Note 12 - Goodwill and Intangible Assets

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block]

12

.      Goodwill and Intangible Assets

During the

three

months ended

March 31, 2019,

we completed the Raycom Merger, that included the acquisition of goodwill, broadcast licenses and finite-lived intangible assets. See Note

3

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

three

months ended

March 31, 2019

is as follows (in millions):

	Net Balance at									Net Balance at
	December 31,									March 31,
	2018		Net Additions		Impairments		Amortization			2019
Goodwill	$	612	$	822	$	-	$	-		$	1,434
Broadcast licenses		1,530		2,004		-		-			3,534
Finite-lived intangible assets		53		493		-		(29	)		517
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization	$	2,195	$	3,319	$	-	$	(29	)	$	5,485

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

three

months ended

March 31, 2019,

is as follows (in millions):

	As of							As of
	December 31,							March 31,
	2018			Net Additions		Impairments		2019
Goodwill, gross	$	711		$	822	$	-	$	1,533
Accumulated goodwill impairmant		(99	)		-		-		(99	)
Goodwill, net	$	612		$	822	$	-	$	1,434

As of

March 31, 2019

and

December 31, 2018,

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

	As of March 31, 2019							As of December 31, 2018
			Accumulated							Accumulated
	Gross		Amortization			Net		Gross		Amortization			Net
Intangible assets not currently subject to amortization:
Broadcast licenses	$	3,587	$	(53	)	$	3,534	$	1,583	$	(53	)	$	1,530
Goodwill		1,434		-			1,434		612		-			612
	$	5,021	$	(53	)	$	4,968	$	2,195	$	(53	)	$	2,142
Intangible assets subject to amortization:
Network affiliation agreements	$	54	$	(9	)	$	45	$	6	$	(6	)	$	-
Other finite-lived intangible assets		588		(116	)		472		143		(90	)		53
	$	642	$	(125	)	$	517	$	149	$	(96	)	$	53
Total intangibles	$	5,663	$	(178	)	$	5,485	$	2,344	$	(149	)	$	2,195

Amortization expense for the

three

-months ended

March 31, 2019

and

2018

was

$29

million and

$5

million, respectively. Based on the current amount of intangible assets subject to amortization, we expect that amortization expense for the remainder of

2019

will be approximately

$85

million, and, for the succeeding

five

years, amortization expense will be approximately as follows:

2020,

$100

million;

2021,

$95

million;

2022,

$91

million;

2023,

$85

million; and

2024,

$21

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

may

vary from these estimates.

Impairment of goodwill and broadcast license

s

Our intangible assets are primarily comprised of broadcast licenses. There were

no

triggering events that required a test of our goodwill or intangible assets for impairment during the

three

-months ended

March 31, 2019

or

2018.