evc-10k_20171231.htm

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

ANNUAL REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d)

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2017

OR

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period from                     to

Commission File Number 1-15997

 

ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

Delaware

 

95-4783236

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

2425 Olympic Boulevard, Suite 6000 West

Santa Monica, California 90404

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (310) 447-3870

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Class A Common Stock

 

The New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes      No  

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes      No  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes      No  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes      No  

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer

 

  

Accelerated filer

 

 

 

 

 

Non-accelerated filer

 

  

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

 

 

 

 

Smaller reporting company

 

 

Emerging growth company

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes      No  

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2017 was approximately $495,139,946 (based upon the closing price for shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock as reported by The New York Stock Exchange for the last trading date prior to that date).

As of March 26, 2018, there were 65,830,794 shares, $0.0001 par value per share, of the registrant’s Class A common stock outstanding, 14,927,613 shares, $0.0001 par value per share, of the registrant’s Class B common stock outstanding and 9,352,729 shares, $0.0001 par value per share, of the registrant’s Class U common stock outstanding.

Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement for the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled to be held on May 31, 2018 are incorporated by a reference in Part III hereof.

 

 

 

 


 

ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION

FORM 10-K FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

Page

 

 

 

 

 

PART I

 

ITEM 1.

 

BUSINESS

 

4

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 1A.

 

RISK FACTORS

 

30

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 1B.

 

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

 

42

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 2.

 

PROPERTIES

 

42

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 3.

 

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

42

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 4.

 

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

42

 

 

 

 

 

PART II

 

ITEM 5.

 

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

43

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 6.

 

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

46

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 7.

 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

48

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 7A.

 

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

73

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 8.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

 

74

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 9.

 

CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

 

74

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 9A.

 

CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

74

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 9B.

 

OTHER INFORMATION

 

79

 

 

 

 

 

PART III

 

ITEM 10.

 

DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 11.

 

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 12.

 

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 13.

 

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 14.

 

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

 

80

 

 

 

 

 

PART IV

 

ITEM 15.

 

EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

 

81

 

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

84

 

 

 

 

 

POWER OF ATTORNEY

 

84

 

 

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This document contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including, but not limited to, any projections of earnings, revenue or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new services or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; any statements of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing.

Forward-looking statements may include the words “may,” “could,” “will,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue,” “believe,” “expect” or “anticipate” or other similar words. These forward-looking statements present our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this report. Except for our ongoing obligation to disclose material information as required by the federal securities laws, we do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in any of our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in any of our forward-looking statements. Our future financial condition and results of operations, as well as any forward-looking statements, are subject to change and inherent risks and uncertainties. Some of the key factors impacting these risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

 

risks related to our substantial indebtedness or our ability to raise capital;

 

provisions of our debt instruments, including the agreement dated as of November 30, 2017, or the 2017 Credit Agreement, which governs our current credit facility, or the 2017 Credit Facility, the terms of which restrict certain aspects of the operation of our business;

 

our continued compliance with all of our obligations under the 2017 Credit Agreement;

 

cancellations or reductions of advertising due to the then current economic environment or otherwise;

 

advertising rates remaining constant or decreasing;

 

rapid changes in digital media advertising;

 

the impact of rigorous competition in Spanish-language media and in the advertising industry generally;

 

the impact of changing preferences, if any, among U.S. Hispanic audiences for Spanish-language programming, especially among younger age groups;  

 

the impact on our business, if any, as a result of changes in the way market share is measured by third parties;

 

our relationship with Univision Communications Inc., or Univision;

 

the extent to which we continue to generate revenue under retransmission consent agreements;

 

subject to restrictions contained in the 2017 Credit Agreement, the overall success of our acquisition strategy and the integration of any acquired assets with our existing operations;

 

our ability to implement effective internal controls to address a material weakness identified in this report;

 

industry-wide market factors and regulatory and other developments affecting our operations;

 

economic uncertainty;

 

the impact of any potential future impairment of our assets;

 

risks related to changes in accounting interpretations;

 

the impact of provisions of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “2017 Tax Act”), including, among other things, our ability to fully account for all effects of the 2017 Tax Act in our next financial statements, reasonably estimate  the income tax effect of the 2017 Tax Act on our financial statements and utilize provisional amounts during an interim that in no circumstances will extend beyond one year after the enactment date of the 2017 Tax Act;  

 

consequences of, and uncertainties regarding, foreign currency exchange including fluctuations thereto from time to time;  

 

legal, political and other risks associated with our operations located outside the United States;

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the effect of proposed changes in broadcast transmission standards by the Advanced Television Systems Committee's 3.0 standard (“ATSC 3.0”), assuming they are adopted by the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, that may impact our ability to monetize our spectrum assets; and

 

the uncertainty and impact, including additional and/or changing costs, of mandates and other obligations that may be imposed upon us as a result of federal healthcare laws, including the Affordable Care Act, the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, any executive action with respect thereto, and any changes with respect to any of the foregoing in the 115th Congress.  

 

For a detailed description of these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, please see “Risk Factors,” beginning at page 30 below.

ITEM 1.

BUSINESS

The discussion of the business of Entravision Communications Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, or Entravision or the Company, is as of the date of filing this report, unless otherwise indicated.

Overview

Introduction

Entravision is a leading global media company that, through its television and radio segments, reaches and engages U.S. Hispanics across acculturation levels and media channels. Additionally, our digital segment, whose operations are located primarily in Spain, Mexico, Argentina and other countries in Latin America, reaches a global market. Our expansive portfolio encompasses integrated marketing and media solutions, comprised of television, radio and digital properties and data analytics services. For financial reporting purposes, we report in three segments based upon the type of advertising medium: television broadcasting, radio broadcasting and digital media.

We own and/or operate 55 primary television stations located primarily in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington, D.C. Our television operations comprise the largest affiliate group of both the top-ranked Univision television network and Univision’s UniMás network, with television stations in 19 of the nation’s top 50 U.S. Hispanic markets. Univision’s primary network is the most watched television network (English- or Spanish-language) among U.S. Hispanic households during primetime. Univision is a key source of programming for our television broadcasting business and we consider it to be a valuable strategic partner of ours. For a more complete discussion of our relationship with Univision, please see “Our Relationship with Univision” and “Television – Television Programming” below and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Overview”; and for a discussion of various risks related to our relationship with Univision, please see “Risk Factors.”

We own and operate one of the largest groups of primarily Spanish-language radio stations in the United States. We own and operate 49 radio stations in 16 U.S. markets. Our radio stations consist of 38 FM and 11 AM stations located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. We also operate Entravision Solutions as our national sales representation division, through which we sell advertisements and syndicate radio programming to more than 300 stations across the United States.

We provide digital advertising solutions that allow advertisers to reach primarily online Hispanic audiences worldwide. We operate a proprietary technology and data platform that delivers digital advertising in various advertising formats that allows advertisers to reach audiences across a wide range of Internet-connected devices on our owned and operated digital media sites; the digital media sites of our publisher partners; and on other digital media sites we access through third-party platforms and exchanges.

We generate revenue primarily from sales of national and local advertising time on television stations, radio stations and digital media platforms, and from retransmission consent agreements that are entered into with multichannel video programming distributors, or MVPDs. Advertising rates are, in large part, based on each medium’s ability to attract audiences in demographic groups targeted by advertisers. In our television and radio segments, we recognize advertising revenue when commercials are broadcast. In our digital segment, we recognize advertising revenue when display or other digital advertisements record impressions on the websites of our third party publishers or as the advertiser’s previously agreed-upon performance criteria are satisfied. We do not obtain long-term commitments from our advertisers and, consequently, they may cancel, reduce or postpone orders without penalties. We pay commissions to agencies for local, regional and national advertising. For contracts we have entered into directly with agencies, we record net revenue from these agencies. Seasonal revenue fluctuations are common in our industry and are due primarily to variations in advertising expenditures by both local and national advertisers. Our first fiscal quarter generally produces the lowest net revenue for the year. In addition, advertising revenue is generally higher during presidential election years (2016, 2020, etc.) resulting from significant political advertising, and, to a lesser degree, Congressional off-year election years (2018, 2022, etc.), resulting from increased political advertising, compared to other years.

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We refer to the revenue generated by agreements with MVPDs as retransmission consent revenue, which represents payments from MVPDs for access to our television station signals so that they may rebroadcast our signals and charge their subscribers for this programming. We recognize retransmission consent revenue earned as the television signal is delivered to the MVPD.

Our FCC licenses grant us spectrum usage rights within each of the television markets in which we operate. We regard these rights as a valuable asset. With the proliferation of mobile devices and advances in technology that have freed up excess spectrum capacity, the monetization of our spectrum usage rights has become a significant part of our business in recent years.  We generate revenue from agreements associated with these television stations’ spectrum usage rights from a variety of sources, including but not limited to agreements with third parties to utilize excess spectrum for the broadcast of their multicast networks; charging fees to accommodate the operations of third parties, including moving channel positions or accepting interference with broadcasting operations; and modifying and/or relinquishing spectrum usage rights while continuing to broadcast through channel sharing or other arrangements.  Revenue generated by such agreements is recognized over the period of the lease or when we have relinquished all or a portion of our spectrum usage rights for a station or have relinquished our rights to operate a station on the existing channel free from interference.  In addition, we will consider strategic acquisitions of television stations to further this strategy from time to time, as well as additional monetization opportunities expected to arise as the television broadcast industry anticipates advances in ATSC 3.0.  

Our net revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 was approximately $536.0 million. Of this amount, revenue generated by our television segment accounted for approximately 77%, revenue generated by our radio segment accounted for approximately 12%, and revenue generated by our digital media segment accounted for approximately 11%, of total revenue.

Our primary expenses are employee compensation, including commissions paid to our sales staff and amounts paid to our national representative firms, as well as expenses for general and administrative functions, promotion and selling, engineering, marketing, and local programming. Our local programming costs for television consist primarily of costs related to producing a local newscast in most of our markets. Cost of revenue related to our television segment consists primarily of the carrying value of spectrum usage rights that were surrendered in the FCC auction for broadcast spectrum. In addition, cost of revenue related to our digital media segment consists primarily of the costs of online media acquired from third-party publishers and third party server costs. Direct operating expenses include salaries and commissions of sales staff, amounts paid to national representation firms, production and programming expenses, fees for ratings services, and engineering costs. Corporate expenses consist primarily of salaries related to corporate officers and back office functions, third party legal and accounting services, and fees incurred as a result of being a publicly traded company.

Our principal executive offices are located at 2425 Olympic Boulevard, Suite 6000 West, Santa Monica, California 90404, and our telephone number is (310) 447-3870. Our corporate website is www.entravision.com.

We were organized as a Delaware limited liability company in January 1996 to combine the operations of our predecessor entities. On August 2, 2000, we completed a reorganization from a limited liability company to a Delaware corporation. On August 2, 2000, we also completed an initial public offering of our Class A common stock, which is listed on The New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “EVC.”

Business Strategy

Our strategy is to reach Hispanic audiences primarily in the United States, Mexico and other markets in Latin America. We own and/or operate media properties in 14 of the 20 highest-density U.S. Hispanic markets. In addition, among the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets, we own and/or operate media properties in 10 of the 15 fastest-growing markets. We believe that targeting the U.S. Hispanic market will translate into revenue growth in the future, including for the following reasons:

 

U.S. Hispanic Population Growth. Our audience consists primarily of Hispanics, one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population and, by current U.S. Census Bureau estimates, now the largest minority group in the United States. More than 57 million Hispanics live in the United States, accounting for nearly 18% of the total U.S. population. The overall Hispanic population is growing at eight times the rate of the non-Hispanic population and is expected to grow to 70 million, or approximately 21% of the total U.S. population, by 2022. Approximately 58% of the total future growth in the U.S. population through 2022 is expected to come from the Hispanic community.

 

Spanish-Language Use. Approximately 78% of Hispanics age five and over in the United States speak some Spanish, while approximately 64% of U.S. Hispanics are bilingual and 33% are Spanish dominant, according to Geoscape, a business unit of Claritas LLC, or Geoscape.

 

Increasing U.S. Hispanic Buying Power. The U.S. Hispanic population is projected to have accounted for total consumer expenditures of over $815 billion in 2017, according to Geoscape. With an average of $57,000 in 2017, Hispanic household income is growing at a faster rate than Non-Hispanic household income and is projected to reach an aggregate of $1.2 trillion in 2022.

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Attractive Profile of U.S. Hispanic Consumers. We believe that the demographic profile of the U.S. Hispanic audience makes it attractive to advertisers. We also believe that the larger average size and younger median age of Hispanic households (averaging 3.4 persons and 30.8 years of age as compared to the U.S. non-Hispanic averages of 2.4 persons and 43.8 years of age) lead Hispanics to spend more per household in many categories of goods and services. Although the average U.S. Hispanic household has less disposable income than the average non-Hispanic U.S. household, the average U.S. Hispanic household spends 8% more per year than the average U.S. non-Hispanic household on food and non-alcoholic beverages at home, 38% more on restaurants, 55% more on children’s clothing, 41% more on footwear, 31% more on soaps, detergents and other cleaning products and 19% more on cellular phone services. We expect Hispanics to continue to account for a disproportionate share of growth in spending nationwide in many important consumer categories as the U.S. Hispanic population and its disposable income continue to grow.

 

Spanish-Language Advertising. Over $9.5 billion of total advertising expenditures in the United States were placed with Spanish-language media in 2016, the most recent year for which such data is available, of which approximately 88% was placed with Spanish-language television, radio and digital advertising.

