Retirement Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]

Our principal defined benefit pension plan is the TEGNA Retirement Plan (TRP). The disclosure table below includes the pension expenses of the TRP and the TEGNA Supplemental Retirement Plan (SERP). The total net pension obligations, both current and non-current liabilities, as of September 30, 2017, were $199.0 million ($31.0 million is recorded as a current obligation within accrued liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet).

Our pension costs, which include costs for the qualified TRP plan and the nonqualified SERP plan, are presented in the following table (in thousands):



	Quarter ended Sept. 30,						Nine months ended Sept. 30,
	2017			2016			2017			2016

Service cost-benefits earned during the period	$	218		$	204		$	654		$	612
Interest cost on benefit obligation	5,990			6,449			17,971			19,636
Expected return on plan assets	(6,580		)	(6,691		)	(19,741		)	(20,073		)
Amortization of prior service cost	159			165			476			505
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,081			1,846			6,242			5,740
Expense for company-sponsored retirement plans	$	1,868		$	1,973		$	5,602		$	6,420

The service cost component of our pension expense is recorded within the operating expense line items Cost of revenue, Business units - Selling, general and administrative, and Corporate - General and administrative within the Consolidated Statements of Income. All other components of the pension expense are included within the Other non-operating items line item of the Consolidated Statements of Income.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017 we made $10.9 million in cash contributions to the TRP, and plan to make additional contributions of $1.7 million to the TRP during the fourth quarter of 2017. We did not make any contributions to the TRP in 2016. During the nine months ended September 30, 2017 and 2016, we made benefit payments to participants of the SERP of $7.2 million and $4.2 million, respectively.