Commitments, Contingencies and Other

Share repurchase program

The Company repurchased 2.1 million shares of its outstanding voting common stock at an average price of $16.18 during 2015 under the share repurchase program approved by the Board of Directors of the Company. The total cost of the repurchases was $34 million during 2015. The share repurchase program expired on December 31, 2015.

Program license rights

The Company had unamortized program license assets of $5.7 million and $8.5 million as of December 31, 2015, and 2014, respectively, of which $2.9 million and $4.9 million, respectively, were expected to be amortized over a period greater than one year.

Unpaid program license liabilities totaled $16 million and $14 million as of December 31, 2015, and 2014, respectively, of which $3.2 million and $5.9 million, respectively, were payable in greater than one year and included in other liabilities. The obligation for programming that has been contracted for, but not recorded in the accompanying balance sheet because the program rights were not currently available for airing, was approximately $92.8 million at December 31, 2015. If such programs are not produced, the Company's commitment would expire without obligation.

Lease obligations

Capital Leases

The Company is obligated under various capital leases for certain broadcast equipment, office furniture, fixtures and other equipment that range from one to fifteen years. At December 31, 2015, and 2014, the net amount of property and equipment recorded under capital leases was $14 million and $14 million, respectively. Amortization of assets held under capital leases is included with depreciation and amortization of property and equipment.

Operating Leases

The Company has certain operating leases, primarily for administrative offices, broadcast equipment and vehicles that range from one to more than fifteen years. In many cases, the leases contain renewal options and require the Company to pay all costs such as maintenance and insurance.

Future minimum lease payments under capital and operating leases (with initial or remaining lease terms in excess of one year) as of December 31, 2015, are as follows:



	Capital			Operating
(In thousands)	Leases			Leases
Year Ending December 31
2016	$	1,654		$	9,892
2017	1,514			9,491
2018	1,396			7,370
2019	1,396			6,054
2020	1,425			5,630
Thereafter	14,413			27,966
Total minimum lease payments	21,798			$	66,403
Less: amounts representing interest	(6,927		)
Present value of capital lease obligations	$	14,871

Rental expense under operating leases was $13 million, $4.8 million and $1.9 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Other assets

Other assets included assets held for sale of $8.3 million at December 31, 2015.

Restructuring activities

In 2015 the Company adopted a plan to restructure certain digital segment operations which is expected to save the Company approximately $6.5 million in operating costs annually. The Company recorded severance expense of $1.6 million related to the plan in 2015. Accrued severance costs are included in the “Accrued salaries and wages” line item on the consolidated condensed balance sheet. Following severance payments of $245 thousand, the remaining severance liability related to the digital restructuring was approximately $1.3 million as of December 31, 2015. In April of 2014, the Company adopted a plan to restructure certain corporate and shared service operations intended to save $10 million in operating costs annually. The Company recorded severance expense of $4.8 million in 2014. Accrued severance costs are included in the “Accrued salaries and wages” line item on the consolidated condensed balance sheet. Following severance payments of $1.8 million, the remaining severance liability related to the corporate restructuring was approximately $3.0 million as of December 31, 2014.

Accrued salaries and wages

Accrued salaries and wages consist of the following:



(In thousands)	2015		2014
Accrued bonuses	$	8,459	$	8,679
Accrued severance	3,538		9,060
Other accrued salaries and wages	9,468		18,895
Accrued salaries and wages	$	21,465	$	36,634

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consist of the following:



(In thousands)	2015		2014
Employee benefits	$	13,173	$	14,233
Network compensation accrued fees	25,445		30,655
Accrued interest payable	11,218		14,456
Other	45,664		44,748
Other accrued expenses and other current liabilities	$	95,500	$	104,092

Restricted cash at qualified intermediary

The Company received $120 million of restricted cash in a qualified intermediary (a consolidated entity) from the 2014 sale of the WJAR-TV station discussed in Note 2. In June of 2015, the restricted cash was released from the qualified intermediary and remitted to the Company.

Acquisition of Dedicated Media noncontrolling interest

As a result of the LIN Merger consummated in 2014, the Company recognized a noncontrolling interest in the HYFN and Dedicated Media subsidiaries during the year ended December 31, 2014. The Company acquired the outstanding noncontrolling interest in Dedicated Media in April 2015 for $11 million. As a result of the transaction, Dedicated Media is 100% owned by the Company as of December 31, 2015.

HYFN, Inc.

The Company holds a 50.1% interest (calculated on a fully diluted basis) in HYFN, a full service digital advertising agency specializing in the planning, development, deployment and support for websites, mobile sites, interactive banners, games and various applications for multiple devices. Under the terms of the agreement with HYFN, the Company agrees to purchase the remaining outstanding shares of HYFN if HYFN achieves both (i) a target EBITDA and (ii) target net revenues in 2015, as outlined in the transaction agreements. The purchase price of these shares is based on multiples of HYFN’s 2015 net revenue and EBITDA. As of December 31, 2015, the Company did not believe it was probable that HYFN would achieve at least the minimum levels of EBITDA and net revenues to obligate the Company to purchase the remaining outstanding shares of HYFN.

If the Company does not purchase the remaining outstanding shares of HYFN by the date set forth in the purchase agreement, the noncontrolling interest holders have the right to purchase the Company’s interest. The purchase price of these shares is based on the same purchase price multiple described above and is exercisable only if the applicable financial targets are not met and the Company does not elect to purchase the remaining interest. The fair value of this option is zero and no amounts related to these options are included in the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2015 or December 31, 2014.

The Company’s obligation to purchase the noncontrolling interest holders’ shares of HYFN are outside of its control, because they are based on the achievement of certain financial targets described above. Therefore, the noncontrolling interests related to HYFN as of December 31, 2015 has been reported as redeemable noncontrolling interest and classified as temporary equity on the consolidated balance sheets.