Property and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Property Plant And Equipment [Abstract]

Property and Equipment

6. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Property and equipment as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 consists of (in millions):

	Estimated useful life (years)			2017		2016
Buildings	39		$	22.4	$	18.6
Construction in progress		—		4.6		2.6
Transmission, studio and other broadcast equipment	5-15			145.9		166.9
Office and computer equipment	3-7			28.9		30.2
Transportation equipment	5			6.4		6.8
Leasehold improvements and land improvements	Lesser of lease life or useful life			22.7		26.4
				230.9		251.5
Less accumulated depreciation				179.9		204.3
				51.0		47.2
Land				9.3		8.2
			$	60.3	$	55.4

Depreciation expense was $10.5 million, $11.8 million, and $12.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.  

As part of the FCC auction for broadcast spectrum (see Note 3), the FCC has reassigned some stations to new post-auction channels and will reimburse station owners for the cost of the relocation. The Company has received notification from the FCC that 16 of its stations have been assigned to new channels with an estimated reimbursable cost of $27.1 million.  These costs are expected to be incurred and reimbursed in 2018 and 2019.