We seek to increase our revenue through the following strategies:

Develop Unique and Compelling Content and Strong Brands While Effectively Using the Brands of Our Network Affiliates. We make substantial investments in areas such as market research, data analysis and creative talent to license and create content for our television, radio and digital properties that is relevant and has a meaningful impact on the communities we serve.  

Our television operations comprise the largest affiliate group of both the top-ranked Univision primary television network and Univision’s UniMás network. Univision’s primary network, together with UniMás, have more than double the television prime time audience share of the Telemundo network among Hispanics 2+ years of age as of May 2017. In addition, Univision reports that the UniMás network had more viewers than Telemundo for the first time ever in any sweeps period during primetime among total viewers 2+ years of age in May 2017. Univision makes its networks’ Spanish-language programming available to our television stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including a prime time schedule on its primary network of substantially all first-run programming throughout the year. We believe that the breadth and diversity of Univision’s programming, combined with our local news and community-oriented segments, provide us with an advantage over other Spanish-language and English-language media in reaching U.S. Hispanic viewers. Our local content is designed to meet the needs of our communities and brand each of our stations as the best source for relevant community information that accurately reflects local interests and needs.

We format the programming of our radio networks and radio stations in an effort to capture a substantial share of the U.S. Hispanic audience in each of our radio markets. We operate each of our two radio networks using a format designed to appeal to different listener tastes. In markets where competing stations already offer programming similar to our network formats, or where we otherwise identify an available niche in the marketplace, we run alternative programming that we believe will appeal to local listeners.

Develop Local Content, Programming and Community Involvement. We believe that local content and service to the community in each of our markets is an important part of building our brand identity and providing meaningful local service within those markets. By combining our local news, local content and quality network programming, we believe that we have a significant competitive advantage. We also believe that our active community involvement, including station remote broadcasting appearances at client events, concerts and tie-ins to major events, helps to build company and station awareness and identity as well as viewer and listener loyalty. We also promote civic involvement and inform our listeners and viewers of significant developments affecting their communities.

Distribute News and Other Content Across Our Television, Radio and Digital Properties. We develop our own news, entertainment and lifestyle content and radio shows including “Erazno y La Chokolata”, and produce a Sunday morning political talk show, “Perspectiva Nacional”. We also employ our own White House correspondent in Washington, D.C. We distribute this content across our television, radio and digital properties.  In addition, through Entravision Solutions, we syndicate certain of our radio shows including “Erazno y La Chokolata” and other programs including “El Show de Piolin” and “El Show de Alex ‘El Genio’ Lucas” across a network of more than 300 radio stations, which includes our radio stations as well as other radio stations that we do not own or operate, in 105 markets throughout the United States. Moreover, we broadcast National Football League games, such as Sunday Night Football and the American Football Conference playoffs, in Spanish for 28 radio stations.

Extend the Reach and Accessibility of Our Brands Through Our Digital Segment. In recent years, we have also enhanced the distribution of our content through our digital platforms, such as the Internet and mobile phones. We believe our digital segment offers excellent opportunities to further enhance the relationships we have with our audiences by allowing them to engage and share our content in new ways and providing us with new distribution channels for one-to-one communication with them.

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Continuing to Offer Advertisers an Integrated Platform of Services. We believe that our uniquely diversified media portfolio provides us with a competitive advantage in targeting the Hispanic consumer. We offer advertisers the opportunity to reach potential customers through an integrated platform of services that includes television, radio and digital properties. Currently, we operate some combination of television and radio in 11 markets, which we sometimes refer to as combination markets, and, where possible, we also combine our television and radio operations, which has the effect of creating certain cost savings. In all of our markets, our digital segment supplements our television and/or radio operations in an effort to create value-added advertising opportunities for our advertisers.

Continuing to Innovate and Invest in Technology and Data. We intend to continue to make investments in our digital media segment, including sales tools and research and development, to further increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our television, radio and digital media advertising platforms.

Monetize our Spectrum Assets. In recent years, with the proliferation of mobile devices and advances in technology that have freed up excess spectrum capacity, the monetization of our spectrum usage rights has become a significant part of our business. We generate revenue from agreements associated with these television stations’ spectrum usage rights from a variety of sources, including but not limited to agreements with third parties to utilize excess spectrum for the broadcast of their multicast networks; charging fees to accommodate the operations of third parties, including moving channel positions or accepting interference with broadcasting operations; and modifying and/or relinquishing spectrum usage rights while continuing to broadcast through channel sharing or other arrangements. With more advances in technology on the horizon, including ATSC 3.0, we intend to continue to generate revenue from our spectrum assets.

Target Strategic Acquisitions and Investments.  We intend to continue to evaluate opportunities to acquire complementary businesses and technologies that are consistent with our overall growth strategy. We believe that our knowledge of, and experience with, the U.S. Hispanic marketplace will enable us to identify acquisitions of television, radio and digital properties. Since our inception, we have used our management expertise, programming, local involvement and brand identity to improve our acquired media properties and audience reach. However, we are currently subject to certain limitations on acquisitions under the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement. Please see “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” below.

Acquisition and Disposition Strategies

Historically, our acquisition strategy has been focused on increasing our presence in those markets in which we already compete, as well as expanding our operations into U.S. Hispanic markets where we do not own properties. We have targeted fast-growing and high-density U.S. Hispanic markets. These have included many markets in the southwestern United States, including Texas, California and various other markets along the United States/Mexican border. In addition, we have pursued other acquisition opportunities in key strategic markets, or those which otherwise supported our long-term growth plans.

We plan to continue to evaluate opportunities to make future acquisitions as opportunities present themselves, including: digital companies; spectrum assets with high potential for future monetization; and additional media properties in existing markets that will enhance our offerings primarily to the U.S. Hispanic marketplace and create opportunities to save costs on overhead.  

We are subject to certain limitations on acquisitions under the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement. We cannot at this time determine the effect that these limitations will have on our acquisition strategy or our overall business. Please see “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

In addition, we periodically review our portfolio of media properties and, from time to time, have divested non-core assets where we do not see the opportunity to grow to scale. We are subject to certain limitations on divestitures under the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement. We cannot at this time determine the effect that these limitations will have on our disposition strategy or our overall business. Please see “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

Our Relationship with Univision

Substantially all of our television stations are Univision- or UniMás-affiliated television stations. Our network affiliation agreement with Univision provides certain of our owned stations the exclusive right to broadcast Univision’s primary network and UniMás network programming in their respective markets.  Under the network affiliation agreement, we retain the right to sell no less than four minutes per hour of the available advertising time on stations that broadcast Univision network programming, and the right to sell approximately four and a half minutes per hour of the available advertising time on stations that broadcast UniMás network programming, subject to adjustment from time to time by Univision.

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Under the network affiliation agreement, Univision acts as our exclusive third-party sales representative for the sale of certain national advertising on our Univision- and UniMás-affiliate television stations, and we pay certain sales representation fees to Univision relating to sales of all advertising for broadcast on our Univision- and UniMás-affiliate television stations.

We also generate revenue under two marketing and sales agreements with Univision, which give us the right to manage the marketing and sales operations of Univision-owned Univision affiliates in six markets – Albuquerque, Boston, Denver, Orlando, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

Under the current proxy agreement we have entered into with Univision, we grant Univision the right to negotiate the terms of retransmission consent agreements for our Univision- and UniMás-affiliated television station signals. Among other things, the proxy agreement provides terms relating to compensation to be paid to us by Univision with respect to retransmission consent agreements entered into with MVPDs. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, retransmission consent revenue accounted for approximately $31.4 million and $29.6 million, respectively, of which $30.0 million and $27.8 million, respectively, relate to the Univision proxy agreement. The term of the proxy agreement extends with respect to any MVPD for the length of the term of any retransmission consent agreement in effect before the expiration of the proxy agreement.

On October 2, 2017, we entered into the current affiliation agreement with Univision, which superseded and replaced our prior affiliation agreements with Univision.  Additionally, on the same date, we entered into the current proxy agreement and current marketing and sales agreements with Univision, each of which superseded and replaced the prior comparable agreements with Univision.  The term of each of these current agreements expires on December 31, 2026 for all of our Univision and UniMás network affiliate stations, except that each current agreement will expire on December 31, 2021 with respect to our Univision and UniMás network affiliate stations in Orlando, Tampa and Washington, D.C.

Univision currently owns approximately 10% of our common stock on a fully-converted basis. Our Class U common stock held by Univision has limited voting rights and does not include the right to elect directors. As the holder of all of our issued and outstanding Class U common stock, so long as Univision holds a certain number of shares, we may not, without the consent of Univision, merge, consolidate or enter into another business combination, dissolve or liquidate our company or dispose of any interest in any Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, license for any of our Univision-affiliated television stations, among other things. Each share of Class U common stock is automatically convertible into one share of Class A common stock (subject to adjustment for stock splits, dividends or combinations) in connection with any transfer to a third party that is not an affiliate of Univision.

Television

Overview

We own and/or operate Univision-affiliated television stations in 24 markets, including 19 of the top 50 Hispanic markets in the United States. Our television operations comprise the largest affiliate group of both the top-ranked Univision primary television network and Univision’s UniMás network. Univision’s primary network is the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the United States among U.S. Hispanics, available in approximately 90% of U.S. Hispanic television households, and is the most watched television network (English- or Spanish-language) among U.S. Hispanic households during prime time among Hispanics 2+ years of age. Univision’s primary network, together with its UniMás network, have more than double the television prime time audience share of the Telemundo network among Hispanic persons 2+ years of age as of May 2017. We operate both Univision and UniMás affiliates in 20 of our 24 television markets. Univision’s networks make their Spanish-language programming available to our Univision-affiliated stations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Univision’s prime time schedule on its primary network consists of substantially all first-run programming throughout the year.

Television Programming

Univision Primary Network Programming. Univision directs its programming primarily toward a young, family-oriented audience. It begins daily with Despierta America, a variety morning program, Monday through Friday, followed by novelas. In the late afternoon and early evening, Univision offers an entertainment magazine, a news magazine and national news, in addition to local news produced by our television stations. During prime time, Univision airs novelas, as well as specials. Prime time is followed by late news. Overnight programming consists primarily of repeats of programming aired previously on the network. Weekend daytime programming begins with children’s programming, and is generally followed by sports, reality, comedy shows and movies.

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Approximately eight to ten hours of programming per weekday, including a substantial portion of weekday prime time, are currently programmed with novelas supplied primarily by Grupo Televisa, S.A. de C.V., or Televisa, and Corporacion Venezolana de Television, C.A., or Venevision. Although novelas have been compared to daytime soap operas on ABC, NBC or CBS, the differences are significant. Novelas, originally developed as serialized books, have a beginning, middle and end, generally run five days per week and conclude four to eight months after they begin. Novelas also have a much broader audience appeal than soap operas, delivering audiences that contain large numbers of men, children and teens, in addition to women, unlike soap operas, whose audiences are primarily women.

UniMás Network Programming. Univision’s other 24-hour general-interest Spanish-language broadcast network, UniMás, is programmed to meet the diverse preferences of the multi-faceted U.S. Hispanic community. UniMás’s programming includes sports (including boxing, soccer and a nightly wrap-up at 11 p.m. similar to ESPN’s programming), movies (including a mix of English-language movies translated into Spanish) and novelas not run on Univision’s primary network, as well as reruns of popular novelas broadcast on Univision’s primary network.

Our Local Programming. We believe that our local news brands our stations in our television markets. We shape our local news to relate to and inform our audiences. Our early local news is ranked first or second among competing local newscasts regardless of language in its designated time slot in 13 of our television markets among adults 18-49 years of age, including ties, and in 11 markets among adults 18-34 years of age, including ties. We have made substantial investments in people and equipment in order to provide our local communities with quality newscasts. Our local newscasts have won numerous awards, and we strive to be the most important community voice in each of our local markets. In several of our markets, we believe that our local news is the only significant source of Spanish-language daily news for the Hispanic community.

Network Affiliation Agreements. Substantially all of our television stations are Univision- or UniMás-affiliated television stations. Our Univision network affiliation agreement provides certain of our owned stations the exclusive right to broadcast Univision’s primary network and UniMás network programming in their respective markets. The Univision network affiliation agreement expires in 2026, except that it expires in 2021 with respect to our Univision and UniMás network affiliate stations in Orlando, Tampa and Washington, D.C. Under the Univision network affiliation agreement, we retain the right to sell no less than four minutes per hour of the available advertising time on stations that broadcast Univision network programming, and the right to sell approximately four and a half minutes per hour of the available advertising time on stations that broadcast UniMás network programming, subject to adjustment from time to time by Univision.

Our network affiliation agreements with Azteca International Corporation, or Azteca, give us the right to broadcast Azteca America network programming on XHAS-TV, serving the Tijuana/San Diego market, through June 30, 2020, and on the secondary program streams of KXOF-CD, serving the Laredo market, and KVYE-TV, serving the Yuma-El Centro market, through February 12, 2020.

Our network affiliation agreement with Fox Broadcasting Company, or Fox, gives us the right to broadcast Fox network programming on KFXV-LD with a simulcast on KXFX-CD, each serving the Matamoros/Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen market, and KXOF-CD, serving the Laredo market. This agreement expires on April 6, 2018. We are in the process of executing a new agreement with Fox and we expect that to be completed shortly. In the event that the agreement with Fox is not renewed for any reason, we do not believe it would have a material adverse effect on our operations as a whole.

