a modified retrospective approach. We are currently evaluating the effect this new guidance will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. Revenue recognition: Revenue is recognized upon the transfer of control of promised services to our customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to receive in exchange for those services. Revenue is recognized net of any taxes collected from customers, which are subsequently remitted to governmental authorities. Amounts received from customers in advance of providing services to our customers are recorded as deferred revenue. Our primary source of revenue is earned through the sale of advertising and marketing services (AMS). This revenue stream includes all sources of our traditional television and radio advertising, as well as digital revenues including Premion, our digital marketing services (DMS) business unit and other digital advertising across our platforms. Contracts within this revenue stream are short-term in nature (most often three months or less). Contracts generally consist of multiple deliverables, such as television commercials, or digital advertising solutions, that we have identified as individual performance obligations. Before performing under the contract we establish the transaction price with our customer based on the agreed upon rates for each performance obligation. There is no material variability in the transaction price during the term of the contract. Revenue is recognized as we deliver our performance obligations to our customers. For our AMS revenue stream, we measure our performance based on the airing of the individual television commercials or display of digital advertisements. This measure is most appropriate as it aligns our revenue recognition with the value we are providing to our customers. The price of each individual commercial and digital advertisement is negotiated with our customer and is determined based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, the programming and day-part selected, supply of available inventory, our station’s viewership ratings and overall market conditions (e.g., timing of the year and strength of U.S. economy). Customers are billed monthly and payment is generally due 30 days after the date of invoice. Commission costs related to these contracts are expensed as incurred due to the short term nature of the contracts. We also earn subscription revenue from retransmission consent contracts with multichannel video programming distributors (e.g., cable and satellite providers) and over the top providers (companies that deliver video content to consumers over the Internet). Under these multi-year contracts, we have performance obligations to provide our customers with our stations’ signals, as well as our consent to retransmit those signals to their customers. Subscription revenue is recognized in accordance with the guidance for licensing intellectual property utilizing a usage based method. The amount of revenue earned is based on the number of subscribers to which our customers retransmit our signal, and the negotiated fee per subscriber included in our contract agreement. Our customers submit payments monthly, generally within 60-90 days after the month that service was provided. Our performance obligations are satisfied, and revenue is recognized, as we provide our consent for our customers to retransmit our signal. This measure toward satisfaction of our performance obligations and recognition of revenue is the most appropriate as it aligns our revenue recognition with the value that we are delivering to our customers through our retransmission consent. We also generate revenue from the sale of political advertising. Contracts within this revenue stream are short term in nature (typically weekly or monthly buys during political campaigns). Customers pre-pay these contracts and we therefore defer the associated revenue until the advertising has been delivered, at which time we have satisfied our performance obligations and recognize revenue. Commission costs related to these contracts are expensed as incurred due to the short term nature of the contracts. Our remaining revenue is comprised of various other services, primarily production services (for news content and commercials) and sublease rental income. Revenue is recognized as these various services are provided to our customers. In instances where we sell services from more than one revenue stream to the same customer at the same time, we recognize one contract and allocate the transaction price to each deliverable element (e.g. performance obligation) based on the relative fair value of each element.

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