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Note 13 - Goodwill and Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Text Block]

13. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, 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 Divestitures” for more information regarding these transactions. The following table presents a summary of changes in our goodwill and other intangible assets, on a net basis (in millions):

	Net Balance at		Acquisitions							Net Balance at
	December 31,		And							December 31,
	2019		Adjustments		Impairment		Amortization			2020
Goodwill	$	1,446	$	14	$	-	$	-		$	1,460
Broadcast licenses		3,573		6		-		-			3,579
Finite-lived intangible assets		460		40		-		(105	)		395
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization	$	5,479	$	60	$	-	$	(105	)	$	5,434

	Net Balance at		Acquisitions							Net Balance at
	December 31,		And							December 31,
	2018		Adjustments		Impairment		Amortization			2019
Goodwill	$	612	$	834	$	-	$	-		$	1,446
Broadcast licenses		1,530		2,043		-		-			3,573
Finite-lived intangible assets		53		522		-		(115	)		460
Total intangible assets net of accumulated amortization	$	2,195	$	3,399	$	-	$	(115	)	$	5,479

The following table presents a summary of changes in our goodwill, on a gross basis (in millions):

	As of			Acquisitions
	December 31,			And				As of
	2019			Adjustments		Impairment		December 31, 2020
Goodwill, gross	$	1,545		$	14	$	-	$	1,559
Accumulated goodwill impairment		(99	)		-		-		(99	)
Goodwill, net	$	1,446		$	14	$	-	$	1,460

	As of			Acquisitions
	December 31,			And				As of
	2018			Adjustments		Impairment		December 31, 2019
Goodwill, gross	$	711		$	834	$	-	$	1,545
Accumulated goodwill impairment		(99	)		-		-		(99	)
Goodwill, net	$	612		$	834	$	-	$	1,446

The following table presents a summary of our intangible assets and related accumulated amortization (in millions):

	As of December 31, 2020							As of December 31, 2019
			Accumulated							Accumulated
	Gross		Amortization			Net		Gross		Amortization			Net
Intangible assets not currently subject to amortization:
Broadcast licenses	$	3,633	$	(54	)	$	3,579	$	3,627	$	(54	)	$	3,573
Goodwill		1,460		-			1,460		1,446		-			1,446
	$	5,093	$	(54	)	$	5,039	$	5,073	$	(54	)	$	5,019

Intangible assets subject to amortization:
Network affiliation agreements	$	67	$	(28	)	$	39	$	56	$	(17	)	$	39
Other finite-lived intangible assets		644		(288	)		356		615		(194	)		421
	$	711	$	(316	)	$	395	$	671	$	(211	)	$	460

Total intangible assets	$	5,804	$	(370	)	$	5,434	$	5,744	$	(265	)	$	5,479

Based on our intangible assets subject to amortization as of December 31, 2020, we expect that amortization of intangible assets for the succeeding five years will be as follows: 2021, $103 million; 2022, $99 million; 2023, $93 million; 2024, $27 million; and 2025, $18 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, 2020 and 2019, 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 2020, 2019 or 2018.

In the first quarter of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic and measures to prevent its spread began to affect our businesses in a number of ways. In the first quarter of 2020, we concluded that the uncertainties surrounding this event were a triggering event that required us to evaluate whether or not it was more likely than not that the value of our goodwill and other intangible assets were impaired. Based upon our analysis of both qualitative and quantitative factors, we concluded that such assets were not impaired. We will continue to evaluate both the subjective and objective criteria that may cause us to re-evaluate this conclusion in the future.

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.