We also have agreements with Master Distribution Service, Inc., an affiliate of Fox, which give us the right to provide ten hours per week of MyNetworkTV network programming on KFXV-LD, KXOF-CD, XDTV-TV and KPSE-LD. These agreements expire in September 2018 and may be extended for successive one-year periods by mutual consent of the parties.

Our network affiliation agreement with The CW Network, LLC, or CW, gives us the right to broadcast CW network programming through 2021 on KCWT-CD and on the secondary program streams of KFXV-LD and KNVO-TV, each serving the Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen market, and on XHRIO-TV serving the Matamoros/Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen market, and through September 2018 on KRNS-CD and on the secondary program stream of KREN-TV, both serving the Reno, Nevada market.

Our network affiliation agreement with NBC Universal Media, LLC, or NBC, gives us the right to broadcast NBC network programming on KMIR-TV, serving the Palm Springs Market, through December 31, 2018.

On January 16, 2018, we completed the acquisition of television station KMCC-TV, which serves the Las Vegas, Nevada area, for an aggregate $3.6 million. We have entered into two agreements with subsidiaries of Luken Communications, LLC, collectively referred to as Luken, one of which (with Tuff TV, LLC) gives us the right to broadcast The Action Channel on KMCC-TV and the other of which (with The Heartland Network, LLC) gives us the right to broadcast The Heartland Network on the secondary stream of KMCC-TV. Our current agreement with Luken expired on March 25, 2018. We have entered into negotiations with regard to network

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programming on KMCC-TV. However, we cannot guarantee that we will enter into any network affiliation agreements with Luken or anyone else, or such agreements on terms satisfactory to us, that would give us the right to continue broadcast programming on KMCC-TV. In the event that the agreement with Luken is not renewed for any reason and/or we do not enter into an alternative network affiliation agreement, we do not believe it would have a material adverse effect on our operations as a whole.

Our network affiliation agreement with LATV Networks, LLC, or LATV, gives us the right to broadcast LATV network programming on the digital streams of certain of our television stations. Either party may terminate the affiliation with respect to a given station 30 months after the launch of such station. Under the LATV network affiliation agreement, there are no fees paid for the carriage of programming, and we generally retain the right to sell approximately five minutes per hour of available advertising time. Walter F. Ulloa, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is a director, officer and principal stockholder of LATV.

We cannot guarantee that any of our current network affiliation agreements will be renewed beyond their respective expiration dates under their current terms, under terms satisfactory to us, or at all.

Marketing Agreements. Our marketing and sales agreements with Univision give us the right to manage the marketing and sales operations of Univision-owned Univision affiliates through 2021 in Orlando, Tampa and Washington, D.C. and through 2026 in Albuquerque, Boston and Denver. We have also entered into marketing and sales agreements with other parties in certain of our other markets.

Long-Term Time Brokerage Agreements. We program each of XDTV-TV, serving the Tecate/San Diego market; XHAS-TV, serving the Tijuana/San Diego market; and XHRIO-TV, serving the Matamoros/Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen market, under long-term time brokerage agreements. Under those agreements, in combination with certain of our Mexican affiliates and subsidiaries, we provide the programming and related services available on these stations, but the station owners retain absolute control of the content and other broadcast issues. These long-term time brokerage agreements expire in 2038, 2040 and 2045, respectively, and each provides for automatic, perpetual 30-year renewals unless both parties consent to termination. Each of these agreements provides for substantial financial penalties should the other party attempt to terminate prior to its expiration without our consent, and they do not limit the availability of specific performance as a remedy for any such attempted early termination.

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Our Television Station Portfolio

The following table lists information concerning each of our owned and/or operated television stations in order of market rank and its respective market:

 

Market

 

Market Rank

(by Hispanic

Households)

 

 

Total

Households

 

 

Hispanic

Households

 

 

%

Hispanic

Households

 

 

Call Letters

 

Principal

Programming

Stream

Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen, Texas

 

 

10

 

 

 

351,810

 

 

 

307,320

 

 

 

87.4

%

 

KNVO-TV

KTFV-CD (1)

KFXV-LD

KXFX-CD (1)

KCWT-CD (1)

 

Univision

UniMás

Fox

Fox

CW

Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Florida

 

 

12

 

 

 

1,531,130

 

 

 

279,060

 

 

 

18.2

%

 

WVEN-TV (2)

W47DA (2)

WVCI-LP (2)

WOTF-TV

 

Univision

Univision

Univision

UniMás

Albuquerque-Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

674,930

 

 

 

262,700

 

 

 

38.9

%

 

KLUZ-TV (2)

KTFQ-TV

 

Univision

UniMás

Washington, D.C.

 

 

16

 

 

 

2,492,170

 

 

 

254,910

 

 

 

10.2

%

 

WFDC-TV (2)

WMDO-CD (1)

WJAL-TV

 

Univision

UniMás

LATV

San Diego, California

 

 

17

 

 

 

1,002,770

 

 

 

254,600

 

 

 

 

25.4

%

 

KBNT-CD (1)

KHAX-LP

KDTF-LD

KTCD-LP

 

Univision

Univision

UniMás

LATV

Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota), Florida

 

 

18

 

 

 

1,879,760

 

 

 

252,230

 

 

 

13.4

%

 

WVEA-TV (2)

WFTT-TV

 

Univision

UniMás

Denver-Boulder, Colorado

 

 

19

 

 

 

1,589,560

 

 

 

247,130

 

 

 

15.5

%

 

KCEC-TV (2)

KTFD-TV

 

Univision

UniMás

El Paso, Texas

 

 

20

 

 

 

318,260

 

 

 

231,440

 

 

 

72.7

%

 

KINT-TV

KTFN-TV

 

Univision

UniMás

Boston, Massachusetts

 

 

21

 

 

 

2,425,440

 

 

 

194,950

 

 

 

8.0

%

 

WUNI-TV (2)

WUTF-TV

 

Univision

UniMás

Las Vegas, Nevada

 

 

24

 

 

 

757,400

 

 

 

172,760

 

 

 

22.8

%

 

KINC-TV

KNTL-LP

KWWB-LP

KELV-LD

KMCC-TV

 

Univision

Univision

Univision

UniMás

The Action Channel

Corpus Christi, Texas

 

 

28

 

 

 

198,820

 

 

 

113,980

 

 

 

57.3

%

 

KORO-TV

KCRP-CD (1)

 

Univision

UniMás

Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut

 

 

29

 

 

 

921,500

 

 

 

108,280

 

 

 

11.8

%

 

WUVN-TV

WUTH-CD (1)

 

Univision

UniMás

Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California

 

 

35

 

 

 

217,560

 

 

 

78,430

 

 

 

36.0

%

 

KSMS-TV

KDJT-CD (1)

KCBA-TV (2)

 

Univision

UniMás

Fox

Odessa-Midland, Texas

 

 

36

 

 

 

153,830

 

 

 

73,150

 

 

 

47.6

%

 

KUPB-TV

 

Univision

Laredo, Texas

 

 

39

 

 

 

70,980

 

 

 

66,900

 

 

 

94.3

%

 

KLDO-TV

KETF-CD (1)

KXOF-CD (1)

 

Univision

UniMás

Fox

Yuma, Arizona-El Centro, California

 

 

40

 

 

 

105,690

 

 

 

66,620

 

 

 

63.0

%

 

KVYE-TV

KAJB-TV (2)

 

Univision

UniMás

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Market

 

Market Rank

(by Hispanic

Households)

 

 

Total

Households

 

 

Hispanic

Households

 

 

%

Hispanic

Households

 

 

Call Letters

 

Principal

Programming

Stream

Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colorado

 

 

42

 

 

 

344,250

 

 

 

62,740

 

 

 

18.2

%

 

KVSN-TV

KGHB-CD (1)

 

Univision

UniMás

Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California

 

 

48

 

 

 

222,190

 

 

 

57,150

 

 

 

25.7

%

 

KPMR-TV

K17GD-D (1)

K50LZ-D (1)

KTSB-CD (1)

K10OG-D (1)

 

Univision

Univision

Univision

UniMás

UniMás

Palm Springs, California

 

 

49

 

 

 

152,840

 

 

 

55,640

 

 

 

36.4

%

 

KVER-CD (1)

KVES-LD

KEVC-CD (1)

KMIR-TV

KPSE-LD

 

Univision

Univision

UniMás

NBC

MyNetworkTV

Lubbock, Texas

 

 

51

 

 

 

153,370

 

 

 

53,870

 

 

 

35.1

%

 

KBZO-LD

 

Univision

Wichita-Hutchinson, Kansas

 

 

57

 

 

 

416,400

 

 

 

43,950

 

 

 

10.6

%

 

KDCU-TV

 

Univision

Reno, Nevada

 

 

62

 

 

 

263,990

 

 

 

41,150

 

 

 

15.6

%

 

KREN-TV

KRNS-CD (1)

 

Univision

CW

Springfield-Holyoke, Massachusetts

 

 

64

 

 

 

237,580

 

 

 

37,150

 

 

 

15.6

%

 

WHTX-LD

 

Univision

San Angelo, Texas

 

 

92

 

 

 

54,100

 

 

 

18,550

 

 

 

34.3

%

 

KEUS-LD

KANG-LP

 

Univision

UniMás

Tecate, Baja California, Mexico (San Diego)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XDTV-TV (3)

 

MyNetworkTV

Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (San Diego)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XHAS-TV (3)

 

Azteca

Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico (Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XHRIO-TV (3)

 

CW

 

Source: Nielsen Media Research 2018 universe estimates.

 

(1)

“CD” in call signs indicates that a station is operated as a Class A digital television service. Certain stations without this “CD” designation are also Class A stations.

(2)

We provide the sales and marketing function of this station under a marketing and sales arrangement.

(3)

We hold a minority, limited voting interest (neutral investment) in the entity that directly or indirectly holds the broadcast license for this station. Through that entity, we provide the programming and related services available on this station under a time brokerage arrangement. The station retains control of the contents and other broadcast issues.

Digital Television Technology. As we continue to implement new digital television transmission technology for our television stations, we are operating in an environment where we can decide the resolution and number of broadcast streams we provide in our over-the-air transmissions. Depending upon how high a resolution level with which we elect to transmit our programming, we have the potential to transmit over-the-air broadcast streams containing multiple program streams using the bandwidth authorized to each digital station. The transmission of such multiple programming streams is referred to as multicasting. We currently are multicasting network programming streams, primarily UniMás network programming and LATV network programming streams, at a number of our stations, along with our primary program streams. In addition, we are multicasting CW, MyNetworkTV and other network programming in certain of our markets. We periodically evaluate these multicasting operations as well as the amount of bandwidth we must allocate to our primary program streams and may consider either expanding or limiting our multicasting operations, or keeping these multicasting operations substantially as at present, in the future. We also continue to monitor developments in digital television technology that offer the opportunity to marry elements of broadcasting and broadband along with higher levels of video resolution.

Television Revenue

Approximately 64% of the revenue generated from our television operations in 2017 was derived from revenue from spectrum usage rights, approximately 28% from local and national advertising, and approximately 8% from retransmission consent revenue.

Revenue from Spectrum Usage Rights. We generate revenue from agreements associated with our television stations’ spectrum usage rights from a variety of sources, including but not limited to entering into agreements with third parties to utilize excess spectrum for the broadcast of their multicast networks, charging fees to accommodate the operations of third parties, including moving channel positions or accepting interference with broadcasting operations, and modifying and/or relinquishing spectrum usage rights while continuing to broadcast through channel sharing or other arrangements.  Revenue from such agreements is recognized over the

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period of the lease or when we have relinquished all or a portion of our spectrum usage rights for a station or have relinquished our rights to operate a station on the existing channel free from interference. In 2017, revenue from spectrum usage rights accounted for approximately 64% of our total television revenue.  

Local Advertising. Local advertising revenue is generated predominantly from advertising time sold to an advertiser or its agency that is placed from within a station’s market or directly with a station’s sales staff. Local advertising sales include sales to advertisers that are local businesses or advertising agencies, and regional and national businesses or advertising agencies, which place orders from within a station’s market or directly with a station’s sales staff. We employ our own local sales force that is responsible for soliciting local advertising sales directly from advertisers and their agencies. In 2017, local advertising accounted for approximately 15% of our total television revenue.

National Advertising. National advertising revenue generally represents revenue from advertising time sold to an advertiser or its agency that is placed from outside a station’s market. We typically engage national sales representative firms to work with our station sales managers and solicit national advertising sales, and we pay certain sales representation fees to these firms relating to national advertising sales. Under our network affiliation agreement with Univision, Univision acts as our sales representative for the sale of national advertising on our Univision and UniMás affiliate television stations, and advertisers which have purchased national advertising on these affiliate stations include Charter Communications, Inc., Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Cox Communications, Inc., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., General Motors Company, McDonald’s Corporation, Conn’s, Inc., and H-E-B. Azteca America acts as our national sales representative for the sale of national advertising on our Azteca affiliate station, Katz Communications, Inc. acts as our national sales representative for the sale of national advertising on KMIR-TV and KPSE-TV in Palm Springs market, and Entravision Solutions, one of our divisions, acts as our national sales representative for the sale of national advertising on our stations that broadcast Fox, CW and MyNetworkTV (other than KPSE-TV) network programming. In 2017, national advertising accounted for approximately 13% of our total television revenue.

Retransmission Consent Revenue. We generate retransmission consent revenue from retransmission consent agreements that are entered into with MVPDs. This revenue represents payments from these entities for access to our television station signals so that they may rebroadcast our signals and charge their subscribers for this programming. In addition, we generally pay either a per subscriber fee or share the retransmission consent revenue received from MVPDs with the network providing the programming, which is known in the television industry as reverse network compensation. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, retransmission consent revenue accounted for approximately $31.4 million and $29.6 million, respectively.

