Revenues

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Revenue From Contract With Customer [Abstract]

Revenues

3. REVENUES

Revenue Recognition

Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the Company’s customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those services.

Broadcast Advertising. Television and radio revenue related to the sale of advertising is recognized at the time of broadcast. Broadcast advertising rates are fixed based on each medium’s ability to attract audiences in demographic groups targeted by advertisers and rates can vary based on the time of day and ratings of the programming airing in that day part.  

Digital Advertising. Revenue from digital advertising primarily consists of two types:

• Display advertisements on websites and mobile applications that are sold based on a cost-per-thousand impressions delivered. These impressions are delivered through the Company’s websites and through third party publishers either through direct relationships with the publishers or through digital advertising exchanges.

• Performance driven advertising whereby the customer engages the Company to drive consumers to perform an action such as the download of a mobile application, the installation of an application, or the first use of an application (typically referred to cost per action or cost per installation).  

Broadcast and digital advertising revenue is recognized over time in a series as a single performance obligation as the advertisement, impression or performance advertising is delivered per the insertion order. The Company applies the practical expedient to recognize revenue for each distinct advertising service delivered at the amount the Company has the right to invoice, which corresponds directly to the value a customer has received relative to the Company’s performance. Contracts with customers are short term in nature and billing occurs on a monthly basis with payment due in 30 days. Value added taxes collected concurrent with advertising revenue producing activities are excluded from revenue.  Cash payments received prior to services rendered result in deferred revenue, which is then recognized as revenue when the advertising time or space is actually provided.

Retransmission Consent.  The Company generates revenue from retransmission consent agreements that are entered into with MVPDs. The Company grants the MVPDs access to its television station signals so that they may rebroadcast the signals and charge their subscribers for this programming. Payments are received on a monthly basis based on the number of monthly subscribers.

Retransmission consent revenues are considered licenses of functional intellectual property and are recognized over time utilizing the sale-based or usage-based royalty exception. The Company’s performance obligation is to provide the licensee access to our intellectual property. MVPD subscribers receive and consume the content monthly as the television signal is delivered.

Spectrum Usage Rights. The Company generates revenue from agreements associated with its television stations’ spectrum usage rights from a variety of sources, including but not limited to agreements with third parties to utilize excess spectrum for the broadcast of their multicast networks; charging fees to accommodate the operations of third parties, including moving channel positions or accepting interference with broadcasting operations; and modifying and/or relinquishing spectrum usage rights while continuing to broadcast through channel sharing or other arrangements. 

Revenue generated by spectrum usage rights agreements are recognized over the period of the lease or when the Company has relinquished all or a portion of its spectrum usage rights for a station or has relinquished its rights to operate a station on the existing channel free from interference.

Other Revenue. The Company generates other revenues that are related to its broadcast operations, which primarily consist of representation fees earned by the Company’s radio national representation firm, talent fees for the Company’s on-air personalities, ticket and concession sales for radio events, rent from tenants of the Company’s owned facilities, barter revenue and revenue generated under joint sales agreements.  

In the case of representation fees, the Company does not control the distinct service, the commercial advertisement, prior to delivery and therefore recognizes revenue on a net basis.  Similarly for joint service agreements, the Company does not own the station providing the airtime and therefore recognizes revenue on a net basis.  In the case of talent fees, the on-air personality is an employee of the Company and therefore the Company controls the service provided and recognizes revenue gross with an expense for fees paid to the employee.

Practical Expedients and Exemptions

The Company does not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations when (i) contracts have an original expected length of one year or less, which applies to effectively all advertising contracts; and (ii) variable consideration is a sales-based or usage-based royalty promised in exchange for a license of intellectual property, which applies to retransmission consent revenue.  

The Company applies the practical expedient to expense contract acquisition costs, such as sales commissions generated either by internal direct sales employees or through third party advertising agency intermediaries, when incurred, because the amortization period is one year or less. These costs are recorded within direct operating expenses.

Disaggregated Revenue

The following table presents our revenues disaggregated by major source for the three-month periods ended (in thousands):

	Three-Month Period
	Ended March 31,
	2021		2020
Broadcast advertising	$	33,675	$	38,728
Digital advertising		101,482		13,331
Spectrum usage rights		2,844		1,356
Retransmission consent		9,647		9,580
Other		1,232		1,254
Total revenue	$	148,880	$	64,249

Contracts are entered into directly with customers or through an advertising agency that represents the customer.  Sales of advertising to customers or agencies within a station’s designated market area (“DMA”) are referred to as local revenue, whereas sales from outside the station’s DMA are referred to as national revenue. The following table further disaggregates the Company’s broadcast advertising revenue by sales channel for the three-month periods ended (in thousands):

	Three-Month Period
	Ended March 31,
	2021		2020
Local direct	$	5,240	$	5,843
Local agency		13,188		13,566
National agency		15,247		19,319
Total  revenue	$	33,675	$	38,728

Deferred Revenue

The Company records deferred revenue, which are included in accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, when cash payments are received or due in advance of the Company’s performance, including amounts which are refundable. The change in the deferred revenue balance for the three-month period ended March 31, 2021 is primarily driven by cash payments received or due in advance of satisfying the Company’s performance obligations, offset by revenues recognized that were included in the deferred revenue balance as of December 31, 2020.

The Company’s payment terms vary by the type and location of customer and the products or services offered. The term between invoicing and when payment is due is not significant, typically 30 days. For certain customer types, the Company requires payment before the services are delivered to the customer.

(in thousands)	December 31, 2020		Increase	Decrease *	March 31, 2021
Deferred revenue	$	3,127	3,598	(3,127)	$	3,598

* The amount reflects revenue that has been recorded in the three-month period ended March 31, 2021.