Variable Interest Entities

Certain of the Company's broadcast stations provide services to other station owners within the same market via Joint Sales Agreements ("JSA") and/or Shared Service Agreements ("SSA"). The Company has JSA and/or SSA agreements with 8 stations. Depending on the specific terms of these agreements, the Company may provide a variety of operational and administrative services, assume an obligation to reimburse certain expenses of the stations and guarantee certain external borrowings by the station parent companies (refer to Note 6 for guaranteed borrowings). The Company is compensated for these services through performance based and/or administrative fees. Under certain JSAs, the Company has an option to acquire the related station at any time, subject to FCC consent, until the expiration of the applicable JSA. The Company has determined that the stations with which it has JSAs and/or SSAs, and certain of their parent companies, are VIEs as a result of the terms of the agreements.

The Company is the primary beneficiary of the VIEs, because (a) subject to the ultimate control of the broadcast licensees, the Company has the power to direct the activities which significantly impact the economic performance of the VIEs through the services the Company provides and (b) the Company absorbs returns and losses which would be considered significant to the VIEs. Therefore, the financial results and financial position of these entities have been consolidated by the Company in accordance with the VIE accounting guidance.

The carrying amounts and classification of the assets and liabilities of the consolidated VIE entities described above, which have been included in the consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2016, and December 31, 2015, were as follows:



(In thousands)	March 31, 2016		December 31, 2015
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,554	$	3,693
Trade accounts receivable (less allowance for doubtful accounts 2016 - $89; 2015 - $94)	7,985		9,798
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	715		796
Total current assets	12,254		14,287
Property and equipment, net	1,937		1,904
Other assets, net	2,874		3,094
Definite lived intangible assets, net	31,479		32,244
Broadcast licenses	71,300		71,300
Goodwill	21,859		21,859
Total assets	$	141,703	$	144,688
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade accounts payable	$	13	$	16
Other accrued expenses and other current liabilities	1,974		2,221
Current installments of long-term debt	3,514		3,804
Total current liabilities	5,501		6,041
Long-term debt, net	23,285		24,062
Other liabilities	6,981		8,310
Total liabilities	$	35,767	$	38,413

The assets of the Company’s consolidated VIEs can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs and may not be sold, or otherwise disposed of, except for assets sold or replaced with others of like kind or value. At March 31, 2016, the Company has an option to acquire the assets or member's interest of the VIE entities that it may exercise if the FCC attribution rules change to permit the Company to acquire such interest. The option exercise price is of nominal value and significantly less than the carrying value of their tangible and intangible net assets. The options are carried at zero on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet, as any value attributable to the options is eliminated in the consolidation of the VIEs. In an order adopted in March 2014, the FCC concluded that JSAs should be “attributable” for purposes of the media ownership rules if they permit a television licensee to sell more than 15% of the commercial inventory of a television station owned by a third party in the same market. Pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, the Company will be required to modify or terminate its existing JSAs no later than September 30, 2025, unless they are able to obtain a waiver of such rules. Accordingly, absent further developments, or the grant of waivers, the Company continues to monitor regulatory developments and evaluate potential changes to its JSA and SSA arrangements.