NOTE 5: CHANGES IN OPERATIONS AND NON-OPERATING ITEMS

Employee Reductions—The Company recorded pretax charges, mainly consisting of employee severance costs, associated termination benefits and related expenses totaling $10 million, $5 million and $3 million in 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. These charges are included in direct operating expenses or SG&A in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The following table summarizes these severance and related charges included in income (loss) from continuing operations by business segment for 2016, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands):



	2016		2015		2014
Television and Entertainment	$	9,228	$	2,317	$	2,098
Corporate and Other	1,178		2,959		536
Total	$	10,406	$	5,276	$	2,634

Severance and related expenses included in (loss) income from discontinued operations, net of taxes totaled $0.5 million, $1 million and $10 million in 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

The accrued liability for severance and related expenses is reflected in employee compensation and benefits in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets and was $9 million and $4 million at December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively.

Changes to the accrued liability for severance and related expenses were as follows (in thousands):



Balance at December 28, 2014	$	1,357
Additions	5,276
Payments	(3,038		)
Balance at December 31, 2015	$	3,595
Additions	10,406
Payments	(5,020		)
Balance at December 31, 2016	$	8,981

Non-Operating Items—Non-operating items for 2016, 2015 and 2014 are summarized as follows (in thousands):



	2016		2015			2014
Loss on extinguishment of debt	$	—	$	(37,040	)	$	—
Gain on investment transactions, net	—		12,173			371,785
Other non-operating gain (loss), net	5,427		7,228			(4,804		)
Total non-operating gain (loss), net	$	5,427	$	(17,639	)	$	366,981

Non-operating items in 2016 included a $5 million non-cash favorable workers’ compensation reserve adjustment related to businesses divested by the Company in prior years.

Non-operating items in 2015 included a $37 million pretax loss on the extinguishment of the Former Term Loan Facility (as defined and described in Note 9), which includes the write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs and discounts. See Note 9 for further information on the extinguishment of the Former Term Loan Facility. Gain on investment transactions, net in 2015 included a pretax gain of $8 million for an additional cash distribution from CV pursuant to the collection of a contingent receivable subsequent to the Company’s sale of its interest in CV and a pretax gain of $3 million on the sale of the Company’s 3% interest in NHLLC on September 2, 2015. See Note 8 for further information on the additional cash distribution from CV and the sale of NHLLC. Other non-operating items in 2015 included a $9 million non-cash favorable workers’ compensation reserve adjustment related to businesses divested by the Company in prior years and a $2 million non-cash pretax charge to write off a convertible note receivable resulting from a decline in the fair value of the convertible note receivable that the Company determined to be other than temporary. The convertible note receivable constitutes a nonfinancial asset measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet and is classified as Level 3 assets in the fair value hierarchy’s established under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement and Disclosures.” See Note 10 for a description of the hierarchy’s three levels.

Non-operating items in 2014 included a pretax gain of $372 million on the sale of the Company’s 27.8% interest in CV on October 1, 2014. The Company’s portion of the proceeds from the transaction was $686 million, of which $28 million was held in escrow and paid in the fourth quarter of 2015. See Note 8 for further information on the sale of CV. Other non-operating loss in 2014 included a $3 million non-cash pretax charge to write down convertible notes receivable related to one of the Company’s equity method investments. This write-down resulted from declines in the fair value of the convertible notes receivable that the Company determined to be other than temporary. The convertible notes receivable constitute nonfinancial assets measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet and are classified as Level 3 assets in the fair value hierarchy’s established under ASC Topic 820. See Note 10 for a description of the hierarchy’s three levels.