Note 12 - Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Notes to Financial Statements

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

12. Commitments and Contingencies

From time to time we may have various contractual and other commitments requiring future payments. These commitments may include amounts required to be paid for: the acquisition of television stations; the purchase of property and equipment; service and other agreements; commitments for various syndicated television programs; and commitments under affiliation agreements with networks. Future minimum payments for these commitments, in addition to the liabilities accrued for on our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2021, were as follows (in millions):

	Service and				Syndicated		Network
	Other		Assembly		Television		Affiliation
Year	Agreements		Development		Programming		Agreements		Total
2022	$	51	$	71	$	13	$	725	$	860
2023		36		8		28		481		553
2024		24		-		6		243		273
2025		14		-		5		11		30
2026		4		-		3		-		7
Thereafter		-		-		-		-		-
Total	$	129	$	79	$	55	$	1,460	$	1,723

Legal Proceedings and Claims. We are and expect to continue to be subject to legal actions, proceedings and claims that arise in the normal course of our business. In the opinion of management, the amount of ultimate liability, if any, with respect to these known actions, proceedings and claims will not materially affect our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows, although legal proceedings are subject to inherent uncertainties, and unfavorable rulings or events could result in materially adverse outcomes.

Local TV Advertising Antitrust Litigation. In the fourth quarter of 2018, several broadcasting companies, including Raycom Media (which the Company subsequently acquired in January 2019) and Meredith Corporation (which the Company acquired in December 2021) agreed to enter into substantially identical consent decrees with the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”). This consent decree provided for the settlement of a confidential investigation by the DOJ into the alleged exchange of certain competitively sensitive information relating to advertising sales among certain stations in some local markets. The consent decree and related settlement were finalized on May 22, 2019. The consent decree is not an admission of any wrongdoing by the parties and does not subject the parties to any monetary damages or penalties. The consent decree requires the parties to adopt certain antitrust compliance measures, including the appointment of an Antitrust Compliance Officer, consistent with what the DOJ has required in previous consent decrees in other industries. The consent decree also requires the parties’ stations not exchange pacing and certain other information with other stations in their local markets, which aligns with Gray’s current policy. Gray Television, Inc. was not a subject of or party to any consent decree or settlement thereof, although certain of the Company’s operations that we later acquired from Raycom and Meredith do remain subject to the terms of such settlement.

Following published reports of the DOJ investigation and settlement, various putative class action lawsuits were filed against a number of owners of television stations. The cases have been consolidated in a single multidistrict litigation in the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois under the caption In re Local TV Advertising Litigation and the Plaintiffs’ operative complaint alleges price fixing and unlawful information exchange among the defendants’ advertisement sales teams. Gray is a defendant solely due to its acquisition of Raycom and Meredith, who were named defendants. The consolidated action seeks damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and interest, as well as injunctions against adopting practices or plans that would restrain competition in the ways the plaintiffs have alleged. The Court has set a pretrial schedule requiring discovery to be completed by July 1, 2022, and briefing on class certification to be completed by November 14, 2022. The Company believes the lawsuits are without merit and intends to vigorously defend itself against all such claims.