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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:
 
Litigation
 
We are a party to lawsuits and claims from time to time in the ordinary course of business.  Actions currently pending are in various stages and no material judgments or decisions have been rendered by hearing boards or courts in connection with such actions.  After reviewing developments to date with legal counsel, our management is of the opinion that the outcome of our pending and threatened matters will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of operations or consolidated statements of cash flows.
 
Various parties have filed petitions to deny our applications or our LMA partners’ applications for the following stations’ license renewals: WXLV-TV, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; WMYV-TV, Greensboro, North Carolina; WLFL-TV, Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina; WRDC-TV, Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina; WLOS-TV, Asheville, North Carolina; WCIV-TV, Charleston, South Carolina (formerly WMMP-TV); WMYA-TV, Anderson, South Carolina; WICS-TV Springfield, Illinois; WBFF-TV, Baltimore, Maryland; WTTE-TV, Columbus, Ohio; WRGT-TV, Dayton, Ohio; WVAH-TV, Charleston / Huntington, West Virginia; WCGV-TV, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and WTTO-TV in Birmingham, AL. The FCC is in the process of considering the renewal applications and we believe the petitions have no merit.
 
Changes in the Rules of Television Ownership and Joint Sale Agreements
 
On March 12, 2014, the FCC issued a public notice on the processing of broadcast television applications proposing sharing arrangements and contingent interests.  The public notice indicated that the FCC will closely scrutinize any broadcast assignment or transfer application that proposes that two or more stations in the same market will enter into an agreement to share facilities, employees and/or services or to jointly acquire programming or sell advertising including through a JSA, LMA or similar agreement and enter into an option, right of first refusal, put /call arrangement or other similar contingent interest, or a loan guarantee. We cannot now predict what actions the FCC may require in connection with the processing of applications for FCC consent to future transactions.  In addition, on April 15, 2014, the FCC issued an order amending its multiple ownership rules to provide that, where two television stations are located in the same market, and a party with an attributable interest in one station sells more than 15% of the ad time per week of the other station, the party selling such ad time shall be treated as if it had an attributable ownership interest in the second station.  The imputed ownership interest would be evaluated to determine whether it complies with the FCC’s ownership rules that limit the number of stations in which parties may hold attributable interests.  The amended rule also requires that every JSA contain certain certifications that the licensee maintains ultimate control of the station subject to such contract, that such JSAs be filed with the Commission and made available for public review, and that JSAs that existed on the effective date of the new rule have two years to be terminated, amended or otherwise come into compliance with the new rules.  Under the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization (STELAR), which became law on December 4, 2014, Congress extended the period of time for parties to preexisting JSAs to come into compliance with the new rules for an additional six months, until December 19, 2016.   A bill has been introduced into Congress proposing to permanently grandfather preexisting JSAs, but we cannot predict its likelihood of enactment.  The new rule is the subject of an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. We cannot predict the outcome of that appeal. Among other things, the new JSA rule could limit our ability to create duopolies or other two-station operations in certain markets.  We are currently evaluating whether to seek one or more waivers of the new rules, or to modify or terminate our current JSAs. We cannot predict whether we will be able to terminate or restructure such arrangements on terms that are as advantageous to us as the current arrangements.  The revenues of these JSA arrangements we earned were $11.8 million and $11.5 million three months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014 and $22.7 million and $22.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015 and 2014, respectively.