Note 11 - Goodwill and Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Notes to Financial Statements

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block]

1 1 .  Goodwill and Intangible Assets

During the years ended

December 31, 2018

and

2017,

we acquired, adjusted and disposed of various television broadcast stations and broadcast licenses. As a result of these transactions, our goodwill and intangible balances changed during each of these years. See Note

3

“Acquisitions and Dispositions” for more information regarding these transactions. A summary of changes in our goodwill and other intangible assets, on a net basis, for the years ended

December 31, 2018

and

2017

is as follows (in thousands):

	Net Balance at		Acquisitions										Net Balance at
	December 31,		And										December 31,
	2017		Adjustments		Dispositions			Impairment		Amortization			2018
Goodwill	$	611,100	$	3,077	$	(1,752	)	$	-	$	-		$	612,425
Broadcast licenses		1,530,703	$	425		(1,554	)		-		-			1,529,574
Finite-lived intangible assets		73,784		-		-			-		(20,570	)		53,214
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization	$	2,215,587	$	3,502	$	(3,306	)	$	-	$	(20,570	)	$	2,195,213

	Net Balance at		Acquisitions										Net Balance at
	December 31,		And										December 31,
	2016		Adjustments		Dispositions			Impairment		Amortization			2017
Goodwill	$	485,318	$	125,782	$	-		$	-	$	-		$	611,100
Broadcast licenses		1,340,305		203,503		(13,105	)		-		-			1,530,703
Finite-lived intangible assets		56,250		42,606		-			-		(25,072	)		73,784
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization	$	1,881,873	$	371,891	$	(13,105	)	$	-	$	(25,072	)	$	2,215,587

A summary of changes in our goodwill, on a gross basis, for the years ended

December 31, 2018

and

2017

is as follows (in thousands):

	As of			Acquisitions							As of
	December 31,			And							December 31,
	2017			Adjustments		Dispositions			Impairment		2018
Goodwill, gross	$	709,696		$	3,077	$	(1,752	)	$	-	$	711,021
Accumulated goodwill impairment		(98,596	)		-		-			-		(98,596	)
Goodwill, net	$	611,100		$	3,077	$	(1,752	)	$	-	$	612,425

	As of			Acquisitions						As of
	December 31,			And						December 31,
	2016			Adjustments		Dispositions		Impairment		2017
Goodwill, gross	$	583,914		$	125,782	$	-	$	-	$	709,696
Accumulated goodwill impairment		(98,596	)		-		-		-		(98,596	)
Goodwill, net	$	485,318		$	125,782	$	-	$	-	$	611,100

As of

December 31, 2018

and

2017,

our intangible assets and related accumulated amortization consisted of the following (in thousands):

	As of December 31, 2018							As of December 31, 2017
			Accumulated							Accumulated
	Gross		Amortization			Net		Gross		Amortization			Net
Intangible assets not currently subject to amortization:
Broadcast licenses	$	1,583,273	$	(53,699	)	$	1,529,574	$	1,584,402	$	(53,699	)	$	1,530,703
Goodwill		612,425		-			612,425		611,100		-			611,100
	$	2,195,698	$	(53,699	)	$	2,141,999	$	2,195,502	$	(53,699	)	$	2,141,803
Intangible assets subject to amortization:
Network affiliation agreements	$	6,134	$	(6,134	)	$	-	$	6,134	$	(3,551	)	$	2,583
Other finite-lived intangible assets		143,419		(90,205	)		53,214		143,446		(72,245	)		71,201
	$	149,553	$	(96,339	)	$	53,214	$	149,580	$	(75,796	)	$	73,784
Total intangibles	$	2,345,251	$	(150,038	)	$	2,195,213	$	2,345,082	$	(129,495	)	$	2,215,587

Amortization expense for the years ended

December 31, 2018,

2017

and

2016

was

$20.6

million,

$25.1

million and

$16.6

million, respectively. Based on our intangible assets subject to amortization as of

December 31, 2018,

we expect that amortization expense for the succeeding

five

years will be as follows:

2019,

$15.4

million;

2020,

$12.4

million;

2021,

$8.3

million;

2022,

$4.8

million; and

2023,

$2.9

million. If and when acquisitions and dispositions occur in the future, actual amounts

may

vary from these estimates.

Impairment of goodwill and broadcast license

.

As of

December 31, 2018

and

2017,

we tested our goodwill, broadcast licenses and other intangible asset recorded values for potential impairment and concluded that the balances were reasonably stated. As a result, we did

not

record an impairment expense for our goodwill, broadcast licenses or other intangible assets during

2018,

2017

or

2016.

Completion

of FCC Spectrum Auction.

On

August 7, 2017,

we received

$90.8

million resulting from our relinquishment of

two

licenses in the FCC’s Spectrum Auction. In connection with this transaction we tendered

two

of our broadcast licenses and made other modifications to our broadcast spectrum related to our participation in the FCC Spectrum Auction. The cost of the assets disposed of was

$13.1

million. The income tax obligations related to this gain have been deferred on a long-term basis.

See Note

1

“Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” for further discussion of our accounting policies regarding goodwill, broadcast licenses and other intangible assets.