Under our proxy agreement with Univision, we grant Univision the right to negotiate the terms of retransmission consent agreements for our Univision- and UniMás-affiliated television station signals. Among other things, the proxy agreement provides terms relating to compensation to be paid to us by Univision with respect to retransmission consent agreements entered into with MVPDs. The term of the proxy agreement extends with respect to any MVPD for the length of the term of any retransmission consent agreement in effect before the expiration of the proxy agreement. On October 2, 2017, we entered into the current proxy agreement with Univision, which superseded and replaced the prior comparable agreement with Univision.  The term of this new proxy agreement expires on December 31, 2021 for our Univision and UniMás network affiliate stations in Orlando, Tampa and Washington, D.C, and on December 31, 2026 with respect to our Univision and UniMás network affiliate stations in Albuquerque, Boston and Denver.

As a result of the adoption of legislation in late 2014, modifying the Communications Act of 1934, or the Communications Act, we are no longer able to negotiate retransmission consent agreements with other television stations located in the same television market.  The application of this statutory modification prevents us from negotiating with Univision in the six television markets where we and Univision both own television stations.

In 2017, retransmission consent revenue accounted for approximately 8% of our total television revenue. We anticipate that retransmission consent revenue will continue to be an important source of net revenues in future periods.

Television Marketing/Audience Research

The relative advertising rates charged by competing stations within a market depend primarily on the following factors:

 

the station’s ratings (households or people viewing its programs as a percentage of total television households or people in the viewing area);

 

audience share (households or people viewing its programs as a percentage of households or people actually watching television at a specific time);

 

the demographic qualities of a program’s viewers (primarily age and gender);

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the demand for available air time;

 

the time of day the advertising will run;

 

competitive conditions in the station’s market, including the availability of other advertising media; and

 

general economic conditions, including advertisers’ budgetary considerations.

Nielsen ratings provide advertisers with the industry-accepted measure of television viewing. Nielsen offers a ratings service measuring all television audience viewing. In recent years, Nielsen has modified the methodology of its ratings service in an effort to more accurately measure U.S. Hispanic viewing by using language spoken in the home as a control characteristic of its metered market sample. Nielsen has also added weighting by language as part of its local metered market methodology in many of our metered markets. Nielsen also continues to improve the methods by which it electronically measures television viewing, and has expanded its Local People Meter service to several of our markets. We believe that this improvement will continue to result in ratings gains for us, allowing us to further increase our advertising rates. We have made significant investments in experienced sales managers and account executives and have provided our sales professionals with research tools to continue to attract major advertisers.

Television Competition

We face intense competition in the television broadcasting business. In each local television market, we compete for viewers and revenue with other local television stations, which are typically the local affiliates of the four principal English-language television networks, NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox and, in certain cities, the CW Network. In certain markets, we also compete with the local affiliates or owned and operated stations of Telemundo, the Spanish-language television network now owned by Comcast, as well as Azteca.

We also directly or indirectly compete for viewers and revenue with both English- and Spanish-language independent television stations, other video media, suppliers of cable television programs, direct broadcast satellite systems, newspapers, magazines, radio, applications for mobile media devices and other forms of entertainment and advertising. In addition, in certain markets we operate radio stations that indirectly compete for local and national advertising revenue with our television business.

We believe that our primary competitive advantages are the quality of the programming we receive through our affiliation with Univision and the quality of our local news. Univision’s primary network is the most-watched Spanish-language network in the United States during prime time among U.S. Hispanics. Similarly, our local news achieves strong audience ratings. Our early local news is ranked first or second among competing local newscasts regardless of language in its designated time slot in 13 of our television markets among adults 18-49 years of age and in 11 markets among adults 18-34 years of age, including ties.

Telemundo is the second-largest provider of Spanish-language content worldwide. Telemundo’s multiple platforms include the Telemundo Network, a Spanish-language television network featuring original productions, theatrical motion pictures, news and sporting events.

Radio

Overview

We own and operate 49 radio stations (38 FM and 11 AM), 46 of which are located in the top 50 Hispanic markets in the United States, and operate Entravision Solutions as our national sales representation division. Our radio stations broadcast into markets with an aggregate of approximately 20 million U.S. Hispanics, which is approximately 40% of the Hispanic population in the United States. Our radio operations combine network and local programming with local time slots available for advertising, news, traffic, weather, promotions and community events. This strategy allows us to provide quality programming with significantly lower costs of operations than we could otherwise deliver solely with all local programming.

Radio Programming

Radio Networks. Our networks allow advertisers with national product distribution to deliver a uniform advertising message to the growing Hispanic market around the country in an efficient manner.

Although our networks have a broad geographic reach, technology allows our stations to offer the necessary local feel and to be responsive to local clients and community needs. Designated time slots are used for local advertising, news, traffic, weather, promotions and community events. The audience gets the benefit of a national radio sound along with local content. To further enhance this effect, our on-air personalities frequently travel to participate in local promotional events. For example, in selected key

14


 

markets our on-air personalities appear at special events and client locations. We promote these events as “remotes” to bond the national personalities to local listeners. Furthermore, all of our stations can disconnect from their networks and operate independently in the case of a local emergency or a problem with our central Multiprotocol Label Switching, or MPLS, transmission.

Radio Formats. Each of our two radio networks produce a music format that is simultaneously distributed via MPLS with a high definition quality sound to our stations. Each of these formats appeals to different listener preferences:

 

“La Tricolor” is a personality-driven format primarily targeting male Hispanic listeners 18-49 years of age that airs on 17 of our stations.  The format includes “LM Show” in the morning drive, which features Latino celebrity news and entertainment; “Carla La Plebe” during midday hours; “Erazno y La Chokolata” in the afternoon drive, which is a parody-based comedy program syndicated on an additional 79 stations; and Mexican regional music.

 

“La Suavecita” is a Mexican regional music format targeting Hispanic women 25-49 years of age and Hispanic adults 25-54 years of age that airs on 17 of our stations.  The format features Grupero/Cumbia music and includes “El Genio” Alex Lucas in the mornings; “El Show de Piolin” during midday hours; “Armida y La Flaka” in afternoon drive; and “Evenings with Mayra” at night.

We also broadcast in Spanish National Football League games, such as Sunday Night Football and the American Football Conference playoffs, for 28 radio stations.

Our radio networks are broadcast in 14 of the 16 radio markets that we serve. In addition, in markets where competing stations already offer programming similar to our network formats, or where we otherwise identify an available niche in the marketplace, we run alternative programming that we believe appeals to local listeners, including the following:

 

In the El Paso market, we program “The Fox”, an English-language format that features classic rock and pop hits from the 1960s through the 1980s and targets primarily adults 25-54 years of age;

 

In the McAllen market, we program two English-language formats, a classic rock-oriented format that targets primarily males 18-49 years of age and a hit-based adult contemporary format targeting primarily women 18-49 years of age;

 

In the Orlando market, we program “Salsa 98.1”, a Spanish-language tropical hits format that features salsa, merengue and bachata and targets Hispanic adults 25-54 years of age;

 

In the Phoenix, El Paso, Lubbock, Stockton and Albuquerque markets, we program “ESPN Deportes”, a Spanish-language sports talk format targeting primarily Hispanic adults 18-54 years of age, that is provided to us by a third party pursuant to a network affiliation agreement; and

 

In the Sacramento market, we program two English-language formats, a contemporary hit format targeting primarily females 18-34 years of age and a young country format targeting primarily adults 18-49 years of age.

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Our Radio Station Portfolio

The following table lists information concerning each of our owned and operated radio stations in order of market rank and its respective market:

 

Market

  

Market Rank

(by Hispanic

Households)

 

  

Station

  

Frequency

  

Format

Los Angeles-San Diego-Ventura, California

  

 

1

  

  

KLYY-FM

KDLD-FM

KDLE-FM

KSSC-FM

KSSD-FM

KSSE-FM

  

97.5

103.1

103.1

107.1

107.1

107.1

  

MHz

MHz

MHz

MHz

MHz

MHz

  

La Tricolor (1)

La Tricolor (1)

La Tricolor (1)

La Suavecita (1)

La Suavecita (1)

La Suavecita (1)

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood, Florida

  

 

3

  

  

WLQY-AM

  

1320

  

kHz

  

Time Brokered (2)

Houston-Galveston, Texas

  

 

4

  

  

KGOL-AM

  

1180

  

kHz

  

La Suavecita

Phoenix, Arizona

  

 

9

  

  

KLNZ-FM

KDVA-FM

KVVA-FM

KBMB-AM

  

103.5

106.9

107.1

710

  

MHz

MHz

MHz

kHz

  

La Tricolor

La Suavecita

La Suavecita

ESPN Deportes

Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen, Texas

  

 

10

  

  

KFRQ-FM

KKPS-FM

KNVO-FM

KVLY-FM

  

94.5

99.5

101.1

107.9

  

MHz

MHz

MHz

MHz

  

Classic Rock (English)

La Tricolor

La Suavecita

Adult Contemporary (English)

Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, California

 

  

 

11

  

  

KRCX-FM

KNTY-FM

KHHM-FM

KXSE-FM

KMIX-FM

KCVR-AM

KTSE-FM

KCVR-FM

  

99.9

101.9

103.5

104.3

100.9

1570

97.1

98.9

  

MHz

MHz

MHz

MHz

MHz

kHz

MHz

MHz

  

La Tricolor

Country (English)

Contemporary Hit (English)

La Suavecita

La Tricolor

ESPN Deportes

La Suavecita (1)

La Suavecita (1)

Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Florida

  

 

12

  

  

WNUE-FM

  

98.1

  

MHz

  

Salsa 98.1

Albuquerque-Santa Fe, New Mexico

  

 

14

  

  

KRZY-FM

KRZY-AM

  

105.9

1450

  

MHz

kHz

  

La Tricolor

ESPN Deportes

Denver-Boulder, Colorado

 

 

Aspen, Colorado

  

 

19

  

  

KJMN-FM

KXPK-FM

KMXA-AM

KPVW-FM

  

92.1

96.5

1090

107.1

  

MHz

MHz

kHz

MHz

  

La Suavecita

La Tricolor

La Suavecita

La Tricolor

El Paso, Texas

  

 

20

  

  

KOFX-FM

KINT-FM

KYSE-FM

KSVE-AM

KHRO-AM

  

92.3

93.9

94.7

1650

1150

  

MHz

MHz

MHz

kHz

kHz

  

Oldies (English)

La Suavecita

La Tricolor

ESPN Deportes

Oldies (English)

Las Vegas, Nevada

  

 

24

  

  

KRRN-FM

KQRT-FM

  

92.7

105.1

  

MHz

MHz

  

La Suavecita

La Tricolor

Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California

  

 

35

  

  

KLOK-FM

KSES-FM

KMBX-AM

  

99.5

107.1

700

  

MHz

MHz

kHz

  

La Tricolor

La Suavecita

Time Brokered (2)

Yuma, Arizona-El Centro, California

  

 

40

  

  

KSEH-FM

KMXX-FM

KWST-AM

  

94.5

99.3

1430

  

MHz

MHz

kHz

  

La Suavecita

La Tricolor

Time Brokered (2)

Palm Springs, California

  

 

49

  

  

KLOB-FM

  

94.7

  

MHz

  

La Suavecita

 

  

 

 

 

  

KPST-FM

  

103.5

  

MHz

  

La Tricolor

Lubbock, Texas

  

 

51

  

  

KAIQ-FM

KBZO-AM

  

95.5

1460

  

MHz

kHz

  

La Tricolor

ESPN Deportes

Reno, Nevada

  

 

62

  

  

KRNV-FM

  

102.1

  

MHz

  

La Tricolor

 

Market rank source: Nielsen Media Research 2018 estimates.

 

(1)

Simulcast station.

(2)

Operated pursuant to a time brokerage arrangement under which we grant to third parties the right to program the station.

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Radio Advertising

Substantially all of the revenue generated from our radio operations is derived from local and national advertising.

Local. Local advertising revenue is generated predominantly from advertising time sold to an advertiser or its agency that is placed from within a station’s market or directly with a station’s sales staff, and also from a third-party network inventory agreement, digital, and non-traditional revenue. Local advertising sales include sales to advertisers that are local businesses or advertising agencies, and regional and national businesses or advertising agencies, which place orders from within a station’s market or directly with a station’s sales staff. We employ our own local sales force, in each of our markets, that is responsible for soliciting local advertising sales directly from advertisers and their agencies. In 2017, local advertising revenue accounted for approximately 65% of our total radio revenue.

National. National advertising revenue generally represents spot and network revenue from advertising time sold to an advertiser or its agency that is placed from outside a station’s market. Entravision Solutions, one of our divisions, typically acts as a national sales representative to solicit national advertising sales on our Spanish-language radio stations. In 2017, national advertising revenue accounted for approximately 35% of our total radio revenue.

Radio Marketing/Audience Research

We believe that radio is an efficient means for advertisers to reach targeted demographic groups. Advertising rates charged by our radio stations are based primarily on the following factors:

 

the particular station’s ratings (people listening to its programs as a percentage of total people in the listening area);

 

audience share (people listening to its programs as a percentage of people actually listening to radio at a specific time);

 

the demographic qualities of a program’s listeners (primarily age and gender);

 

the demand for available air time;

 

the time of day that the advertising runs;

 

competitive conditions in the station’s market, including the availability of other advertising media; and

 

general economic conditions, including advertisers’ budgetary considerations.

