11 .	POSTEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT PLANS, POST-SPIN

As a condition of the spin-off, the Company assumed full financial and reporting responsibility for the postemployment benefit plans offered to eligible employees, other than the GHC Retirement Plan. The accumulated benefits of Company employees participating in GHC sponsored multiemployer benefit and/or savings plans other than the GHC Retirement Plan were transferred into corresponding Cable One sponsored plans. After the spin-off, GHC will continue to administer the GHC Retirement Plan, including making payments under the plan, with respect to current and former Company employees with vested rights thereunder.

On June 5, 2015, the Board adopted the Cable One, Inc. Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (the “SERP”), which became effective as of July 1, 2015. The defined benefit portion of the SERP, or “DB SERP,” is intended to constitute an unfunded program maintained primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management consistent with the requirements of Sections 201(2), 301(a)(3), and 401(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”). Currently the DB SERP provides supplemental retirement income to three executives of the Company.

The DB SERP provides benefits to each participant that are calculated based on base salary and service, without regard to (i) the salary limitation applicable to tax-qualified plans (currently $265,000) or (ii) the benefit limitation applicable to tax-qualified plans (currently $210,000 per year commencing at age 65). The DB SERP provides benefits only to the extent that the benefit described above exceeds the benefit in the GHC Retirement Plan. Benefits under the DB SERP are paid at retirement or age 55, if later, and are payable either in the form of a life annuity or an actuarially equivalent optional form of benefit in the GHC Retirement Plan, provided that any benefits otherwise payable before the first day of the seventh month following retirement will be withheld until such date.

Upon the spin-off, under the DB SERP, a $4.1 million long-term liability was transferred from GHC to Cable One representing the accumulated benefits of the three participants in the DB SERP. As the DB SERP is unfunded, the Company makes contributions to the DB SERP based on actual benefit payments.

The Company uses a measurement date of December 31 for the DB SERP.

The Company’s CEO, President, and one other executive participate in the DB SERP. Refer to Note 12 for further details related to this defined benefit plan.

On June 5, 2015, the Board also adopted the Cable One Inc. 401(k) Savings Plan (the “401(k) Plan”). The 401(k) Plan allows for eligible employees to contribute a portion of their salary to the 401(k) Plan, and in some cases, a matching contribution to the 401(k) Plan is made by the Company. The Company recorded matching contributions to the 401(k) Plan of $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016. The 401(k) Plan provides non-discretionary matching contributions up to 5% of an employee’s eligible compensation up to the salary limitation applicable to tax-qualified plans ($265,000 in 2015). Participants are eligible to receive Company matching contributions after one year of service, and participants are immediately vested in the Company matching contributions.

The Company also maintains the defined contribution portion of the SERP for the benefit of certain highly compensated executives (the “DC SERP”). The DC SERP provides key executives with tax-deferred accruals of amounts proportionate to the benefits available to non-highly compensated participants in the 401(k) Plan, to the extent that benefits exceed those under the sponsored basic plans because of the tax law limitations ($53,000 in 2015). Among the benefits provided under the DC SERP is a supplemental defined contribution plan benefit wherein the Company provides a matching contribution percentage up to 3% of the participating executive’s base salary in excess of the annual compensation limit applied to qualified plan benefits ($265,000 in 2015). The executive is required to defer compensation to the DC SERP savings plan in order to receive the applicable matching Company credit each year. Amounts deferred under the DC SERP are payable on the first day of the seventh month following termination of service. The Company recorded matching contributions to the DC SERP of less than $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016, which is included within the Accrued compensation and related benefits line item on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

In addition to the advent of the post-spin postemployment plans described above, the Company has (prior to the spin-off) and may continue to enter into arrangements with certain current and former executives and officers of the Company who desire to defer all or a portion of their annual cash-based incentives under the Cable One, Inc. Deferred Compensation Plan. Upon execution of the agreements the Company transfers the deferred incentive to a long-term liability. Market-based gains and losses are applied to the respective outstanding balances at each reporting period such that market-based period gains represent additional compensation expense to the Company and market-based losses represent a reduction of compensation expense. The Company recorded a gain of $0.2 million and a gain of $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The total deferred compensation balance as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 was $17.7 million and $18.3 million, respectively.

In 1999, the Company’s CEO was granted a special deferred compensation award in recognition of his efforts in growing Cable One. Annual payouts under this arrangement will commence when he turns age 65 or, if later, when he separates service with Cable One. If the award is deferred beyond the CEO’s 65th birthday due to his continued employment with the Cable One, the base amounts will begin accruing interest on May 1, 2016 at an annual rate corresponding to the applicable rate for 12-month U.S. treasury bills (set at each anniversary and carried forward), credited and compounded on an annual basis. The award may be payable in installments upon mutual agreement of Cable One and the CEO, not to extend beyond a ten-year period, however, in the event of his death after his 65th birthday, all amounts due will be payable in a lump sum within 60 days. No amounts were paid to the CEO in 2016 in respect of this arrangement. As of March 31, 2016, the Company had an accrued liability of $2.0 million for this special deferred compensation, which is included within the Accrued compensation and related benefits line item on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.