We determine if an arrangement contains a lease at the agreement’s inception. Our portfolio of leases primarily consists of leases for the use of corporate offices, station facilities, equipment and for antenna/transmitter sites. Our lease portfolio consists entirely of operating leases, with most of our leases having remaining terms of less than 15 years. Operating lease balances are included in our right-of-use assets, other accrued liabilities and operating lease liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Lease liabilities are calculated as of the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments to be made over the term of the lease. Our lease agreements often contain lease and non-lease components (e.g., common-area maintenance or other executory costs). We include the non-lease payments in the calculation of our lease liabilities to the extent they are either fixed or included within the fixed base rental payments. Some of our leases include variable lease components (e.g., rent increases based on the consumer price index) and variable non-lease components, which are expensed as they are incurred. Such variable costs are not material. The interest rate implicit in our lease contracts is typically not readily determinable. As a result, we use our estimated incremental borrowing rate in determining the present value of future payments, which reflects the fixed rate at which we could borrow on a collateralized basis the amount of the lease payments for a similar term.

The operating lease right-of-use asset as of the lease commencement date is calculated based on the amount of the operating lease liability, less any lease incentive. Some of our lease agreements include options to renew for additional terms or provide us with the ability to terminate the lease early. In determining the term of the lease, we consider whether or not we are reasonably certain to exercise these options. Lease expense for fixed lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

The following table presents lease related assets and liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):


	Dec. 31,
	2024		2023
Assets
Right of use assets for operating leases	$	63,535	$	73,479

Liabilities
Operating lease liabilities (current)1	$	10,483	$	11,912
Operating lease liabilities (non-current)		63,421		73,733
Total operating lease liabilities	$	73,904	$	85,645

(1) Current operating lease liabilities are included within the other accrued liabilities line item of the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the weighted-average remaining lease term for our lease portfolio was 6.9 and 7.6 years, respectively, and the weighted average discount rate used to calculate the present value of our lease liabilities was 5.2% as of the end of both periods.

For the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, we recognized lease expense of $15.6 million, $16.2 million, and $16.7 million respectively. In addition, in 2024, 2023 and 2022, we made cash payments for operating leases of $16.7 million, $17.1 million and $17.6 million, respectively, which are included in cash flows from operating activities on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

The table below reconciles future lease payments for each of the next five years and remaining years thereafter, in aggregate, to the lease liabilities recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2024 (in thousands):


Future Period	Cash Payments
2025	$	15,616
2026		13,724
2027		13,430
2028		13,094
2029		12,808
Thereafter		23,702
Total lease payments		92,374
Less: amount of lease payments representing interest		18,470
Present value of lease liabilities	$	73,904