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SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]  
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Class B Common Stock
Shares of Class B common stock are transferable only to Joseph M. Field, David J. Field, certain of their family members, their estates and trusts for any of their benefit. Upon any other transfer, shares of Class B common stock automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis.
Dividends
On November 2, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an increase to the Company’s annual common stock dividend program from $0.30 per share to $0.36 per share, beginning with the dividend paid in the fourth quarter of 2017, with payments that approximated $12.4 million per quarter.
On August 9, 2019, the Company's Board of Directors reduced the annual stock dividend program to $0.08 per share. Quarterly dividend payments approximated $2.7 million per quarter. Following the payment of the quarterly dividend for the first quarter of 2020, the Company suspended its quarterly dividend program. Any future dividends will be at the discretion of the Board of Directors based upon the relevant factors at the time of such consideration, including, without limitation, compliance with the restrictions set forth in the Company's Credit Facility, the Notes and the Senior Notes.
Under the Credit Facility, the Notes and the Senior Notes, the Company may be restricted in the amount available for dividends, share repurchases, investments, and debt repurchases in the future based upon its Consolidated Net First-Lien Leverage Ratio. The amount available can increase over time based upon the Company’s financial performance and used when its Consolidated Net First-Lien Leverage Ratio is less than or equal to the maximum Secured Leverage Ratio permitted at the time. There are certain other limitations that apply to its use.
The following table presents a summary of the Company’s dividend activity during the past two years ending December 31, 2020:
Equity Type
Payment
Date
Dividends
per Share
Aggregate
Payment
Amount
Common stock
March 28, 2019$0.090 $12,430,279 
June 28, 2019$0.090 $12,486,441 
September 13, 2019$0.020 $2,676,900 
December 16, 2019$0.020 $2,679,826 
March 27, 2020$0.020 $2,692,213 
Dividend Equivalents
The Company’s grants of RSUs include the right, upon vesting, to receive a cash payment equal to the aggregate amount of dividends, if any, that holders would have received on the shares of common stock underlying their RSUs if such RSUs had been vested during the period. The following table presents the amounts accrued and unpaid on unvested RSUs:
Balance Sheet
Location
Dividend Equivalent Liabilities
December 31,
20202019
(amounts in thousands)
Short-term
Other current liabilities
$437 $811 
Long-term
Other long-term liabilities
477 913 
Total
$914 $1,724 
Deemed Stock Repurchase When RSUs Vest
Upon vesting of RSUs, a tax obligation is created for both the employer and the employee. Unless employees elect to pay their tax withholding obligations in cash, the Company withholds shares of stock in an amount sufficient to cover their tax withholding obligations. The withholding of these shares by the Company is deemed to be a repurchase of its stock. The following table provides summary information on the deemed repurchase of vested RSUs:
Years Ended December 31,
202020192018
(amounts in thousands)
Shares of stock deemed repurchased
510 459 506 
Amount recorded as financing activity
$1,527 $2,905 $5,186 
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The Company’s Entercom Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) allows participants to purchase the Company’s stock at a price equal to 85% of the market value of such shares on the purchase date. The maximum number of shares authorized to be issued under the ESPP is 1.0 million. Pursuant to this plan, the Company does not record compensation expense to the employee as income subject to tax on the difference between the market value and the purchase price, as this plan was designed to meet the requirements of Section 423(b) of the Code. The Company recognizes the 15% discount in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations as non-cash compensation expense. Following the purchase of shares under the ESPP for the first quarter of 2020, the Company temporarily suspended the ESPP.
Years Ended December 31,
202020192018
(amounts in thousands)
Number of shares purchased
166 335 228 
Non-cash compensation expense recognized
$43 $234 $252 
Share Repurchase Program
On November 2, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors announced a share repurchase program (the “2017 Share Repurchase Program”) to permit the Company to purchase up to $100.0 million of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of Class A common stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchased by the Company under the 2017 Share Repurchase Program will be at the discretion of the Company based upon the relevant factors at the time of such consideration, including, without limitation, compliance with the restrictions set forth in the Company’s Credit Facility, the Notes and the Senior Notes.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company did not repurchase any shares under the 2017 Share Repurchase Program. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company repurchased 5.0 million shares of Class A common stock at an aggregate average price of $3.67 per share for a total of $18.3 million. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company repurchased 3.2 million shares of Class A common stock at an average price of $9.11 per share for a total of $29.4 million. As of December 31, 2020, $41.6 million is available for future share repurchases under the 2017 Share Repurchase Program.
