Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

The following is a reconciliation of income taxes from continuing operations computed at the U.S. federal statutory rate of 35% to income tax expense from continuing operations reported in the Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands):



	2016			2015			2014
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	$	434,242		$	(289,419	)	$	760,885

Federal income taxes at 35%	151,985			(101,297		)	266,310
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	17,474			3,195			32,072
Domestic production activities deduction	(6,807		)	(6,554		)	(7,910		)
Non-deductible goodwill	—			133,350			—
Income tax settlements and other adjustments, net	179,558			(7,842		)	(1,801		)
Tax rate change due to Publishing Spin-off	—			—			(10,810		)
Other, net	4,992			5,066			6,405
Income tax expense from continuing operations	$	347,202		$	25,918		$	284,266

Effective tax rate	80.0%			(9.0)%			37.4%

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Components of income tax expense from continuing operations were as follows (in thousands):



	2016		2015			2014
Current:
U.S. federal	$	273,205	$	138,871		$	381,884
State and local	35,057		16,677			77,783
Sub-total	308,262		155,548			459,667
Deferred:
U.S. federal	32,783		(110,390		)	(131,854		)
State and local	6,157		(19,240		)	(43,547		)
Sub-total	38,940		(129,630		)	(175,401		)
Total income tax expense from continuing operations	$	347,202	$	25,918		$	284,266

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

Significant components of the Company’s net deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows (in thousands):



	December 31, 2016		December 31, 2015
Deferred tax assets:
Broadcast rights	$	78,531	$	86,451
Postretirement benefits other than pensions	3,467		3,933
Stock-based compensation and other employee benefits	20,261		16,011
Pensions	175,766		180,342
Other accrued liabilities	15,518		16,482
Other future deductible items	16,638		17,877
Net operating loss carryforwards	1,582		1,807
Accounts receivable	4,902		2,173
Total deferred tax assets	$	316,665	$	325,076

Deferred tax liabilities:
Net intangible assets	$	564,405	$	565,600
Investments	399,103		418,908
Deferred gain on partnership contributions	157,567		164,322
Net properties	112,864		60,048
Outside basis difference on Gracenote Companies	63,403		1,097
Other	3,571		5,807
Total deferred tax liabilities	1,300,913		1,215,782
Net deferred tax liabilities	$	984,248	$	890,706

Schedule of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Roll Forward

The following summarizes the changes in the Company’s liability for unrecognized tax benefits during 2014, 2015 and 2016 (in thousands):



Liability at December 29, 2013	$	21,544
Gross increase as a result of tax positions related to a prior period	913
Decrease related to statute of limitations expirations	(3,605		)
Liability at December 28, 2014	$	18,852
Gross increase as a result of tax positions related to a prior period	12,573
Gross increase as a result of tax positions related to the current period	3,841
Decrease related to statute of limitations expirations	(1,634		)
Liability at December 31, 2015	$	33,632
Gross increase as a result of tax positions related to a prior period	46,034
Gross increase as a result of tax positions related to the current period	449
Gross decrease as a result of tax positions related to a prior period	(2,591		)
Decreases related to settlements with taxing authorities	(45,130		)
Reclassifications to income taxes payable	(1,615		)
Decrease related to statute of limitations expirations	(8,247		)
Liability at December 31, 2016	$	22,532