Nielsen Audio provides advertisers with the industry-accepted measure of listening audience classified by demographic segment and time of day that the listeners spend on particular radio stations. Radio advertising rates generally are highest during the hours of 6:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. These hours are considered the peak times for radio audience listening.

Historically, advertising rates for Spanish-language radio stations have been lower than those for English-language stations with similar audience levels. We believe that, over time, possibilities exist to narrow the disparities that have historically existed between Spanish-language and English-language advertising rates as new and existing advertisers recognize the growing desirability of the U.S. Hispanic population as an advertising target. For example, U.S. Hispanics spend more on food at home than the national average. We also believe that having multiple stations in a market enables us to provide listeners with alternatives, to secure a higher overall percentage of a market’s available advertising dollars, and to obtain greater percentages of individual customers’ advertising budgets.

Each station broadcasts an optimal number of advertisements each hour, depending upon its format, in order to maximize the station’s revenue without jeopardizing its audience listenership. Our non-network stations have up to 14 minutes per hour for commercial inventory and local content. Our network stations have up to one additional minute of commercial inventory per hour. The pricing is based on a rate card and negotiations subject to the supply and demand for the inventory in each particular market and the network.

Radio Competition

We face intense competition in the radio broadcasting business. The financial success of each of our radio stations and markets depends in large part on our audience ratings, our ability to maintain and increase our market share of overall radio advertising revenue and the economic health of the market and the nation. In addition, our advertising revenue depends upon the desire of advertisers to reach our audience demographic. Each of our radio stations competes for audience share and advertising revenue directly with both Spanish-language and English-language radio stations in its market, and with other media, such as newspapers, broadcast and cable television, magazines, outdoor advertising, satellite-delivered radio services, applications for mobile media devices and other forms of digital delivery, and direct mail advertising. In addition, in certain markets we operate television stations

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that indirectly compete for local and national advertising revenue with our radio business. Our primary competitors in our markets in Spanish-language radio are Univision, iHeartMedia Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications Inc.) and Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. These and many of the other companies with which we compete are large national or regional companies that have significantly greater resources and longer operating histories than we do.

Factors that are material to our competitive position include management experience, a station’s rank in its market, signal strength and coverage, and audience demographics. If a competing station within a market converts to a format similar to that of one of our stations, or if one of our competitors upgrades its stations, we could suffer a reduction in ratings and advertising revenue in that market. The audience ratings and advertising revenue of our individual stations are subject to fluctuation and any adverse change in certain of our key radio markets could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

The radio industry is subject to competition from new media technologies that are being developed or introduced, such as:

 

audio programming by cable television systems, broadcast satellite-delivered audio services, cellular telephones and smart telephones, including easy-to-use mobile applications, Internet content providers, and other digital audio broadcast formats and playback mechanisms;

 

satellite- and internet protocol network-delivered digital audio services—with both commercial-free and lower commercial load channels—which have expanded their subscriber base and have introduced dedicated Spanish-language channels; and

 

In-Band On-Channel™ digital radio, which provides multi-channel, multi-format digital radio services in the same bandwidth currently occupied by traditional FM radio services.

Advertisers allocate finite advertising budgets across different media. We believe the advent of new technologies may result in continued emphasis by certain advertisers on these new technologies compared to radio. Accordingly, while we also believe that none of these new technologies can completely replace local broadcast radio stations due to the fact of localism that broadcast radio offers, the challenges from new technologies will continue to require attention from management. Among other things, we intend to continue to review potential opportunities to utilize such new technologies in our radio operations where appropriate.

Digital

Overview

We provide digital advertising solutions that allow advertisers to reach global online audiences, through operations that are located primarily in Spain, Mexico, Argentina and other countries in Latin America. We operate proprietary technology and data platforms that deliver digital advertising in various advertising formats to allow advertisers to reach those audiences across a wide range of Internet-connected devices on our owned and operated digital media sites, the digital media sites of our publisher partners, or owners of Internet and mobile sites and software applications, or apps, that contain premium digital content and digital advertising inventory who provide us with access to their digital advertising inventory, and on other digital media sites we access through third-party platforms and exchanges. We access data from these digital media sites and apps and apply our proprietary data analytics capabilities to better target and aggregate audience segments that will be relevant to individual advertisers, while allowing the publishers of digital media sites and apps to better sell their digital advertising inventory.

Our Solutions and Technology Platform

Through our suite of digital advertising solutions, including the Headway Digital programmatic advertising platform, the Mobrain mobile advertising platform, and the Pulpo Media advertising network, we offer advertisers the opportunity to reach and engage with their target audiences by providing access to premium digital inventory at scale across a wide range of devices.  Our significant audience reach, access to a large volume of digital advertising space, sophisticated targeting capabilities and broad array of advertising formats allow us to deliver marketing solutions that can help grow our clients’ businesses. Through analytics, we also enable advertisers to gain insights into the performance of their advertising campaigns and manage those campaigns with a view toward maximizing return on their advertising investment.

We believe that key benefits of our digital advertising solutions include the following:

Sophisticated targeting. Our platform and solutions specifically identify and reach online audiences across a wide range of Internet-connected devices.

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We believe that one of the main strengths of our platform is that it accesses and analyzes large amounts of data to provide a unique, multidimensional view of individual consumer profiles. This understanding allows advertisers to more effectively reach consumers and engage with them more effectively.

We have also developed a number of audience categories to which advertisers can target their ads. Audience categories can be based on a variety of user attributes, including location, demographics, affluence, intent, gender and interests. We identify these attributes and audience categories based upon information we have gathered about online users’ online activity on an anonymous basis, a process known as interest-based or online behavioral advertising. We analyze this data to build sophisticated user profiles and audience groups that, in combination with our proprietary analytics and the real-time decision-making, optimization and targeting capabilities of our platform, enables us to deliver highly targeted advertising campaigns for our advertiser clients, as well as analytics to help them better understand audiences and consumers. As we deliver more ads, we are able to collect additional information about users, audiences and the effectiveness of particular ad campaigns, which in turn enhances our targeting capabilities and allows us to deliver better performance for advertisers and better opportunities for our publisher partners to increase their revenue streams. In addition, advertisers are willing to pay a higher rate for digital advertising when deeper consumer data can be used to help them make their decisions about purchasing advertising and to engage with the consumers whom they desire to reach.

Premium content.  We provide our advertiser clients with access to premium digital content, which is professionally produced and we believe offers a quality viewing experience, through our owned and operated digital media sites and those of our publisher partners. This enables publishers to more effectively monetize their digital content, and enables advertisers to more effectively reach audiences who engage with such premium content.

Scale and reach across a range of Internet-connected devices.  We enable advertisers to use our digital media advertising solutions to address their online and mobile advertising needs to reach their desired audiences at scale across a wide range of Internet-connected devices, including computers, smartphones and tablets.

Variety of advertising formats. We enable advertisers to deliver a variety of online and mobile advertising formats, including video ads, display banners, rich media and native ad formats. We believe that these advertising formats provide an opportunity for advertisers to create a variety of advertising content that increases audience interaction and engagement, which in turn drives better results for advertisers.

Brand safety.  Our proprietary technology contextually evaluates the content of digital media sites on which we deliver ads in order to identify content that is most appropriate or desirable for an individual advertiser, and also ensure that ads are not being delivered within content that is identified as objectionable to the advertiser, such as content that contains distasteful or obscene language, violence, gambling, sex or criminal activity. We believe that the combination of our practice of selecting publisher partners and our proprietary technology provides a high level of brand safety for our advertisers.

Digital Advertising

We provide our advertiser clients with opportunities to reach their target audiences through brand advertising and performance-based advertising. Brand advertising is generally intended to establish a long-term, positive consumer attitude toward an advertiser or its product or service, and brand advertisers typically measure campaign effectiveness using metrics such as reach (how many consumers within the advertiser’s target audience were exposed to the advertisement) and frequency (how many times the consumer within the target audience was exposed to the advertisement). Performance-based advertising is generally intended to induce a specific action, such as clicking on an advertisement, and direct response advertisers typically measure campaign effectiveness using metrics related to consumer response to an advertisement.

We generate digital revenue by delivering digital advertisements on digital media sites across a wide range of Internet-connected online and mobile devices. Advertisers and agencies typically purchase advertising from us through campaigns that are sold and managed by our direct sales force, which we refer to as managed campaigns. Managed campaigns provide advertisers with a higher degree of “white glove” customer service, with dedicated account teams that use an automated platform to deliver advertising campaigns for advertisers.

We typically contract with advertisers or agencies through insertion orders, which set forth campaign parameters such as size and duration of the campaign, type of advertising format and pricing. Digital advertisers and their agencies submit ad insertion orders to us and we fulfill those orders by delivering their digital advertisements to audiences through digital media properties. We are typically paid by advertisers on the basis of the number of viewer impressions to whom an advertisement is delivered, known as a cost per thousand basis, or on the basis of the number or type of actions taken by viewers to whom an advertisement is delivered, known as a cost per action basis. We generally pay our publisher partners a negotiated percentage of this revenue. Prior to running an advertising campaign, the advertiser or agency may work with our creative team to provide the creative direction of the campaign and design in order to most effectively reach the audiences most desirable to it.

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Our Digital Customers

Our digital customer base consists primarily of advertisers of all sizes and the advertising agencies that represent them. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we had over 3,600 advertising clients, including top brand advertisers from nearly all major industries, including automotive, consumer products, services, healthcare, telecommunications, travel, retail, finance and media.  Digital revenue from individual advertisers varies from period to period. We do not believe that our business is substantially dependent upon any individual advertiser, and no individual advertiser represented more than 5% of our digital revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Our Digital Publisher Network

We have contractual relationships with premium publishers, or owners of sites that contain premium digital content and provide digital advertising inventory. We consider a premium publisher to be a publisher that has content that is professionally produced and offers a quality viewing experience. These relationships provide us with digital advertising inventory, which we utilize to deliver our digital advertising solutions to our digital advertising customers. We engage our publisher partners through a variety of methods, including outreach by a dedicated business development team. We do not believe that the success of our business is dependent on our relationship with any single publisher partner.

We seek to identify owners of digital media properties featuring premium digital content that, individually or collectively, have the audience scale, composition and accessibility across Internet-connected devices to achieve the objectives of our advertisers. We review a variety of criteria to determine the quality of the advertising inventory and its appropriateness for our advertiser clients, including content, the characteristics of the publisher’s viewing audience, the targeting attributes that can be obtained from the digital media property in real time and the volume of available digital content and impressions.

Digital Competition

The digital advertising market is dynamic, rapidly changing and highly competitive, influenced by trends in both the overall advertising market as well as the digital advertising market. We compete with large online digital companies such as Facebook, Inc. and Google, Inc., as well as other publishers who attract advertisers to their digital offerings, as well as other advertising technology companies and advertising networks. In the television and radio broadcast space, our digital operations also compete for advertising commitments with television broadcasters, cable television networks, radio broadcasters, print media and other traditional publishers. Many of our competitors in this space have significant client relationships, much larger financial resources and longer operating histories than we have.

We believe that the principal competitive factors in digital media include effective audience targeting capabilities, multi-device campaign delivery capability, proven and scalable technologies, audience scale and reach, relationships with leading advertisers and their respective agencies, brand awareness and reputation, ability to gather and use data to deliver more relevant ads, ability to ensure brand safety, ability to prevent click fraud and use of analytics to effectively measure performance. We believe that we compete favorably with respect to all of these factors and that we are well-positioned to be a leading provider of digital advertising solutions to reach audiences globally.

Seasonality

Seasonal net revenue fluctuations are common in the television and radio broadcasting and digital media industries and are due primarily to fluctuations in advertising expenditures by local and national advertisers. In our television and radio segments, our second and third fiscal quarters generally produce the highest net revenue for the year. In our digital segment, net revenue generally increases in each fiscal quarter over the course of the year. In addition, advertising revenue across our segments is generally higher during presidential election years (2016, 2020, etc.) resulting from significant political advertising and, to a lesser degree, Congressional off-year election years (2018, 2022, etc.), resulting from increased political advertising, compared to other years.

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Intellectual Property

We believe that our ability to protect our intellectual property is an important factor in the success and continued growth of our business. We protect our intellectual property through trade secrets law, copyrights, trademarks and contracts. We have established business procedures designed to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information, including the use of confidentiality agreements and assignment of inventions agreements with employees, independent contractors, consultants and companies with which we conduct business. While we believe that such measures are generally effective, we cannot guarantee that such measures will adequately protect our intellectual property from use, misuse or infringement by others

In the course of our business, we use various trademarks, trade names and service marks, including our logos and FCC call letters, in our advertising and promotions, as well as proprietary technology platforms and other technology. Some of our technology relies upon third party licensed intellectual property. We do not hold or depend upon any material patent, government license, franchise or concession, except our broadcast licenses granted by the FCC.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 1,259 full-time employees worldwide.  Approximately 958 of those full-time employees are in the United States, including 678 full-time employees in our television segment, 248 full-time employees in our radio segment, and 32 full-time employees in our digital media segment. As of December 31, 2017, three of our full-time television segment employees in the United States were represented by a labor union that has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with us.

 

We have 51 full-time employees in Mexico in our television segment, of whom 27 are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, which automatically renews annually on March 31.  There are also two part-time employees in Mexico in our television segment, covered by this collective bargaining agreement.

