Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Schedule of Income before Income Tax, Domestic and Foreign

Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes consists of the following components:

(In thousands)	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Domestic	$	529,451	$	587,346	$	618,955
Foreign	(43,265)		32,927		21,423
Total	$	486,186	$	620,273	$	640,378

Schedule of Components of Income Tax Expense (Benefit)

Income tax expense attributable to continuing operations consists of the following components:

(In thousands)	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
Current expense:
Federal	$	81,459	$	80,360	$	162,639
State	12,657		13,663		14,301
Foreign	24,608		25,001		17,382
	118,724		119,024		194,322
Deferred expense (benefit):
Federal	(2,216)		34,636		(38,416)
State	(98)		3,627		(2,436)
Foreign	(36,602)		(4,896)		(7,813)
	(38,916)		33,367		(48,665)
Tax expense (benefit) relating to uncertain tax positions, including accrued interest	(1,338)		3,915		5,084
Income tax expense	$	78,470	$	156,306	$	150,741

Schedule of Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the federal statutory income tax rate to the effective income tax rate is as follows:

(In thousands)	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
U.S. federal statutory income tax rate	21	%	21	%	35	%
State and local income taxes, net of federal benefit	2		2		2
Effect of foreign operations	2		—		(1)
Effect of rate changes on deferred taxes (a)	—		(2)		(11)
Transition tax, net of foreign taxes deemed paid	—		—		2
Nontaxable income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)		(1)		(1)
Changes in the valuation allowance (b)	(4)		3		—
Domestic production activity deduction	—		—		(3)
Tax expense relating to uncertain tax positions, including accrued interest, net of deferred tax benefits	—		—		1
Deferral of investment tax credit benefit (c)	(2)
Other	(2)		2		—
Effective income tax rate	16	%	25	%	24	%

(a) The benefits related to effects of rate changes in the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, primarily relate to the one-time impact of the change in the corporate tax rate on deferred tax assets and liabilities as enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (enacted December 22, 2017) and the one-time rate change on deferred tax assets and liabilities that resulted from the extension of certain television production cost deductions included in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (enacted February 9, 2018) and return to provision adjustments.

(b) In the year ended December 31, 2019, the decrease in valuation allowance relates primarily to the expected utilization of foreign net operating loss carryforwards resulting from the reorganization of intellectual property amongst the Company’s international subsidiaries. In the year ended December 31, 2018, the increase in valuation allowance relates primarily to a change in judgement related to U.S. foreign tax credits.

(c) In the year ended December 31, 2019, the deferral of investment tax credit benefit relates to the income tax benefit recognized from investment tax credits recorded using the deferral method of accounting.

Schedule of Deferred Tax Assets and Liabilities

The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant components of deferred tax assets or liabilities at December 31, 2019 and 2018 are as follows:

(In thousands)	December 31,
	2019		2018
Deferred Tax Asset (Liability)
NOLs and tax credit carry forwards	$	103,407	$	123,487
Compensation and benefit plans	27,835		29,294
Allowance for doubtful accounts	428		981
Fixed assets and intangible assets	37,893		24,150
Accrued interest expense	7,202		8,832
Other liabilities	27,276		24,594
Deferred tax asset	204,041		211,338
Valuation allowance	(59,584)		(95,185)
Net deferred tax asset	144,457		116,153
Prepaid liabilities	(530)		(514)
Fixed assets and intangible assets	(93,300)		(90,960)
Investments in partnerships	(105,062)		(121,156)
Other assets	(30,931)		(29,694)
Deferred tax liability	(229,823)		(242,324)
Total net deferred tax liability	$	(85,366)	$	(126,171)

Schedule Of Unrecognized Tax Benefits Reconciliation

A reconciliation of the beginning to ending amount of the liability for uncertain tax positions (excluding related accrued interest and deferred tax benefit) is as follows:

(In thousands)
Balance at December 31, 2018	$	23,169
Increases related to current year tax positions	2,043
Increases related to prior year tax positions	4,880
Decreases related to prior year tax positions	(6,324)
Decreases due to settlements/payments	(4,809)
Decreases due to lapse of statute	(371)
Balance at December 31, 2019	$	18,588