7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:

Stock Repurchase Program

In December 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a repurchase of shares of the Company’s Class A and Class D common stock (the “December 2015 Repurchase Authorization”). Under the December 2015 Repurchase Authorization, the Company is authorized, but is not obligated, to repurchase up to $3.5 million worth of its Class A and/or Class D common stock. On March 25, 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors reaffirmed the December 2015 Repurchase Authorization without any limitation on price, and on September 23, 2016 increased the authorization to $7.0 million. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had approximately $7.0 million remaining under the authorization with respect to its Class A and Class D common stock. Repurchases may be made from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The timing and extent of any repurchases will depend upon prevailing market conditions, the trading price of the Company’s Class A and/or Class D common stock and other factors, and subject to restrictions under applicable law. The Company executes upon the stock repurchase program in a manner consistent with market conditions and the interests of the stockholders, including maximizing stockholder value. In addition, the Company has limited but ongoing authority to purchase shares of Class D common stock (in one or more transactions at any time there remain outstanding grants) under the Company’s 2009 Stock Plan (as defined below) to satisfy any employee or other recipient tax obligations in connection with the exercise of an option or a share grant under the 2009 Stock Plan, to the extent that the Company has capacity under its financing agreements (i.e., its current credit facilities and indentures) (each a “Stock Vest Tax Repurchase”). During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company executed a Stock Vest Tax Repurchase of 330,111 shares of Class D Common Stock in the amount of $568,000 at an average price of $1.72 per share. During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Company executed a Stock Vest Tax Repurchase of 345,293 shares of Class D Common Stock in the amount of approximately $1.4 million at an average price of $4.12 per share. During the three months ended September 30, 2016, the Company did not repurchase any Class A common stock and repurchased 619,418 shares of Class D common stock in the amount of approximately $1.9 million at an average price of $3.01 per share. During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company did not repurchase any Class A common stock and repurchased 1,255,592 shares of Class D common stock in the amount of approximately $3.0 million at an average price of $2.40 per share. During the three months ended September 30, 2015, the Company did not repurchase any Class A Common Stock or Class D Common Stock.

Stock Option and Restricted Stock Grant Plan

A stock option and restricted stock plan (“the 2009 Stock Plan”) was approved by the stockholders at the Company’s annual meeting on December 16, 2009. The Company had the authority to issue up to 8,250,000 shares of Class D Common Stock under the 2009 Stock Plan. On September 26, 2013, the Board of Directors adopted, and our stockholders approved on November 14, 2013, certain amendments to and restatement of the 2009 Stock Plan (the “Amended and Restated 2009 Stock Plan”). The amendments under the Amended and Restated 2009 Stock Plan primarily affected (i) the number of shares with respect to which options and restricted stock grants may be granted under the 2009 Stock Plan and (ii) the maximum number of shares that can be awarded to any individual in any one calendar year. The Amended and Restated 2009 Stock Plan increased the authorized plan shares remaining available for grant to 7,000,000 shares of Class D common stock after giving effect to the issuances prior to the amendment. Prior to the amendment, under the 2009 Plan, in any one calendar year, the compensation committee could not grant to any one participant options to purchase, or grants of, a number of shares of Class D common stock in excess of 1,000,000. Under the Amended and Restated 2009 Stock Plan, this limitation was eliminated. The purpose of eliminating this limitation is to provide the compensation committee with maximum flexibility in setting executive compensation. On April 13, 2015, the Board of Directors adopted, and our stockholders approved on June 2, 2015, a further amendment to the Amended and Restated 2009 Stock Plan. This further amendment increased the authorized plan shares remaining available for grant to 8,250,000 shares of Class D common stock. As of September 30, 2016, 8,012,932 shares of Class D common stock were available for grant under the Amended and Restated 2009 Stock Plan.

On September 30, 2014, the Compensation Committee (“Compensation Committee”) of the Board of Directors of the Company approved the principal terms of new employment agreements for each of the Company’s named executive officers which included the granting of restricted shares and stock options under a long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”) as follows, effective October 6, 2014:

Cathy Hughes, Founder and Executive Chairperson was awarded 456,000 restricted shares of the Company’s Class D common stock vesting in approximately equal 1/3 tranches on April 20, 2015, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016, and stock options to purchase 293,000 shares of the Company’s Class D common stock, vesting in approximately equal 1/3 tranches on April 6, 2015, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016.

Alfred C. Liggins, President and Chief Executive Officer of Radio One, Inc. and TV One, LLC was awarded 913,000 restricted shares of the Company’s Class D common stock vesting in approximately equal 1/3 tranches on April 20, 2015, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016, and stock options to purchase 587,000 shares of the Company’s Class D common stock, vesting in approximately equal 1/3 tranches on April 6, 2015, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016.

