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Note 13 - Goodwill and Intangible Assets | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements |
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block] |
1 3. | Goodwill and Intangible Assets
During the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we acquired, adjusted and disposed of various television broadcast stations and broadcast licenses. As a result of these transactions, our goodwill and intangible balances changed during each of these years. See Note 3 “Acquisitions and Divestitures” for more information regarding these transactions. A summary of changes in our goodwill and other intangible assets, on a net basis, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is as follows (in millions):
|  | Net Balance at |  |  | Acquisitions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Net Balance at |
|  | December 31, |  |  | And |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | December 31, |
|  | 2018 |  |  | Adjustments |  |  | Impairment |  |  | Amortization |  |  | 2019 |
Goodwill |  | $ | 612 |  |  | $ | 834 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 1,446 |
Broadcast licenses |  |  | 1,530 |  |  | $ | 2,043 |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | 3,573 |
Finite-lived intangible assets |  |  | 53 |  |  |  | 522 |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | (115 | ) |  |  | 460 |
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization |  | $ | 2,195 |  |  | $ | 3,399 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | (115 | ) |  | $ | 5,479 |
|  | Net Balance at |  |  | Acquisitions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Net Balance at |
|  | December 31, |  |  | And |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | December 31, |
|  | 2017 |  |  | Adjustments |  |  | Impairment |  |  | Amortization |  |  | 2018 |
Goodwill |  | $ | 611 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 612 |
Broadcast licenses |  |  | 1,531 |  |  | $ | (1 | ) |  |  | - |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | 1,530 |
Finite-lived intangible assets |  |  | 74 |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | (21 | ) |  |  | 53 |
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization |  | $ | 2,216 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | (21 | ) |  | $ | 2,195 |
A summary of changes in our goodwill, on a gross basis, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is as follows (in millions):
|  |  |  |  |  | Acquisitions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | As of |  |  | And |  |  |  |  |  |  | As of |
|  | December 31, 2018 |  |  | Adjustments |  |  | Impairment |  |  | December 31, 2019 |
Goodwill, gross |  | $ | 711 |  |  | $ | 834 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 1,545 |
Accumulated goodwill impairment |  |  | (99 | ) |  |  | - |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | (99 | )
Goodwill, net |  | $ | 612 |  |  | $ | 834 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 1,446 |
|  |  |  |  |  | Acquisitions |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | As of |  |  | And |  |  |  |  |  |  | As of |
|  | December 31, 2017 |  |  | Adjustments |  |  | Impairment |  |  | December 31, 2018 |
Goodwill, gross |  | $ | 710 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 711 |
Accumulated goodwill impairment |  |  | (99 | ) |  |  | - |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | (99 | )
Goodwill, net |  | $ | 611 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | - |  |  | $ | 612 |
As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, our intangible assets and related accumulated amortization consisted of the following (in millions):
|  | As of December 31, 2019 |  |  | As of December 31, 2018 |
|  |  |  |  |  | Accumulated |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Accumulated |  |  |  |  |
|  | Gross |  |  | Amortization |  |  | Net |  |  | Gross |  |  | Amortization |  |  | Net |
Intangible assets not currently subject to amortization: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Broadcast licenses |  | $ | 3,627 |  |  | $ | (54 | ) |  | $ | 3,573 |  |  | $ | 1,583 |  |  | $ | (53 | ) |  | $ | 1,530 |
Goodwill |  |  | 1,446 |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | 1,446 |  |  |  | 612 |  |  |  | - |  |  |  | 612 |
|  | $ | 5,073 |  |  | $ | (54 | ) |  | $ | 5,019 |  |  | $ | 2,195 |  |  | $ | (53 | ) |  | $ | 2,142 |
Intangible assets subject to amortization: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Network affiliation agreements |  | $ | 56 |  |  | $ | (17 | ) |  | $ | 39 |  |  | $ | 6 |  |  | $ | (6 | ) |  | $ | - |
Other finite-lived intangible assets |  |  | 615 |  |  |  | (194 | ) |  |  | 421 |  |  |  | 143 |  |  |  | (90 | ) |  |  | 53 |
|  | $ | 671 |  |  | $ | (211 | ) |  | $ | 460 |  |  | $ | 149 |  |  | $ | (96 | ) |  | $ | 53 |
Total intangibles |  | $ | 5,744 |  |  | $ | (265 | ) |  | $ | 5,479 |  |  | $ | 2,344 |  |  | $ | (149 | ) |  | $ | 2,195 |
Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 was approximately $115 million, $21 million and $25 million, respectively. Based on our intangible assets subject to amortization as of December 31, 2019, we expect that amortization expense for the succeeding five years will be as follows: 2020, $103 million; 2021, $98 million; 2022, $94 million; 2023, $88 million; and 2024, $24 million. If and when acquisitions and dispositions occur in the future, actual amounts may vary from these estimates. Impairment of goodwill and broadcast license. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, we tested our goodwill, broadcast licenses and other intangible asset recorded values for potential impairment and concluded that the balances were reasonably stated. As a result, we did not record an impairment expense for our goodwill, broadcast licenses or other intangible assets during 2019, 2018 or 2017. Completion of FCC Spectrum Auction. On August 7, 2017, we received approximately $91 million resulting from our relinquishment of two licenses in the FCC’s Spectrum Auction. In connection with this transaction we tendered two of our broadcast licenses and made other modifications to our broadcast spectrum related to our participation in the FCC Spectrum Auction. The cost of the assets disposed of was approximately $13 million. The income tax obligations related to this gain have been deferred on a long-term basis. See Note 1 “Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” for further discussion of our accounting policies regarding goodwill, broadcast licenses and other intangible assets.

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