Investments consisted of the following (in thousands):



	June 30, 2015		December 28, 2014
Equity method investments	$	1,642,737	$	1,689,996
Cost method investments	20,918		18,238
Marketable equity securities	5,926		8,958
Total investments	$	1,669,581	$	1,717,192

Equity Method Investments—As discussed in Note 4 and Note 8 to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2014, the carrying value of the Company’s investments was increased by $1.615 billion to a fair value aggregating $2.224 billion as of the Effective Date (as defined in Note 8). Of the $1.615 billion increase, $1.108 billion was attributable to the Company’s share of theoretical increases in the carrying values of the investees’ amortizable intangible assets had the fair value of the investments been allocated to the identifiable intangible assets of the investees in accordance with ASC Topic 805. The remaining $507 million of the increase was attributable to goodwill and other identifiable intangibles not subject to amortization, including trade names. The Company amortizes the differences between the fair values and the investees’ carrying values of the identifiable intangible assets subject to amortization and records the amortization (the “amortization of basis difference”) as a reduction of income on equity investments, net in its unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. Income on equity investments, net was reduced by such amortization of $14 million and $99 million in three months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively, and by $27 million and $114 million in the six months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively. Amortization of basis difference for the three and six months ended June 29, 2014 includes $85 million related to the sale by Classified Ventures, LLC (“CV”) of its Apartment.com business. See below for further information.

Income from equity investments, net reported in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations consisted of the following (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended						Six Months Ended
	June 30, 2015			June 29, 2014			June 30, 2015			June 29, 2014
Income from equity investments, net, before amortization of basis difference	$	59,475		$	218,159		$	109,971		$	271,616
Amortization of basis difference (1)	(13,562		)	(99,206		)	(27,124		)	(114,400		)
Income from equity investments, net	$	45,913		$	118,953		$	82,847		$	157,216


(1)	Amortization of basis difference for the three and six months ended June 29, 2014 includes $85 million related to the sale by CV of its Apartments.com business.

Cash distributions from the Company’s equity method investments were as follows (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30, 2015		June 29, 2014		June 30, 2015		June 29, 2014
Cash distributions from equity investments (1)	$	34,242	$	195,062	$	129,148	$	315,332


(1)	Cash distributions for the three and six months ended June 29, 2014 include $160 million of the Company’s share of the proceeds from the sale by CV of its Apartments.com business, which is reflected as an inflow from investing activities in the unaudited condensed consolidated statement of cash flows.

TV Food Network—The Company’s 31.3% investment in Television Food Network, G.P. (“TV Food Network”) totaled $1.289 billion and $1.354 billion at June 30, 2015 and December 28, 2014, respectively. The Company recognized equity income from TV Food Network of $36 million and $35 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively, and equity income of $66 million and $64 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively. The Company received cash distributions from TV Food Network of $34 million and $35 million in the three months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively, and cash distributions of $129 million and $155 million in the six months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively.

CareerBuilder—The Company’s 32.1% investment in CareerBuilder, LLC (“CareerBuilder”) totaled $345 million and $328 million at June 30, 2015 and December 28, 2014, respectively. The Company recognized equity income from CareerBuilder of $10 million and $11 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively, and equity income of $18 million and $15 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and June 29, 2014, respectively. Prior to the Publishing Spin-off, the Company recorded revenue related to CareerBuilder classified advertising products placed on affiliated digital platforms. Such amounts totaled $10 million and $20 million for the three and six months ended June 29, 2014, respectively, and are included in income from discontinued operations, net of taxes.

Classified Ventures—Prior to the Publishing Spin-off, the Company recorded revenue related to CV classified advertising products placed on affiliated digital platforms. Such amounts totaled $18 million and $37 million for the three and six months ended June 29, 2014, respectively, and are included in income from discontinued operations, net of taxes.

On April 1, 2014, CV sold its Apartments.com business to CoStar Group, Inc. for $585 million in cash. The Company’s share of the proceeds from the transaction was approximately $160 million before taxes, which was distributed at closing. In connection with the sale, the Company recorded equity income of $72 million, net of amortization of basis difference of $85 million related to intangible assets of the Apartments.com business, in its unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three and six months ended June 29, 2014.

On October 1, 2014, the Company sold its entire 27.8% equity interest in CV to Gannett Co., Inc. (“Gannett”). As part of the transaction, Gannett acquired the equity interests of the other partners and thereby acquired full ownership of CV. CV was valued at $2.5 billion for purposes of the transaction and gross proceeds of $1.8 billion were paid to the selling partners at closing. The Company’s portion of the proceeds from the transaction was approximately $686 million before taxes ($426 million after taxes), of which $28 million will be held in escrow until October 1, 2015. The Company’s pretax gain on the sale of CV recognized in the fourth quarter of 2014 was $372 million. Prior to closing, CV made a final distribution of all cash on hand from operations to the current owners. The Company’s portion of this final distribution was $6 million, which is in addition to proceeds from the sale transaction. On April 2, 2015, the Company received an additional cash distribution of $8 million pursuant to CV’s collection of a contingent receivable, which was reflected as a non-operating gain in the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015.