Shareholder Rights Agreement
On April 20, 2020, the Company entered into a Rights Agreement between the Company and American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as Rights Agent (as amended from time to time, the "Rights Agreement"), which was previously approved by the Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board of Directors").
In connection with the Rights Agreement, a dividend was declared of one preferred stock purchase right (each, a "Class A Right") for each share of the Company's Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Class A Common Stock"), and one preferred stock purchase right (each, a "Class B Right" and, together with the Class A Rights, the "Rights") for each share of the Company's Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Class B Common Stock" and, together with the Class A Common Stock, the "Common Stock"), outstanding at the close of business on May 5, 2020 (the "Record Date").
Once the Rights become exercisable, each Right will entitle the holder of each Class A Right to purchase one one-thousandth of a share of the Company's Series A Junior Participating Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Series A Preferred"), and, with respect to each Class B Right, one one-thousandth of a share of the Company's Series B Junior Participating Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the "Series B Preferred"), at a price of $6.06 per one one-thousandth of a share of Series A Preferred or Series B Preferred, as applicable (in each case, the "Purchase Price"). At the election of the Board of Directors, shares of Series A Preferred and Series B Preferred are convertible into shares of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, respectively.
The Rights will expire on April 20, 2021, subject to the Company's right to extend such date, unless earlier redeemed or exchanged by the Company or terminated. The rights have an immaterial fair value.
In the event that a person becomes an Acquiring Person (as defined in the Rights Agreement, an "Acquiring Person") or if the Company were the surviving corporation in a merger with an Acquiring Person or any affiliate or associate of, or any person acting in concert with, an Acquiring Person and shares of Common Stock were not changed or exchanged in such merger, each holder of a Right, other than Rights that are or were acquired or beneficially owned by the Acquiring Person (which Rights will thereafter be void), will thereafter have the right to receive upon exercise that number of one-thousandths of a share of Series A Preferred or Series B Preferred, as applicable, equal to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock having a market value of two times the then current Purchase Price of one Right. In the event that, after a person has become an Acquiring Person, the Company were acquired in a merger or other business combination transaction or more than 50% of its assets or earning power were sold, proper provision shall be made so that each holder of a Right shall thereafter have the right to receive, upon exercise at the then current Purchase Price of the Right, that number of shares of common stock of the acquiring company which at the time of such transaction would have a market value of two times the then current Purchase Price of one Right.

At any time after a person becomes an Acquiring Person and prior to the earlier of one of the events described in the last sentence of the previous paragraph or the acquisition by such Acquiring Person acquiring 50% or more of the then outstanding Class A Common Stock, the Board of Directors may cause the Company to exchange the Rights (other than Rights owned by an Acquiring Person which have become void), in whole or in part, for shares of Series A Preferred or Series B Preferred, as applicable, at an exchange rate of one one-thousandth of a share of Series A Preferred per Class A Right and one one-thousandth of a share of Series B Preferred per Class B Right.
In the event that the Company receives a Qualifying Offer (as defined in the Rights Agreement), the holders of record of at least 10% or more of the shares of Common Stock then outstanding may submit to the Board of Directors a written demand requesting that the Board of Directors call a special meeting of the Company's shareholders for the purpose of voting on whether or not to exempt such Qualifying Offer from the terms of the Rights agreement. Upon the effective date of the exemption of the Rights, the right to exercise the Rights with respect to the Qualifying Offer will terminate.
The Rights are designed to assure that all of the Company's shareholders receive fair and equal treatment in the event of any proposed takeover of the Company. The Rights will cause substantial dilution to a person or group that acquires 10% (15% in the case of a passive institutional investor) or more of the Class A Common Stock on terms not approved by the Board of Directors. The adoption of the Rights Agreement was not a taxable event and did not have any material impact on the Company's financial reporting