NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Schedule of rollforward of the allowance for doubtful accounts

A rollforward of the allowance for doubtful accounts for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 is as follows (in millions):

	2020		2019		2018
Balance at beginning of period	$	8	$	2	$	3
Charged to expense	2		9		5
Net write-offs	(5)		(3)		(6)
Balance at end of period	$	5	$	8	$	2

Schedule of accrued liabilities

Accrued liabilities consisted of the following as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 (in millions):

	2020		2019
Compensation and employee benefits	$	131	$	136
Interest	127		154
Programming related obligations	183		191
Legal, litigation, and regulatory	2		186
Accounts payable and other operating expenses	90		115
Total accounts payable and accrued liabilities	$	533	$	782

Schedule of cash transactions

During the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018, we had the following cash transactions (in millions):

	2020		2019		2018
Income taxes paid	$	11	$	32	$	17
Income tax refunds	$	2	$	2	$	—
Interest paid	$	634	$	283	$	285

Disaggregation of revenue

The following table presents our revenue disaggregated by type and segment for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019, and 2018 (in millions):

For the year ended December 31, 2020	Broadcast		Local sports		Other		Eliminations		Total
Distribution revenue	$	1,414	$	2,472	$	199	$	—	$	4,085
Advertising revenue	1,364		196		131		(2)		1,689
Other media, non-media, and intercompany revenue	144		18		121		(114)		169
Total revenues	$	2,922	$	2,686	$	451	$	(116)	$	5,943
For the year ended December 31, 2019	Broadcast		Local sports		Other		Eliminations		Total
Distribution revenue	$	1,341	$	1,029	$	130	$	—	$	2,500
Advertising revenue	1,268		103		110		(1)		1,480
Other media, non-media, and intercompany revenue	81		7		230		(58)		260
Total revenues	$	2,690	$	1,139	$	470	$	(59)	$	4,240
For the year ended December 31, 2018	Broadcast		Local sports		Other		Eliminations		Total
Distribution revenue	$	1,186	$	—	$	113	$	—	$	1,299
Advertising revenue	1,484		—		75		—		1,559
Other media, non-media, and intercompany revenue	45		—		162		(10)		197
Total revenues	$	2,715	$	—	$	350	$	(10)	$	3,055