Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

The components of the expense consisted of the following:



	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2015			2014			2013

Service cost	$	—		$	85		$	79
Interest cost	30,477			25,539			23,732
Expected return on plan assets, net of expenses	(24,320		)	(23,481		)	(21,501		)
Amortization of actuarial loss	4,617			2,861			4,192
Curtailment/Settlement losses	46,793			—			—
Total for defined benefit plans	57,567			5,004			6,502
Multi-employer plans	180			393			407
Withdrawal from GCIU multi-employer plan	351			4,100			—
SERP	1,107			896			2,335
Defined contribution plans	9,858			11,739			11,379
Net periodic benefit cost	69,063			22,132			20,623
Allocated to discontinued operations	(482		)	(8,985		)	(5,532		)
Net periodic benefit cost - continuing operations	$	68,581		$	13,147		$	15,091

Changes in plan assets and benefit obligations recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)

Other changes in plan assets and benefit obligations recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) were as follows:



	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2015		2014			2013

Current year actuarial gain/(loss)	$	1,026	$	(75,527	)	$	52,063
Amortization of actuarial loss	4,617		2,861			4,192
Curtailment/Settlement losses	46,793		—			—
Total	$	52,436	$	(72,666	)	$	56,255

Schedule of assumptions used

Assumptions used to determine the defined benefit pension plans benefit obligations were as follows:



	2015		2014		2013

Weighted average discount rate	4.55	%	4.23	%	5.08	%
Increase in compensation levels	N/A		N/A		2.0	%

Assumptions used in determining the annual retirement plans expense were as follows:



	2015 ⁽¹⁾	2014		2013

Discount rate	4.01%-4.53%	5.08	%	4.27	%
Long-term rate of return on plan assets	4.10%-6.10%	5.25	%	4.65	%
Increase in compensation levels	N/A	2.0	%	3.3	%

⁽¹⁾ Ranges presented for discount rate and long-term rate of return on plan assets for 2015 represent the rates used for various remeasurement periods during the year.

Schedule of employee benefit plan assets and obligations

The following table presents information about our employee benefit plan assets and obligations:



	For the years ended December 31,
	Defined Benefit Plans						SERP
(in thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014

Accumulated benefit obligation	$	611,257		$	620,623		$	19,800		$	15,261
Change in projected benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	620,623		$	504,571		$	15,261		$	14,872
Service cost	—			85			—			—
Interest cost	30,477			25,539			747			638
Benefits paid	(28,670		)	(24,708		)	(1,105		)	(810		)
Actuarial (gains)/losses	(46,479		)	115,136			(2,299		)	561
Curtailments/Settlements	(148,006		)	—			—			—
Journal acquisition	183,312			—			10,778			—
Newspaper divestiture	—			—			(3,582		)	—
Projected benefit obligation at end of year	611,257			620,623			19,800			15,261
Plan assets:
Fair value at beginning of year	495,047			456,591			—			—
Actual return on plan assets	(21,132		)	63,090			—			—
Company contributions	—			74			1,105			810
Benefits paid	(28,670		)	(24,708		)	(1,105		)	(810		)
Curtailments/Settlements	(148,006		)	—			—			—
Journal acquisition	110,558			—			—			—
Fair value at end of year	407,797			495,047			—			—
Funded status ⁽¹⁾	$	(203,460	)	$	(125,576	)	$	(19,800	)	$	(15,261	)
Amounts recognized in Consolidated Balance Sheets:
Current liabilities	$	—		$	—		$	(1,295	)	$	(1,048	)
Noncurrent liabilities	(203,460		)	(125,576		)	(18,505		)	(14,213		)
Total	$	(203,460	)	$	(125,576	)	$	(19,800	)	$	(15,261	)
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss consist of:
Unrecognized net actuarial (gain)/loss	$	139,321		$	191,757		$	4,924		$	9,632

⁽¹⁾For 2014, $3.6 million of the SERP liability related to the divested newspaper operations is included in long-term liabilities of discontinued operations.

Schedule of pension plans with an accumulated benefit obligation and projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets

Information for pension plans with an accumulated benefit obligation and projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets was as follows:



	As of December 31,
	Defined Benefit Plans				SERP
(in thousands)	2015		2014		2015		2014

Accumulated benefit obligation	$	611,257	$	620,623	$	19,800	$	15,261
Projected benefit obligation	611,257		620,623		19,800		15,261
Fair value of plan assets	407,797		495,047		—		—

Schedule of allocation of pension plan assets by asset category

Information related to our pension plan asset allocations by asset category were as follows:



	Target allocation		Percentage of plan assets as of December 31,
	2016		2015		2014

US equity securities	20	%	14	%	11	%
Non-US equity securities	29	%	21	%	15	%
Fixed-income securities	45	%	58	%	70	%
Other	6	%	7	%	4	%
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%

Plan assets measured using the fair value hierarchy

The following tables present our plan assets using the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015 and 2014:



	December 31, 2015
(in thousands)	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3

Equity securities
Common/collective trust funds	$	146,314	$	—	$	146,314	$	—
Fixed income
Common/collective trust funds	234,923		—		234,923		—
Real estate fund	14,670		—		—		14,670
Cash equivalents	11,890		11,890		—		—
Fair value of plan assets	$	407,797	$	11,890	$	381,237	$	14,670



	December 31, 2014
(in thousands)	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3

Equity securities
Common/collective trust funds	$	128,189	$	—	$	128,189	$	—
Fixed income
Common/collective trust funds	343,462		—		343,462		—
Real estate fund	21,661		—		—		21,661
Cash equivalents	1,735		1,735		—		—
Fair value of plan assets	$	495,047	$	1,735	$	471,651	$	21,661

Reconciliation of Level 3 assets

The following table presents a reconciliation of Level 3 assets held during 2015 and 2014:



(in thousands)	Real Estate Fund

As of December 31, 2013	$	19,534
Unrealized gains/(losses)	2,127
As of December 31, 2014	21,661
Journal acquisition	4,802
Unrealized gains/(losses)	2,761
Sales	(14,554		)
As of December 31, 2015	$	14,670