Summarized Financial Information—Summarized financial information for TV Food Network is as follows (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30, 2015		June 29, 2014		June 30, 2015		June 29, 2014
Revenues, net	$	278,410	$	282,896	$	539,633	$	543,181
Operating income	$	151,728	$	147,825	$	282,026	$	273,320
Net income	$	155,770	$	153,000	$	289,925	$	282,872

Summarized financial information for CareerBuilder is as follows (in thousands):



	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	June 30, 2015		June 29, 2014		June 30, 2015		June 29, 2014
Revenues, net	$	176,034	$	180,208	$	351,188	$	348,149
Operating income	$	33,614	$	34,186	$	63,940	$	55,814
Net income	$	33,063	$	34,084	$	61,414	$	55,256

Marketable Equity Securities—As further described in Note 1, on August 4, 2014, the Company completed the Publishing Spin-off and retained 381,354 shares of Tribune Publishing common stock, representing 1.5% of the outstanding common stock of Tribune Publishing. The Company classified the shares of Tribune Publishing common stock as available-for-sale securities. As of June 30, 2015, the fair value and cost basis of the Company’s investment in Tribune Publishing was $6 million and $0, respectively. As of June 30, 2015, the gross unrealized holding gain relating the Company’s investment in Tribune Publishing was $6 million and is reflected in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of taxes, in the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet. The Company has no current plans to sell its shares of Tribune Publishing.

Cost Method Investments—All of the Company’s cost method investments are in private companies and recorded at cost, net of write-downs resulting from periodic evaluations of the carrying value of the investments.

Chicago Cubs Transactions—As defined and further described in Note 8 to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2014, the Company consummated the closing of the Chicago Cubs Transactions on October 27, 2009. Concurrent with the closing of the transactions, the Company executed guarantees of collection of certain debt facilities entered into by Chicago Entertainment Ventures, LLC (formerly Chicago Baseball Holdings, LLC), and its subsidiaries (collectively, “New Cubs LLC”). The guarantees are capped at $699 million plus unpaid interest. The guarantees are reduced as New Cubs LLC makes principal payments on the underlying loans. To the extent that payments are made under the guarantees, the Company will be subrogated to, and will acquire, all rights of the debt lenders against New Cubs LLC.

Newsday Transactions—As defined and further described in Note 8 to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2014, the Company consummated the closing of the Newsday Transactions on July 29, 2008. Concurrent with the closing of the Newsday Transactions, Newsday Holdings LLC (“NHLLC”) and Newsday LLC borrowed $650 million under a secured credit facility. Borrowings under this facility are guaranteed by CSC Holdings, LLC (“CSC”), formerly CSC Holdings, Inc., and NMG Holdings, Inc., each a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (“Cablevision”) and are secured by a lien on the assets of Newsday LLC and the assets of NHLLC, including $650 million of senior notes of Cablevision issued in 2008 and contributed by CSC. The Company agreed to indemnify CSC and NMG Holdings, Inc. with respect to any payments that CSC or NMG Holdings, Inc. makes under their guarantee of the $650 million of borrowings by NHLLC and Newsday LLC under their secured credit facility. In the event the Company is required to perform under this indemnity, the Company will be subrogated to and acquire all rights of CSC and NMG Holdings, Inc. against NHLLC and Newsday LLC to the extent of the payments made pursuant to the indemnity. From the July 29, 2008 closing date of the Newsday Transactions through the third anniversary of the closing date, the maximum amount of potential indemnification payments (“Maximum Indemnification Amount”) was $650 million. After the third anniversary, the Maximum Indemnification Amount was reduced by $120 million. The Maximum Indemnification Amount is reduced each year thereafter by $35 million until January 1, 2018, at which point the Maximum Indemnification Amount is reduced to $0. The Maximum Indemnification Amount was $425 million at June 30, 2015 and December 28, 2014. See Note 17 for further information related to the Company’s entry into an agreement to sell its investment in NHLLC.

Variable Interests—The Company evaluates its investments and other transactions to determine whether any entities associated with the investments or transactions should be consolidated under the provisions of ASC Topic 810, “Consolidation.” ASC Topic 810 requires an ongoing qualitative assessment as to which entity has the power to direct matters that most significantly impact the activities of a VIE and has the obligation to absorb losses or benefits that could be potentially significant to the VIE. At June 30, 2015 and December 28, 2014, the Company held variable interests in Topix, LLC (“Topix”) and Newsday LLC. The Company has determined that it is not the primary beneficiary of any of these entities and therefore has not consolidated any of them as of and for the periods presented in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company’s maximum loss exposure related to Topix is limited to its equity investment, which was $3 million at both June 30, 2015 and December 28, 2014.

Prior to October 1, 2014, the Company held a variable interest in CV. As described above, on October 1, 2014, all of the outstanding equity interests of CV were acquired by Gannett. Prior to July 29, 2014, the Company held a variable interest in Perfect Market, Inc. (“PMI”). On July 29, 2014, all of the outstanding equity interests of PMI were acquired by Taboola.com LTD (“Taboola”). In connection with the acquisition, the Company’s shares in PMI were converted into shares of Taboola. The Company’s ownership in Taboola is less than 1% and the Company has determined the investment is not a VIE as defined by ASC Topic 810.

On April 14, 2015, the Company entered into a real estate venture agreement with a third party to redevelop one of the Company’s Florida properties and formed a new limited liability company (“LLC”). The Company contributed land with an agreed-upon value between the parties of $15 million and a carrying value of $10 million, resulting in a 92% interest in the LLC. In the future, the Company’s interest in the LLC may decline to 85%, subject to the other party’s additional investments. The LLC was determined to be a VIE where the Company is the primary beneficiary. The Company consolidates the financial position and results of operations of this VIE. The results of operations of the VIE as of and for the six months ended June 30, 2015 were not material.

As further disclosed in Note 1, the Company consolidates the financial position and results of operations of Dreamcatcher, a VIE where the Company is the primary beneficiary.