Programs and Program Licenses (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Programs And Program Licenses [Abstract]

Programs and program licenses

Programs and program licenses consisted of the following:

	As of December 31,
(in thousands)		2015		2014
Cost of programs available for broadcast		$	2,588,311	$	2,253,574
Accumulated amortization			1,764,532		1,564,008
Total			823,779		689,566
Progress payments on programs not yet available for broadcast			288,119		257,092
Total programs and program licenses		$	1,111,898	$	946,658

Estimated future amortization expense

Estimated amortization of recorded program assets and program commitments for each of the next five years is as follows:

	Programs		Programs Not
	Available for		Yet Available
(in thousands)	Broadcast		for Broadcast		Total
2016	$	468,308	$	226,835	$	695,143
2017		228,595		157,628		386,223
2018		98,242		79,078		177,320
2019		25,787		48,802		74,589
2020		1,140		14,561		15,701
Later years		1,707		1,426		3,133
Total	$	823,779	$	528,330	$	1,352,109