Property, Plant And Equipment, Intangible Assets And Goodwill

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Property, Plant And Equipment, Intangible Assets And Goodwill [Abstract]

Property, Plant And Equipment, Intangible Assets And Goodwill

NOTE 2 – PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, INTANGIBLE ASSETS AND GOODWILL

Property, Plant and Equipment

The Company's property, plant and equipment consisted of the following classes of assets at June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively:

(In thousands)		June 30,		December 31,
		2012		2011
Land, buildings and improvements	$	206,266	$	204,543
Structures		2,858,625		2,783,434
Furniture and other equipment		118,745		111,481
Construction in progress		60,801		57,504
		3,244,437		3,156,962
Less: accumulated depreciation		1,029,998		910,252
Property, plant and equipment, net	$	2,214,439	$	2,246,710

Definite-lived Intangible Assets

The Company has definite-lived intangible assets which consist primarily of transit and street furniture contracts and other contractual rights, all of which are amortized over the shorter of either the respective lives of the agreements or over the period of time the assets are expected to contribute directly or indirectly to the Company's future cash flows. The Company periodically reviews the appropriateness of the amortization periods related to its definite-lived intangible assets. These assets are recorded at cost.

The following table presents the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization for each major class of definite-lived intangible assets at June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively:

(In thousands)		June 30, 2012				December 31, 2011
		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization
Transit, street furniture and other contractual rights	$	779,418	$	(365,941)	$	773,238	$	(329,563)
Other		178,806		(1,999)		176,779		(1,928)
Total	$	958,224	$	(367,940)	$	950,017	$	(331,491)

Total amortization expense related to definite-lived intangible assets for the three months endedJune 30, 2012 and 2011was $19.8 million and $23.4million, respectively. Total amortization expense related to definite-lived intangible assets for the six months ended June 30, 2012 and 2011 was $37.1million and $46.4 million, respectively.

The following table presents the Company's estimate of amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years for definite-lived intangible assets.

(in thousands)
2013	$	72,686
2014		67,935
2015		50,698
2016		43,296
2017		30,731

Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets

The Company's indefinite-lived intangibles consist primarily of billboard permits in its Americas segment. Due to significant differences in both business practices and regulations, billboards in the International segment are subject to long-term, finite contracts unlike the Company's permits in the United States and Canada. Accordingly, there are no indefinite-lived assets in the International segment.

Goodwill

The following table presents the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill in each of the Company's reportable segments.

(In thousands)			Americas		International		Total
Balance as of December 31, 2010		$	571,932	$	290,310	$	862,242
	Foreign currency		-		(6,898)		(6,898)
	Impairment		-		(1,146)		(1,146)
	Acquisitions		-		2,995		2,995
Balance as of December 31, 2011			571,932		285,261		857,193
	Foreign currency		-		(3,324)		(3,324)
Balance as of June 30, 2012		$	571,932	$	281,937	$	853,869