As of December 31, 2017, we had 141full-time employees and three part-time employees in Argentina, four full-time employees in Brazil, three full-time employees in Chile, one full-time employee in Costa Rica, six full-time employees in Colombia, 10 full-time employees in Israel, 42 full-time employees and three part-time employees in Mexico, 36 full-time employees in Spain, and seven full-time employees and one part-time employee in Uruguay, in our digital segment.  None of these employees is a member of a union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

We believe that our relations with our employees and these unions are generally good.

Regulation of Television and Radio Broadcasting

General. The FCC regulates television and radio broadcast stations pursuant to the Communications Act. Among other things, the FCC:

 

determines the particular frequencies, locations and operating power of stations;

 

issues, renews, revokes and modifies station licenses;

 

regulates equipment used by stations; and

 

adopts and implements regulations and policies that directly or indirectly affect the ownership, changes in ownership, control, operation and employment practices of stations.

A licensee’s failure to observe the requirements of the Communications Act or FCC rules and policies may result in the imposition of various sanctions, including admonishment, fines, the grant of renewal terms of less than eight years, the grant of a license renewal with conditions or, in the case of particularly egregious violations, the denial of a license renewal application, the revocation of an FCC license or the denial of FCC consent to acquire additional broadcast properties.

Congress and the FCC have had under consideration or reconsideration, and may in the future consider and adopt, new laws, regulations and policies regarding a wide variety of matters that could, directly or indirectly, affect the operation, ownership and profitability of our television and radio stations, result in the loss of audience share and advertising revenue for our television and radio broadcast stations or affect our ability to acquire additional television and radio broadcast stations or finance such acquisitions. Such matters may include:

 

changes to the license authorization process;

 

proposals to impose spectrum use or other fees on FCC licensees;

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proposals to impose a performance tax on the music broadcast on commercial radio stations and the fees applicable to digital transmission of music on the Internet;

 

proposals to change rules relating to political broadcasting including proposals to grant free airtime to candidates;

 

proposals to restrict or prohibit the advertising of beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages;

 

proposals dealing with the broadcast of profane, indecent or obscene language and the consequences to a broadcaster for permitting such speech;

 

technical and frequency allocation matters;

 

modifications to the operating rules for digital television and radio broadcasting rules on both satellite and terrestrial bases;

 

the implementation or modification of rules governing the carriage of local television signals by direct broadcast satellite, or DBS, services and cable television systems and the manner in which such parties negotiate such carriage arrangements;

 

changes in local and national broadcast multiple ownership, foreign ownership, cross-ownership and ownership attribution rules;

 

changes in the procedures whereby full-service broadcast stations are carried on MVPDs (cable television and direct-broadcast satellite systems) either on a must-carry or retransmission consent basis and how compensation systems and processes involving broadcasters and MVPDs might be modified;

 

changes in the operating rules and policies for AM and FM broadcasting; and

 

proposals to alter provisions of the tax laws affecting broadcast operations and acquisitions.

We cannot predict what changes, if any, might be adopted, nor can we predict what other matters might be considered in the future, nor can we judge in advance what impact, if any, the implementation of any particular proposal or change might have on our business.

FCC Licenses. Television and radio stations operate pursuant to licenses that are granted by the FCC for a term of eight years, subject to renewal upon application to the FCC. During the periods when renewal applications are pending, petitions to deny license renewal applications may be filed by interested parties, including members of the public. The FCC may hold hearings on renewal applications if it is unable to determine that renewal of a license would serve the public interest, convenience and necessity, or if a petition to deny raises a “substantial and material question of fact” as to whether the grant of the renewal applications would be inconsistent with the public interest, convenience and necessity. However, the FCC is prohibited from considering competing applications for a renewal applicant’s frequency, and is required to grant the renewal application if it finds:

 

that the station has served the public interest, convenience and necessity;

 

that there have been no serious violations by the licensee of the Communications Act or the rules and regulations of the FCC; and

 

that there have been no other violations by the licensee of the Communications Act or the rules and regulations of the FCC that, when taken together, would constitute a pattern of abuse.

If as a result of an evidentiary hearing the FCC determines that the licensee has failed to meet the requirements for renewal and that no mitigating factors justify the imposition of a lesser sanction, the FCC may deny a license renewal application. Historically, FCC licenses have generally been renewed. We have no reason to believe that our licenses will not be renewed in the ordinary course, although there can be no assurance to that effect. The non-renewal of one or more of our stations’ licenses could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Ownership Matters. The Communications Act requires prior consent of the FCC for the assignment of a broadcast license or the transfer of control of a corporation or other entity holding a license. In determining whether to approve an assignment of a television or radio broadcast license or a transfer of control of a broadcast licensee, the FCC considers a number of factors pertaining to the licensee including compliance with various rules limiting common ownership of media properties, the “character” of the licensee and those persons holding “attributable” interests therein, and the Communications Act’s limitations on foreign ownership and compliance with the FCC rules and regulations.

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To obtain the FCC’s prior consent to assign or transfer a broadcast license, appropriate applications must be filed with the FCC. If the application to assign or transfer the license involves a substantial change in ownership or control of the licensee, for example, the transfer or acquisition of more than 50% of the voting equity, the application must be placed on public notice for a period of 30 days during which petitions to deny the application may be filed by interested parties, including members of the public. If an assignment application does not involve new parties, or if a transfer of control application does not involve a “substantial” change in ownership or control, it is a pro forma application, which is not subject to the public notice and 30-day petition to deny procedure. The regular and pro forma applications are nevertheless subject to informal objections that may be filed any time until the FCC acts on the application. If the FCC grants an assignment or transfer application, interested parties have 30 days from public notice of the grant to seek reconsideration of that grant. The FCC has an additional ten days to set aside such grant on its own motion. When ruling on an assignment or transfer application, the FCC is prohibited from considering whether the public interest might be served by an assignment or transfer to any party other than the assignee or transferee specified in the application.

Under the Communications Act, a broadcast license may not, absent a public interest determination by the FCC, be granted to or held by persons who are not U.S. citizens, by any corporation that has more than 20% of its capital stock owned or voted by non-U.S. citizens or entities or their representatives, by foreign governments or their representatives or by non-U.S. corporations. Furthermore, the Communications Act provides that no FCC broadcast license may be granted to or held by any corporation directly or indirectly controlled by any other corporation of which more than 25% of its capital stock is owned of record or voted by non-U.S. citizens or entities or their representatives, or foreign governments or their representatives or by non-U.S. corporations. The FCC, recognizing its authority to allow foreign ownership in excess of these safe harbor levels and to allow for greater foreign investment in domestic broadcast media, has established new policies and practices allowing broadcast licensees to file petitions for declaratory ruling requesting approval (i) of up to and including 100% aggregate foreign ownership by unnamed and future foreign investors in the controlling U.S. parent of a broadcast licensee, (ii) for any named foreign investor who proposes to acquire less than 100% controlling interest to increase the interest to 100% in the future, and (iii) for any non-controlling named foreign investor to increase its interest up to 49.99% in the future.  The new rules also establish that a broadcast licensee only needs to obtain specific approval for foreign investors holding more than 5% interest, and in certain circumstances more than 10% interest, in the U.S. parent of the broadcast licensee, or a controlling interest in the U.S. parent. The licenses for our stations could be revoked if our outstanding capital stock is issued to or for the benefit of non-U.S. citizens in excess of these limitations or in violation of the procedures adopted by the FCC. Our restated certificate of incorporation restricts the ownership and voting of our capital stock to enable us to comply with foreign ownership limitations.

The FCC generally applies its other broadcast ownership limits to “cognizable” interests held by an individual, corporation or other association or entity. In the case of a corporation holding broadcast licenses, the interests of officers, directors and those who, directly or indirectly, have the right to vote 5% or more of the stock of a licensee corporation are generally deemed attributable interests, as are positions as an officer or director of a corporate parent of a broadcast licensee.

Stock interests held by insurance companies, mutual funds, bank trust departments and certain other passive investors that hold stock for investment purposes only become attributable with the ownership of 20% or more of the voting stock of the corporation holding broadcast licenses.

A time brokerage agreement with another television or radio station in the same market creates an attributable interest in the brokered television or radio station as well for purposes of the FCC’s local television or radio station ownership rules, if the agreement affects more than 15% of the brokered television or radio station’s weekly broadcast hours. Likewise, a joint sales agreement (“JSA”) involving radio stations creates a similar attributable interest for the broadcast station that is undertaking the sales function. As for television stations, the FCC adopted and then eliminated the concept of attribution for television JSAs, in its quadrennial ownership proceeding that is subject to judicial review.

Debt instruments, non-voting stock, options and warrants for voting stock that have not yet been exercised, insulated limited partnership interests where the limited partner is not “materially involved” in the media-related activities of the partnership and minority voting stock interests in corporations where there is a single holder of more than 50% of the outstanding voting stock whose vote is sufficient to affirmatively direct the affairs of the corporation generally do not subject their holders to attribution.

However, the FCC also applies a rule, known as the equity-debt-plus rule, which causes certain creditors or investors to be attributable owners of a station, regardless of whether there is a single majority stockholder or other applicable exception to the FCC’s attribution rules. Under this rule, a major programming supplier (any programming supplier that provides more than 15% of the station’s weekly programming hours) or a same-market media entity will be an attributable owner of a station if the supplier or same-market media entity holds debt or equity, or both, in the station that is greater than 33% of the value of the station’s total debt plus equity. For purposes of the equity-debt-plus rule, equity includes all stock, whether voting or nonvoting, and equity held by insulated limited partners in limited partnerships. Debt includes all liabilities, whether long-term or short-term.

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Under the ownership rules currently in place, the FCC generally permits an owner to have only one television station per market. A single owner is permitted to have two stations with overlapping signals so long as they are assigned to different markets. The FCC’s rules regarding ownership permit, however, an owner to operate two television stations assigned to the same market so long as either:

 

the television stations do not have overlapping broadcast signals; or

 

there will remain after the transaction eight independently owned, full power noncommercial or commercial operating television stations in the market and one of the two commonly-owned stations is not ranked in the top four based upon audience share.

The FCC will consider waiving these ownership restrictions in certain cases involving failing or failed stations or stations which are not yet built.

The FCC permits a television station owner to own one radio station in the same market as its television station. In addition, a television station owner is permitted to own additional radio stations, not to exceed the local radio ownership limits for the market, as follows:

 

in markets where 20 media voices will remain, a television station owner may own an additional five radio stations, or, if the owner only has one television station, an additional six radio stations; and

 

in markets where ten media voices will remain, a television station owner may own an additional three radio stations.

A “media voice” includes each independently-owned and operated full-power television and radio station and each daily newspaper that has a circulation exceeding 5% of the households in the market, plus one voice for all cable television systems operating in the market.

The FCC rules impose a limit on the number of television stations a single individual or entity may own nationwide.

The number of radio stations an entity or individual may own in a radio market is as follows:

 

In a radio market with 45 or more commercial radio stations, a party may own, operate or control up to eight commercial radio stations, not more than five of which are in the same service (AM or FM).

 

In a radio market with between 30 and 44 (inclusive) commercial radio stations, a party may own, operate or control up to seven commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service (AM or FM).

 

In a radio market with between 15 and 29 (inclusive) commercial radio stations, a party may own, operate or control up to six commercial radio stations, not more than four of which are in the same service (AM or FM).

 

In a radio market with 14 or fewer commercial radio stations, a party may own, operate or control up to five commercial radio stations, not more than three of which are in the same service (AM or FM), except that a party may not own, operate, or control more than 50% of the radio stations in such market.

Because of these multiple and cross-ownership rules, if one of our stockholders, officers or directors holds a “cognizable” interest in our company, such stockholder, officer or director may violate the FCC’s rules if such person or entity also holds or acquires an attributable interest in other television or radio stations or daily newspapers in such markets, depending on their number and location. If an attributable stockholder, officer or director of our company violates any of these ownership rules, we may be unable to obtain from the FCC one or more authorizations needed to conduct our broadcast business and may be unable to obtain FCC consents for certain future acquisitions.

Pursuant to the Communications Act, the FCC is required, on a quadrennial basis, to review its media ownership rules. The FCC began the most recent such review in 2010. In 2014, the FCC initiated a new Quadrennial Review and incorporated the existing 2010 record into that proceeding.  Among the actions ultimately taken by the FCC were ones to eliminate the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule, eliminate the radio-television cross-ownership rule, eliminate the so-called “eight voices” test that made it difficult to own more than one station in a smaller market, and to allow for a case-by-case review of the prohibition on ownership of the two of the top four stations in a market. The 2014 proceeding was ultimately completed in late 2016, then reconsidered in late 2017,  and is presently the subject of judicial review.

The rule changes that have previously gone into effect amend the FCC’s methodology for defining a radio market for the purpose of ownership caps. The FCC replaced its signal contour method of defining local radio markets in favor of a geographic market assigned by Nielsen Audio, the private audience measurement service for radio broadcasters. For non-Nielsen Audio markets, the FCC is conducting a rulemaking in order to define markets in a manner comparable to Nielsen Audio’s method. In the interim, the

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FCC will apply a “modified contour approach,” to non-Nielsen Audio markets. This modified approach will exclude any radio station whose transmitter site is more than 58 miles from the perimeter of the mutual overlap area. As for newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership, the FCC adopted a presumption that newspaper-broadcast ownership is consistent with the public interest in the top 20 television markets, while the presumption, in smaller markets, is that such cross-ownership is not consistent with the public interest, subject to certain exceptions.

With regard to the national television ownership limit, the FCC increased the national television ownership limit to 45% from 35%. Congress subsequently enacted legislation that reduced the nationwide cap to 39%. Accordingly, a company can now own television stations collectively reaching up to a 39% share of U.S. television households. Limits on ownership of multiple local television stations still apply, even if the 39% limit is not reached on a national level.

