LEASES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Leases [Abstract]

LEASES

LEASES

Leasing Guidance

The accounting guidance for leases was modified in 2019 to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by requiring the recognition of Right-of-Use ("ROU") assets and lease liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. Based upon the Company's assessment, the impact of this guidance had a material impact on the Company's financial position and the impact to the Company's results of operations and cash flows through December 31, 2021, was not material.

Leasing Transactions

The Company’s leased assets primarily include real estate, broadcasting towers and equipment. The Company’s leases have remaining lease terms of less than 1 year up to 30 years, some of which include one or more options to extend the leases, with renewal terms up to fifteen years and some of which include options to terminate the leases within the next year. Many of the Company’s leases include options to extend the terms of the agreements. Generally, renewal options are excluded when calculating the lease liabilities, as the Company does not consider the exercise of such options to be reasonably certain. Unless a renewal option is considered reasonably assured, the optional terms and related payments are not included within the lease liability. The Company’s lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.

The Company’s operating leases are reflected on the Company’s balance sheet within the Operating lease right-of-use assets line item and the related current and non-current liabilities are included within the Operating lease liabilities and Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion line items, respectively. ROU assets represent the right to use an underlying asset for the lease term, and lease liabilities represent the obligation to make lease payments arising from leases. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based upon the present value of lease payments over the respective lease term. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

As the rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable for the Company’s operating leases, the Company generally uses an incremental borrowing rate based upon information available at the commencement date to determine the present value of future lease payments. The incremental borrowing rate is the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. In order to measure the operating lease liability and determine the present value of lease payments, the Company estimated what the incremental borrowing rate was for each lease using an applicable treasury rate compatible to the remaining life of the lease and the applicable margin for the Company’s Revolver.

In determining whether a contract is or contains a lease at inception of a contract, the Company considers all relevant facts and circumstances, including whether the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. This consideration involves judgment with respect to whether the Company has the right to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from the use of the identified asset and whether the Company has the right to direct the use of the identified asset.

On January 1, 2019, the Company implemented the new leasing guidance using a modified retrospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment to its accumulated deficit of $4.7 million, net of taxes of $1.7 million. This adjustment was attributable to the recognition of deferred gains from sale and leaseback transactions under the previous accounting guidance for leases.

Lease Expense

The components of lease expense were as follows:

	Lease Cost
	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2021		2020		2019
	(amounts in thousands)
Operating lease cost	$	48,999	$	49,061	$	50,169
Variable lease cost	11,517		10,575		9,691
Short-term lease cost	—		—		182
Total lease cost	$	60,516	$	59,636	$	60,042

Supplemental Cash Flow

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Description	2021		2020		2019
	(amounts in thousands)
Cash paid for amounts included in measurement of lease liabilities	$	53,838	$	53,237	$	52,056
Lease liabilities arising from obtaining right-of-use assets (1)	$	28,608	$	11,851	$	315,377

(1)ROU assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations in 2019 include transition liabilities upon implementation of the amended leasing guidance, as well as new leases entered into during the year ended December 31, 2019.

Balance Sheet

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

Description	December 31, 2021		December 31, 2020
	(amounts in thousands)
Operating Leases
Operating leases right-of-use assets	$	229,607	$	236,903
Operating lease liabilities (current)	$	39,598	$	40,439
Operating lease liabilities (noncurrent)	$	217,281	$	229,400
Total operating lease liabilities	$	256,879	$	269,839

	December 31, 2021		December 31, 2020
Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term
Operating leases	7 years		8 years
Weighted Average Discount Rate
Operating leases	4.7	%	4.9	%

Maturities

The aggregate maturities of the Company’s lease liabilities as of December 31, 2021, are as follows:

	Lease Maturities
	Operating Leases
	(amounts in thousands)
Years ending Years ending December 31:
2022	$	53,134
2023	49,959
2024	44,483
2025	38,386
2026	32,099
Thereafter	84,982
Total lease payments	303,043
Less: imputed interest	(46,164)
Total	$	256,879

As of December 31, 2021, the Company has not entered into any leases that have not yet commenced.