Peter Thompson, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer was awarded 350,000 restricted shares of the Company’s Class D common stock with 200,000 shares vesting on April 20, 2015, and with the remaining shares vesting in equal 75,000 share tranches on December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016, and stock options to purchase 225,000 shares of the Company’s Class D common stock vesting in equal 112,500 share tranches on December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016.

Linda Vilardo, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer was awarded 225,000 restricted shares of the Company’s Class D common stock vesting in equal 75,000 share tranches on April 20, 2015, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2016.

Also on September 30, 2014, the Compensation Committee awarded 410,000 shares of restricted stock to certain employees pursuant to the Company’s LTIP. The grants were effective October 6, 2014, and will vest in three installments, with the first installment of 33% vesting on April 6, 2015, and the second installment vesting on December 31, 2015. The remaining installment will vest on December 31, 2016. Pursuant to the terms of the 2009 Stock Option and Restricted Stock Grant Plan, as amended and restated as of December 31, 2013, and subject to the Company’s insider trading policy, a portion of each recipient’s vested shares may be sold in the open market for tax purposes on or about the vesting dates.

On October 26, 2015, the Compensation Committee awarded David Kantor, Chief Executive Officer, Radio Division, 100,000 restricted shares of the Company’s Class D common stock, and stock options to purchase 300,000 shares of the Company’s Class D common stock. The grants were effective November 5, 2015, and will vest in approximately equal 1/3 tranches on November 5, 2016, November 5, 2017 and November 5, 2018.

Stock-based compensation expense for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, was $782,000 and approximately $1.0 million, respectively, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, was approximately $2.3 million and $3.8 million, respectively.

The Company did not grant stock options during the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The Company granted 50,000 stock options during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015.

Transactions and other information relating to stock options for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, are summarized below:

	Number of Options		Weighted-Average Exercise Price		Weighted-Average Remaining Contractual Term (In Years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding at December 31, 2015		3,712,000	$	2.06		5.20	$	733,000
Grants		—	$	—
Exercised		—	$	—
Forfeited/cancelled/expired		(12,000)	$	10.66
Balance as of September 30, 2016		3,700,000	$	2.03		4.47	$	4,140,000
Vested and expected to vest at September 30, 2016		3,589,000	$	2.02		4.34	$	4,077,000
Unvested at September 30, 2016		756,000	$	2.45		8.50	$	441,000
Exercisable at September 30, 2016		2,944,000	$	1.93		3.43	$	3,699,000

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the difference between the Company’s stock closing price on the last day of trading during the three months ended September 30, 2016, and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of shares that would have been received by the holders of in-the-money options had all the option holders exercised their options on September 30, 2016. This amount changes based on the fair market value of the Company’s stock. There were no options exercised during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. There were no options that vested during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. There were no options exercised during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015. No options vested during the three months ended September 30, 2015, and 293,338 options vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

As of September 30, 2016, $694,000 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to stock options is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 7.5 months. The stock option weighted-average fair value per share was $1.39 at September 30, 2016.

The Company did not grant shares of restricted stock during the three months ended September 30, 2016, and granted 157,728 shares of restricted stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2016. The Company granted 25,000 shares of restricted stock during the three months ended September 30, 2015, and 93,680 shares of restricted stock during the nine months ended September 30, 2015. Each of the four non-executive directors received 18,182 shares of restricted stock or $50,000 worth of restricted stock based upon the closing price of the Company’s Class D common stock on June 16, 2016. Each of the five non-executive directors received 13,736 shares of restricted stock or $50,000 worth of restricted stock based upon the closing price of the Company’s Class D common stock on June 16, 2015. As noted above, during the year ended December 31, 2014, 2,424,000 restricted shares were issued to the Company’s Executives and other LTIP participants. During the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, 68,680 and 56,050 shares of restricted stock were issued to the Company’s non-executive directors as a part of their 2014 and 2015 compensation packages. All of the restricted stock grants vest over a two-year period in equal 50% installments.

Transactions and other information relating to restricted stock grants for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, are summarized below:

	Shares		Average Fair Value at Grant Date
Unvested at December 31, 2015		953,000	$	2.76
Grants		158,000	$	2.07
Vested		(50,000)	$	4.01
Forfeited/cancelled/expired		(45,000)	$	2.75
Unvested at September 30, 2016		1,016,000	$	2.81

The restricted stock grants were included in the Company’s outstanding share numbers on the effective date of grant. As of September 30, 2016, approximately $1.2 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to restricted stock grants is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 6.8 months.