In establishing a national cap by statute, Congress did not make mention of the FCC’s UHF discount policy, whereby UHF stations are deemed to serve only one-half of the population in their television markets. The FCC had abolished its UHF discount policy, but grandfathered ownership interests in place at the time of the decision. However, that decision was recently reconsidered by the FCC and the UHF discount policy was reinstated. The FCC has previously determined that Univision’s television station interests are attributable to certain of our television interests in determining the television interests we must count for local and national multiple ownership purposes. The FCC decision reinstating the UHF is presently the subject of judicial review. In addition, the FCC has commenced a rulemaking process to consider both the nationwide cap and the UHF discount. Should the UHF discount be eliminated or the nationwide cap be interpreted to treat all stations on an equal basis, we may, in the absence of a grandfathering provision, have to divest stations or, should there be a grandfathering provision, be limited in our ability to acquire additional television stations.

The Communications Act requires broadcasters to serve the “public interest.” The FCC has relaxed or eliminated many of the more formalized procedures it developed to promote the broadcast of certain types of programming responsive to the needs of a broadcast station’s community of license. Nevertheless, a broadcast licensee continues to be required to present programming in response to community problems, needs and interests and to maintain certain records demonstrating its responsiveness. The FCC considers complaints from the public about a broadcast station’s programming when it evaluates the licensee’s renewal application, but complaints also may be filed and considered at any time. Stations also must follow various FCC rules that regulate, among other things, political broadcasting, the broadcast of profane, obscene or indecent programming, sponsorship identification, the broadcast of contests and lotteries and technical operations.

The FCC requires that licensees must not discriminate in hiring practices. It has recently released new rules that will require us to adhere to certain outreach practices when hiring personnel for our stations and to keep records of our compliance with these requirements. On March 10, 2003, the FCC’s current Equal Employment Opportunity, or EEO, rules went into effect. The rules set forth a three-pronged recruitment and outreach program for companies with five or more full-time employees that requires the wide dissemination of information regarding full-time vacancies, notification to requesting recruitment organizations of such vacancies, and a number of non-vacancy related outreach efforts such as job fairs and internships. Stations are required to collect various information concerning vacancies, such as the number filled, recruitment sources used to fill each vacancy, and the number of persons interviewed for each vacancy. While stations are not required to routinely submit information to the FCC, stations must place an EEO report containing vacancy-related information and a description of outreach efforts in their public file annually. Stations must submit the annual EEO public file report as part of their renewal applications, and television stations with five or more full-time employees and radio stations with more than ten employees also must submit the report midway through their license term for FCC review. Stations also must place their EEO public file report on their Internet websites, if they have one. The EEO rules do not materially affect our operations. Failure to comply with the FCC’s EEO rules could result in sanctions or the revocation of station licenses.

The FCC rules also prohibit a broadcast licensee from simulcasting more than 25% of its programming on another radio station in the same broadcast service (that is, AM/AM or FM/FM). The simulcasting restriction applies if the licensee owns both radio broadcast stations or owns one and programs the other through a local marketing agreement, provided that the contours of the radio stations overlap in a certain manner.

“Retransmission Consent” and “Must Carry” Rules. FCC regulations implementing the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, or the Cable Act, require each full-power television broadcaster to elect, at three-year intervals beginning October 1, 1993, to either:

 

require carriage of its signal by cable systems in the station’s market, which is referred to as “must carry” rules; or

 

negotiate the terms on which such broadcast station would permit transmission of its signal by the cable systems within its market, which is referred to as “retransmission consent.”

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For the three-year period commencing on January 1, 2018, we generally elected “retransmission consent” in notifying the MVPDs that carry our full-service television programming in our television markets. We have arrangements or have entered into agreements with nearly all of our MVPDs as to the terms of the carriage of our television stations and the compensation we will receive for granting such carriage rights, including through our national program supplier for Spanish-language programming, Univision, for our Univision- and UniMás-affiliated television stations, for the three-year period. As previously discussed, television stations in the same television market that are not commonly-controlled are not permitted to engage in joint negotiations for retransmission consent. This rule prohibits us and Univision from negotiating retransmission consent jointly, or from coordinating such negotiations, in those television markets where both companies own television stations.

The FCC has rules that govern the negotiation of retransmission consent agreements based on a policy decision to have those agreements negotiated in good faith. The FCC is undertaking a proceeding that could result in establishing new ground rules for such negotiations, including prohibiting certain negotiating practices on the part of broadcasters. We are not certain whether or in what form such provisions might be adopted and the impact of such changes on our negotiations and the economic results of such negotiations. Under the FCC’s rules currently in effect, cable systems are only required to carry one signal from each local broadcast television station. As an element of the retransmission consent negotiations described above, we arranged that our broadcast signal be available to our MVPD viewers, no matter whether they obtain their cable service in analog or digital modes. Cable systems are rapidly transitioning to providing their services in digital and we expect that analog cable service will be terminated by most cable operators and in most markets in the near future.

We continue to explore, subject to our legal rights to do so, and the economic opportunities available to us, the distribution of our programming in alternative modes, such as by delivery on the Internet, by multicast delivery services, and to individuals possessing wireless mobile reception devices.

Time Brokerage, Joint Sales Agreements and Shared Services Agreements. We have, from time to time, entered into time brokerage, joint sales and shared services agreements, generally in connection with pending station acquisitions, under which we are given the right to broker time on stations owned by third parties, agree that other parties may broker time on our stations, we or other parties sell broadcast time on a station, or share operating services with another broadcast station in the same market, as the case may be. By using these agreements, we can provide programming and other services to a station proposed to be acquired before we receive all applicable FCC and other governmental approvals, or receive such programming and other services where a third party is better able to undertake programming and/or sales efforts for us.

FCC rules and policies generally permit time brokerage agreements if the station licensee retains ultimate responsibility for and control of the applicable station. We cannot be sure that we will be able to air all of our scheduled programming on a station with which we have time brokerage agreements or that we will receive the anticipated revenue from the sale of advertising for such programming.

Under a typical joint sales agreement, a station licensee obtains, for a fee, the right to sell substantially all of the commercial advertising on a separately owned and licensed station in the same market. It also involves the provision by the selling party of certain sales, accounting and services to the station whose advertising is being sold. Unlike a time brokerage agreement, the typical joint sales agreement does not involve operating the station’s program format.

In a shared services agreement, one station provides services, generally of a non-programming nature, to another station in the same market. This enables the recipient of the services to save on overhead costs.

As part of its increased scrutiny of television and radio station acquisitions, the Department of Justice, or DOJ, has stated publicly that it believes that time brokerage agreements and joint sales agreements could violate the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended, or the HSRA, if such agreements take effect prior to the expiration of the waiting period under the HSRA. Furthermore, the DOJ has noted that joint sales agreements may raise antitrust concerns under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and has challenged them in certain locations. The DOJ also has stated publicly that it has established certain revenue and audience share concentration benchmarks with respect to television and radio station acquisitions, above which a transaction may receive additional antitrust scrutiny. See “Risk Factors” below.

Digital Television Services. The FCC has adopted rules for implementing digital television service in the United States. Implementation of digital television has improved the technical quality of television signals and provides broadcasters the flexibility to offer new services, including high-definition television and broadband data transmission. The digital transition for full-power television stations was completed on June 12, 2009.

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The FCC has required full-power and Class A television stations in the United States to operate in digital television.  The transition date for low-power television stations to convert to digital or halt operations has been postponed until July 13, 2021. We have timely completed the digital transition of all of our full-power and Class A television stations to the digital mode. We are in the process of transitioning certain of our low-power stations to the digital mode where we believe is in our best interest to do so. We will make additional decisions during the post-auction and repacking period, as we determine the availability of spectrum to accommodate our low-power television stations.

The FCC has adopted rules to permit low-power stations to operate on a paired or stand-alone basis in digital service. We have secured authority for certain of our low-power stations to have paired operations or operate in digital. In certain cases, we have requested authority to “flash cut” certain of our low-power stations to digital service. In those markets where no spectrum was available for paired operations, we will make a decision to switch individual stations from analog to digital service based on the viewing patterns of our viewers. We continue to review future use of certain of our low-power stations that continue to operate in analog and will determine whether to switch them to digital in advance of the deadline.

Equipment and other costs associated with the transition to digital television, including the necessity of temporary dual-mode operations and the relocation of stations from one channel to another, have imposed some near-term financial costs on our television stations providing the services. The potential also exists for new sources of revenue to be derived from use of the digital spectrum, which we have explored in certain of our markets.

Digital Radio Services. The FCC has adopted standards for authorizing and implementing terrestrial digital audio broadcasting technology, known as “In-Band On-Channel™” or HD Radio, for radio stations. Digital audio broadcasting’s advantages over traditional analog broadcasting technology include improved sound quality and the ability to offer a greater variety of auxiliary services. This technology permits FM and AM stations to transmit radio programming in both analog and digital formats, or in digital only formats, using the bandwidth that the radio station is currently licensed to use. We have elected and commenced the process of rolling out this technology on a gradual basis owing to the absence of receivers equipped to receive such signals and are considering its merits as well as its costs. It is unclear what effect such technology will have on our business or the operations of our radio stations.

Radio Frequency Radiation. The FCC has adopted rules limiting human exposure to levels of radio frequency radiation. These rules require applicants for renewal of broadcast licenses or modification of existing licenses to inform the FCC whether an applicant’s broadcast facility would expose people to excessive radio frequency radiation. We currently believe that all of our stations are in compliance with the FCC’s current rules regarding radio frequency radiation exposure.

Low-Power Radio Broadcast Service. The FCC has created a low-power FM radio service and has granted a limited number of construction permits for such stations. Pursuant to legislation adopted in 2011, this service is being expanded and the opportunities for FM translator stations reduced. The low-power FM service allows for the operation of low-power FM radio stations, with a maximum power level of 100 watts. The 100-watt stations reach an area with a radius of approximately three and one-half miles. The low-power FM stations are required to protect other existing FM stations, as currently required of full-powered FM stations.

The low-power FM service is exclusively non-commercial. To date, our stations have not suffered any technical interference from such low-power FM stations’ signals. Due to current technical restrictions and the non-commercial ownership requirement for low-power FM stations, we have not found that low-power FM service has caused any detrimental economic impact on our stations as well. Federal legislation has resulted in the increase in the availability of the low-power FM service and the FCC has recently begun granting new low-power FM authorizations. We do not foresee any material impact on our stations as a result of this legislation.

Other Proceedings. The Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999, or SHVIA, allows satellite carriers to deliver broadcast programming to subscribers who are unable to obtain television network programming over the air from local television stations. Congress in 1999 enacted legislation to amend the SHVIA to facilitate the ability of satellite carriers to provide subscribers with programming from local television stations. Any satellite company that has chosen to provide local-into-local service must provide subscribers with all of the local broadcast television signals that are assigned to the market and where television licensees ask to be carried on the satellite system. We have taken advantage of this law to secure carriage of our full-power stations in those markets where the satellite operators have implemented local-into-local service. SHVIA expired in 2004 and Congress adopted the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004, or SHVERA. SHVERA extended the ability of satellite operators to implement local-into-local service. SHVERA expired in late 2009, but was extended in May 2010 by the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act, or STELA. STELA provided a further five-year extension of the “carry one/carry all” rule earlier adopted in SHVIA and SHVERA and was further renewed in late 2014 under the terms of the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014, or STELAR. To the extent we have decided to secure our carriage on DBS through retransmission consent agreements, the “carry one/carry all” rule is no longer relevant to us.

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White Spaces. The FCC has adopted rules, that are under appeal by the National Association of Broadcasters and other parties, to allow unlicensed users to operate within the broadcast spectrum in unoccupied parts known as the “white spaces.” The intention of the rules was to make available unused spectrum for use in connection with wireless functions related to connectivity between computers and related devices and the Internet. The FCC believes that the provisions it adopted will protect broadcast services. Broadcast groups, on the other hand, believe that operation of unlicensed devices in the “white spaces” has the potential for causing interference to broadcast reception. It is premature to judge the potential impact of what services, if any, operate under the FCC’s rules on over-the-air broadcasting.

Performance Tax. While radio broadcasters have long paid license fees to composers for the musical works they have written, radio broadcasters have never compensated musical artists for their recordings of these works. The rationale was that the radio broadcasting industry provided artists, free of charge, with a promotional service for their performance.

As the entire music industry has changed, with revenues from the sale of CDs continuing to drop dramatically, both musical artists and the recording companies have sought a change in how business is done. The recording companies, with the backing of many artists, have asked Congress to require that broadcasters pay fees for the broadcast exploitation of musical works. Such legislation received favorable committee action in Congress during 2009 and 2010, but no legislation was then enacted. Congress has not taken any subsequent actions, but the issue remains under consideration. Were such legislation to be adopted, its impact would depend on how any fees were structured.

Spectrum Policies/Incentive Auction. After studying national broadband needs, the FCC determined that more spectrum should be made available for wireless broadband services based on the growing usage of wireless devices by consumers and businesses and associated spectrum needs for telephony, data transmission, and entertainment purposes. In order to avert a spectrum crisis, the FCC proposed to recover and reallocate to wireless broadband a total of 500 MHz of spectrum, of which the FCC expected up to 120 MHz (amounting to 20 channels of 6MHz each) to come from spectrum currently allocated to over-the-air television broadcasting.

