PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

Pension

Single-Employer Plans

We sponsor several single-employer defined benefit pension plans, the majority of which have been frozen. We also participate in joint Company and Guild-sponsored plans covering employees of The New York Times Newspaper Guild, including The New York Times Newspaper Guild pension plan, which was frozen and replaced with a new defined benefit pension plan, The Guild-Times Adjustable Pension Plan. On June 18, 2014, the Board of Trustees of The Guild-Times Adjustable Pension Fund received a favorable determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) approving the new plan.

The components of net periodic pension cost/(income) were as follows:



	For the Quarters Ended
	June 29, 2014								June 30, 2013
(In thousands)	Qualified Plans			Non- Qualified Plans		All Plans			Qualified Plans			Non- Qualified Plans		All Plans
Service cost	$	2,385		$	—	$	2,385		$	2,323		$	256	$	2,579
Interest cost	21,112			2,711		23,823			19,284			2,643		21,927
Expected return on plan assets	(28,460		)	—		(28,460		)	(31,063		)	—		(31,063		)
Amortization of prior service credit	(484		)	—		(484		)	(486		)	—		(486		)
Amortization of actuarial loss	6,711			1,033		7,744			8,442			1,312		9,754
Effect of pension settlement	—			9,525		9,525			—			—		—
Net periodic pension cost/(income)	$	1,264		$	13,269	$	14,533		$	(1,500	)	$	4,211	$	2,711



	For the Six Months Ended
	June 29, 2014								June 30, 2013
(In thousands)	Qualified Plans			Non- Qualified Plans		All Plans			Qualified Plans			Non- Qualified Plans		All Plans
Service cost	$	4,772		$	—	$	4,772		$	4,645		$	512	$	5,157
Interest cost	42,224			5,586		47,810			38,568			5,286		43,854
Expected return on plan assets	(56,920		)	—		(56,920		)	(62,125		)	—		(62,125		)
Amortization of prior service credit	(970		)	—		(970		)	(972		)	—		(972		)
Amortization of actuarial loss	13,309			2,087		15,396			16,884			2,623		19,507
Effect of pension settlement	—			9,525		9,525			—			—		—
Net periodic pension cost/(income)	$	2,415		$	17,198	$	19,613		$	(3,000	)	$	8,421	$	5,421

In the first six months of 2014, we made pension contributions of approximately $9 million to certain qualified pension plans. Including the first six months of contributions, we expect to make total contributions of approximately $16 million in 2014 to our qualified pension plans to satisfy minimum funding requirements.

One-Time Lump-Sum Payment Offer

During the first quarter of 2014, we offered to certain former employees who participate in certain non-qualified pension plans the option to elect to receive a one-time lump-sum payment equal to the present value of the participant’s pension benefit. The election period for this voluntary offer closed on April 25, 2014. As a result, we recorded a pension settlement charge of $9.5 million during the second quarter in connection with the one-time lump-sum payment to certain former employees of approximately $24 million to reduce pension obligations by approximately $32 million.

Other Postretirement Benefits

The components of net periodic postretirement benefit cost/(income) were as follows:



	For the Quarters Ended						For the Six Months Ended
(In thousands)	June 29, 2014			June 30, 2013			June 29, 2014			June 30, 2013
Service cost	$	147		$	285		$	294		$	570
Interest cost	1,010			1,009			2,020			2,018
Amortization of prior service credit	(1,600		)	(3,693		)	(3,200		)	(7,385		)
Amortization of actuarial loss	1,184			1,022			2,368			2,044
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost/(income)	$	741		$	(1,377	)	$	1,482		$	(2,753	)

Recent Developments

Recently, the Society of Actuaries (“SOA”) released proposed mortality tables, which increased life expectancy assumptions. Final updates to the mortality tables are expected to be issued by the end of 2014. However, the SOA has stated that if at any point it becomes apparent that this cannot be accomplished within the targeted timeframe, they will communicate the adjusted timeline. Based on this expected data, it is likely we would revise the mortality assumptions used in determining our pension and postretirement benefit obligations. We expect the adoption of new mortality assumptions for purposes of funding our plans will trail the adoption for accounting purposes. Our preliminary analysis of the impact of the revised mortality tables, when fully implemented for accounting and plan funding purposes, estimates an increase of approximately $150 million in pension and postretirement liabilities and approximately $10 million in annual pension and postretirement expense and may result in higher pension funding requirements in future periods depending upon the funded status of our pension plans. These expectations presume all other assumptions remain constant and there are no changes to applicable funding regulations.