COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

The Company accounts for its rentals that include renewal options, annual rent escalation clauses, minimum franchise payments and maintenance related to displays under the guidance in ASC 842, Leases.

The Company accounts for annual rent escalation clauses included in the lease term on a straight-line basis under the guidance in ASC 842, Leases. The Company considers renewal periods in determining its lease terms if at inception of the lease there is reasonable assurance the lease will be renewed. Expenditures for maintenance are charged to operations as incurred, whereas expenditures for renewal and betterments are capitalized. Non-cancelable contracts that provide the lessor with a right to fulfill the arrangement with property, plant and equipment not specified within the contract are not a lease and have been included within non-cancelable contracts within the table below.

The Company leases office space, certain broadcasting facilities and equipment under long-term operating leases. The Company accounts for these leases in accordance with the policies described above.

Rent expense charged to operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 (Successor), the year ended December 31, 2020 (Successor), the period from May 2, 2019 through December 31, 2019 (Successor) and the period from January 1, 2019 through May 1, 2019 (Predecessor) was $203.5 million, $198.2 million, $128.3 million and $59.2 million, respectively.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company's future minimum payments under non-cancelable contracts in excess of one year and employment/talent contracts consist of the following:


(In thousands)
	Non-Cancelable		Employment/Talent
	Contracts		Contracts
2022	$	218,441	$	83,344
2023	162,064		63,777
2024	63,421		63,052
2025	31,713		39,096
2026	5,591		13,000
Thereafter	5,810		—
Total	$	487,040	$	262,269

The Company and its subsidiaries are involved in certain legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business and, as required, have accrued an estimate of the probable costs for the resolution of those claims for which the occurrence of loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. These estimates have been developed in consultation with counsel and are based upon an analysis of potential results, assuming a combination of litigation and settlement strategies. It is possible, however, that future results of operations for any particular period could be materially affected by changes in the Company’s assumptions or the effectiveness of its strategies related to these proceedings. Additionally, due to the inherent uncertainty of litigation, there can be no assurance that the resolution of any particular claim or proceeding would not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition or results of operations.

Although the Company is involved in a variety of legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business, a large portion of its litigation arises in the following contexts: commercial disputes; defamation matters; employment and benefits related claims; governmental fines; intellectual property claims; and tax disputes.

Alien Ownership Restrictions and FCC Petition for Declaratory Ruling

The Communications Act and FCC regulation prohibit foreign entities and individuals from having direct or indirect ownership or voting rights of more than 25 percent in a corporation controlling the licensee of a radio broadcast station unless the FCC finds greater foreign ownership to be in the public interest. Under the Plan of Reorganization, the Company committed to file a petition for declaratory ruling (the “PDR”) requesting the FCC to permit the Company to be up to 100% foreign-owned.

On November 5, 2020, the FCC issued the 2020 Declaratory Ruling, which granted the relief requested by the PDR, subject to certain conditions, as described further in Note 9, Stockholder's Equity.

On November 9, 2020, the Company notified the holders of Special Warrants of the commencement of an exchange process (the “Exchange Notice”). On January 8, 2021, the Company exchanged a portion of the outstanding Special Warrants into Class A common stock or Class B common stock, in compliance with the Declaratory Ruling, the Communications Act and FCC rules (the “Exchange”). Following the Exchange, the Company’s remaining Special Warrants continue to be exercisable for shares of Class A common stock or Class B common stock. See “Item 1. Business – Regulation of Our Business, Alien Ownership Restrictions” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and "Part II, Item 1A. Risk Factors - Regulatory, Legislative and Litigation Risks, Regulations imposed by the Communications Act and the FCC limit the amount of foreign individuals or entities that may invest in our capital stock without FCC approval" in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for additional information.

On March 8, 2021, the Company filed the Remedial PDR with the FCC. The Remedial PDR relates to the acquisition by Global Media & Entertainment Ltd (f/k/a Honeycomb Investments Limited) ("Global Investments") of the Company’s Class A Common Stock. Specifically, on February 5, 2021, Global Investments, The Global Media & Entertainment Investments Trust (the "GMEI Trust"), James Hill (as trustee of the GMEI Trust), Simon Groom (as trustee of the GMEI Trust) and Michael Tabor (as beneficiary of the GMEI Trust) (together with Global Investments and any affiliates or third parties to whom they may assign or transfer any of their rights or interests, the "GMEI Investors") filed a Schedule 13D with the SEC, in which the

GMEI Investors disclosed beneficial ownership of 9,631,329 shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, which at that time represented approximately 8.7% of the Company’s outstanding Class A Common Stock. This ownership interest was inconsistent with the FCC’s foreign ownership rules and the 2020 Declaratory Ruling issued by the FCC relating to the Company’s foreign ownership on November 5, 2020, both of which limit a foreign investor in the GMEI Investors’ position to holding no more than 5% of the Company’s voting equity or total equity without prior FCC approval. The Remedial PDR, which was filed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the FCC, sought (a) specific approval for the more than 5% equity and voting interests in the Company presently held by the GMEI Investors and (b) as amended, advance approval for the GMEI Investors to increase their equity and voting interest in the Company up to any non-controlling amount not to exceed 14.99%.

On March 26, 2021, the FCC conditioned the approval of applications by the Company to acquire certain radio stations, which were pending prior to the GMEI Investors’ Schedule 13D filing, on the Company taking certain actions with respect to the GMEI Investors' rights as stockholders of the Company. On that same date, and in order to implement the conditions required by the FCC, the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) resolved to take certain actions to limit the rights of the GMEI Investors, including, but not limited to, suspending all voting rights of GMEI Investors until and unless the FCC releases a declaratory ruling granting specific approval for each of the GMEI Investors to hold more than 5 percent of the equity and/or voting interests of the Company.

On December 22, 2021, the FCC issued the “GMEI Declaratory Ruling" which granted the Remedial PDR. Subject to certain conditions set forth therein, the GMEI Declaratory Ruling (a) grants specific approval for the more than 5% equity and/or voting interests in the Company presently held by the GMEI Investors, (b) grants advance approval for the GMEI Investors to increase their equity and/or voting interests in the Company up to any non-controlling amount not to exceed 14.99%, and (c) restates the terms of the 2020 Declaratory Ruling, including that the Company may have up to 100% of its voting stock and equity owned by non-U.S. individuals and entities. At such time, the actions previously taken by the Board of Directors to implement the conditions required by the FCC during the pendency of the Remedial PDR ceased to apply.