In order to achieve this spectrum reallocation, Congress enacted legislation and the FCC established a mechanism for broadcasters to participate in a “voluntary incentive auction” in which interested station owners would offer the spectrum usage rights of their stations in a “reverse auction”, providing spectrum usage rights for wireless operators to purchase in a simultaneous or future “forward auction”. Through a series of rulemaking proceedings, the FCC established how stations would be valued, what percentage of the auction payments would go to broadcasters, and what rights, if any, stations that relinquished spectrum usage rights or stations agreeing to share spectrum usage rights would retain following the completion of the auction process. Following the completion of the auction process in 2017, the FCC provided for a repacking of the television band, commencing in late 2018 and extending until mid-2020, in order to deal with the reduction in spectrum available for over-the-air broadcast stations.  This repacking will have an impact certain of our full-service and Class A stations which have to be relocated, and the levels of interference protection and other regulatory provisions may be altered to accommodate the reduction in available broadcast channels. The FCC has been authorized to use certain of the proceeds derived from the auction to reimburse broadcasters for certain costs associated with such repacking and where our stations are affected by the repacking, we have sought reimbursement to limit the economic impact of repacking on us.

The auction began on March 29, 2016 and bidding for broadcasters concluded on January 13, 2017. The auction process resulted in the FCC recovering from broadcasters 84 MHz, or the equivalent of 14 television channels of 6 MHz each.  The reduction in the amount of spectrum recovered, from 120 MHz to 84 MHz, set the stage for the repacking process, affecting certain of our broadcast television stations.

We applied to participate in the reverse auction to monetize a portion of our spectrum usage rights.  We returned the spectrum for four of our full-service and Class A stations and we received proceeds of approximately $264 million in 2017.  Under the terms of the incentive auction, stations that returned their spectrum were entitled to engage subsequently in channel sharing arrangements.  Under a channel sharing arrangement, a station that has returned spectrum (known as a sharee) enters into an agreement, meeting certain requirements set by the FCC, with another station that has not returned spectrum (known as the sharer), and the two parties then divide the authorized spectrum of the sharer enabling both to continue to transmit programming but with smaller amounts of bandwidth.  A reduction in bandwidth may reduce the ability of a station in offering multicast programming and the revenue that can be derived from such service.  In the case of two of our stations that returned spectrum, they are engaged in channel sharing with other of our stations.  In the case of the other two stations, we have signed channel sharing agreements with third parties and expended certain of the incentive auction proceeds as consideration for the third parties to serve as our sharers.

The reduction in available spectrum arising from the post-auction repacking process may also have a detrimental impact on low-power stations (other than Class A stations), which are not protected owing to their secondary status.

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Regulation of Digital Advertising

We are subject to many United States federal and state laws and regulations, as well as laws and regulations of other jurisdictions, applicable to businesses engaged in providing digital media advertising services. These laws potentially can affect our business to the extent they restrict our business practices, increase our cost of compliance or impose a greater risk of liability, and these laws continue to evolve.

Compliance with privacy, data protection and data security laws plays a significant role in our business. In the United States, both federal and state laws regulate activities inherent to digital advertising, including the collection, use, sharing, and distribution of consumer data by us and by companies with which we do business in the course of providing digital media services. We also rely on the services of third parties in gathering, using and storing consumer data, and these parties’ compliance with applicable laws affects our own compliance status. Because we interact with consumers outside the United States and provide services to advertisers who themselves interact with those consumers, the laws of other jurisdictions may also apply to the types of services we provide and to the gathering, use, and sharing of the personal information of our viewers, listeners, and digital media users. Privacy and data protection regulations have gained substantial publicity and attention in light of growing consumer expectations both for enhanced services as well as privacy, especially in light of publicized data breach incidents and allegations of undisclosed and uncontested use of consumers’ personal information, and increasingly are the subject of regulatory attention and enforcement as well as private litigation often taking the form of consumer class actions. The regulatory standards continue to evolve in ways that impose additional compliance costs and risks on businesses, like ours, that possess and/or process consumer data.  

Online advertising activities in the United States primarily have been subject to regulation and enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, which principally relies on its enforcement authority under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to investigate and respond to allegedly unfair or deceptive acts and practices. Section 5 has been the primary regulatory tool used to respond to claims of deceptive or inadequate privacy policies, inadequate data security practices and misuse of consumer data. The FTC’s enforcement focus has included close attention to the mobile advertising industry. For example, in December 2012, the FTC adopted amendments to rules under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, which went into effect in July 2013. These amendments broaden the potential applicability of COPPA compliance obligations to our activities and those of our clients when interacting with children. For example, the FTC’s testimonial and endorsement guidelines were updated in late 2009 and provide additional and expanded guidance for advertising practices using endorsements, testimonials, and similar content. In addition to formal rules and guidelines, the FTC’s active enforcement in the digital media industry creates evolving precedent for challenging digital advertising practices as deceptive or unfair.  State consumer protection laws and the enforcement of those laws by state attorneys general also impose substantial compliance risks on our business.  By way of further example, California’s parallel children’s privacy law also has been expanded and potentially reaches consumers not covered by COPPA.

The FTC has devoted particular attention to businesses within the digital media channel where the FTC has determined that potentially abusive practices have occurred or are likely to occur. The FTC focuses its enforcement resources on the accuracy of consumer disclosures, data practices transparency, consumer tracking, and data aggregation. More recently, the FTC has communicated its intention to focus on the use of data to disadvantage vulnerable or minority communities, and particular attention has been paid to data brokers and aggregators of the type that may assist us in creating consumer profiles and in serving advertisements. In some circumstances, the FTC has taken the position that advertisers may be liable for the acts of channel partners and has successfully brought enforcement actions against parties based on the activities of their channel partners. This creates the possibility of enforcement risk for acts other than our own.

The FTC also has employed its Section 5 authority to take action against digital advertising businesses with regard to their data security practices and policies, even apart from its traditional enforcement of privacy regulations and standards.

State attorneys general also enforce consumer protection laws, some modeled after the Federal Trade Commission Act, in ways that affect the digital advertising industry. In addition, several states mandate specific data security measures, and 47 states and the District of Columbia enforce data breach notification laws that require notification to consumers and, in some instances, law enforcement, in the event of a covered data security incident.

In other markets we serve, the regulation of consumer practices in digital advertising is less mature. In Mexico, for example, the regulation of digital advertising largely relies on applying regulatory constraints on traditional print advertising (such as prohibitions on pornographic or politically inflammatory speech) to digital advertising.

The issue of privacy in the digital media industry is still evolving. U.S. and foreign governments have enacted, have considered or are considering legislation or regulations that could significantly restrict industry participants’ ability to collect, retain, augment, analyze, use and share consumer data, such as by regulating the level of consumer notice and consent required before a company can employ “cookies” or other electronic tools to track online activities. Enforcement bodies are developing rules and enforcement standards applicable to the collection, storage and use of geolocation data, biometric data, transparency of consumer data profile

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creation and management, and consumer access to and control over their individual online profiles and the collection of consumer data through “Internet of Things” technology. The privacy and data security laws of Mexico, though still evolving, present a particular compliance obligation given our relationship with Mexican consumers. Mexican law mandates the application of adequate data security measures and the consent of individuals before processing their personal information.

The European Union, or EU, and its member states traditionally have regulated digital advertising practices pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC (commonly known as the “Data Protection Directive”) and implementing national legislation. The EU recently enacted a comprehensive EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation (“Regulation”) that will replace the current Data Protection Directive beginning in May 2018. The Regulation reaches a greater range of data processing practices that occur outside of the EU than was the case under the Data Protection Directive, imposes substantially greater penalties for its violation, and imposes greater notice, consent, and data processing obligations than did the Data Protection Directive. Current and developing EU law, among other things, requires advertisers to obtain specific types of explicit notice to and consent from individuals before using cookies or other technologies to track individuals and their online behavior and deliver targeted advertisements, increases monetary penalties for non-compliance, extends the extraterritorial reach of EU data protection laws, and grants consumers the rights in some circumstances to require that their data no longer be stored or processed. It remains a possibility that additional legislation may be passed or regulations may be enacted in the future. The Regulation increases monetary penalties for its breach that can equal 4% of an enterprise’s gross global turnover.  The decision by the United Kingdom to begin the process of withdrawing from the EU, and its eventual withdrawal, has created new uncertainty as to the scope and content of U.K. privacy laws. Additionally, other jurisdictions continue to develop enhanced data protection and security laws.

The regulation of cross-border data transfers is in a state of heightened uncertainty, with the EU having invalidated the EU/U.S. Safe Harbor regime, which has been a principal means of bringing the transfer of the personal data of European nationals to certain jurisdictions, particularly the United States.  The EU and the United States have entered into a new Privacy Shield framework to replace the Safe Harbor, but the Privacy Shield also may be challenged on the same grounds as was the Safe Harbor.

We also participate in industry self-regulatory programs under which, in addition to other compliance obligations, we provide consumers with notice about our use of cookies and our collection and use of data in connection with the delivery of targeted advertising and allow them to opt-out from the use of data we collect for the delivery of targeted advertising. The rules and policies of the self-regulatory programs in which we participate are updated from time to time and may impose additional restrictions upon us in the future.

Additionally, in the United States and, increasingly, in other jurisdictions, consumers are provided private rights of action to file civil lawsuits, including class action lawsuits, against companies that conduct business in the digital media industry, including makers of devices that display digital media, providers of digital media, operating system providers and third party networks. Plaintiffs in these lawsuits have alleged a range of violations of federal, state and common law, including computer trespass and violation of privacy laws. Recent appellate decisions have affirmed the standing of consumers to initiate class and mass action litigation to remedy breaches of their privacy rights and injuries resulting from data breaches. State attorneys general in most states have the authority to bring similar actions on behalf of their residents.

Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with U.S. federal, state, or applicable international laws or regulations pertaining to privacy or data protection, or other policies, self-regulatory requirements or legal obligations could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, and also could result in reputational injury and/or monetary fines.

 

 

ITEM 1A.

RISK FACTORS

If we cannot raise required capital, we may have to reduce or curtail certain existing operations.

We require significant additional capital for general working capital and debt service needs. If our cash flow and existing working capital are not sufficient to fund our general working capital and debt service requirements, we will have to raise additional funds by selling equity, issuing debt, refinancing some or all of our existing debt, selling assets or subsidiaries and/or curtailing certain operations. None of these alternatives for raising additional funds may be available, or available on terms satisfactory to us, in amounts sufficient for us to meet our requirements. In addition, our ability to raise additional funds and engage in acquisitions and divestitures is limited by the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement. Our failure to obtain any required new financing may, if needed, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

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Our substantial level of debt could limit our ability to grow and compete.

Our total indebtedness was approximately $299.3 million as of December 31, 2017. A significant portion of our cash flow from operations is and will continue to be used to service our debt obligations, and our ability to obtain additional financing is limited by the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement. We may not have sufficient future cash flow to meet our debt payments, or we may not be able to refinance any of our debt at maturity. We have pledged substantially all of our assets and our existing and future domestic subsidiaries to our lenders as collateral. Our lenders could proceed against the collateral to repay outstanding indebtedness if we are unable to meet our debt service obligations. If amounts outstanding under the 2017 Credit Agreement were to be accelerated, our assets may not be sufficient to repay in full the money owed to such lender.

Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences to our business, including without limitation:

 

preventing us, under the terms of the 2017 Credit Agreement, from obtaining additional financing to grow our business and compete effectively;

 

limiting our ability, as a practical matter, to borrow additional amounts for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our growth strategy or other purposes; and

 

placing us at a disadvantage compared to those of our competitors who have less debt.

The 2017 Credit Agreement contains various covenants that limit management’s discretion in the operation of our business and could limit our ability to grow and compete.

Subject to certain exceptions, the 2017 Credit Agreement contains covenants that limit the ability of us and our restricted subsidiaries to, among other things:

 

incur liens on our property or assets;

 

make certain investments;

 

incur additional indebtedness;

 

consummate any merger, dissolution, liquidation, consolidation or sale of substantially all our assets;

 

make certain acquisitions;

 

dispose of certain assets;

 

make certain restricted payments;

 

enter into substantially different lines of business;

 

enter into certain transactions with affiliates;

 

use loan proceeds to purchase or carry margin stock or for any other prohibited purpose;

 

change or amend the terms of our organizational documents or the organization documents of certain restricted subsidiaries in a materially adverse way to the lenders, or change or amend the terms of certain indebtedness;

 

enter into sale and leaseback transactions;

 

make prepayments of any subordinated indebtedness, subject to certain conditions; and

 

change our fiscal year, or accounting policies or reporting practices.

Moreover, if we fail to comply with certain customary terms of default under the 2017 Credit Agreement, our lenders could:

 

elect to declare all amounts borrowed to be immediately due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest; and/or

 

terminate their commitments, if any, to make further extensions of credit.

Any such action by our lenders would have a material adverse effect on our overall business and financial condition.

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Historically, we have a history of losses in some periods and income in other periods, although in recent years, we have not experienced net losses. Were we to experience net losses again, our ability to comply with the 2017 Credit Agreement and continue to operate our business as it is presently conducted, could be jeopardized.

We reported net income of $176.3 million and had positive cash flow from operations of $301.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. We reported net income of $20.4 million and had positive cash flow from operations of $57.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. Additionally, as of December 31, 2017, we had an accumulated deficit of $539.7 million. If we were to experience net losses and/or declining net revenue over a period of time, there could be an adverse effect on our liquidity and capital resources. In addition, if events or circumstances occur such that we were not able to generate positive cash flow and operate our business as it is presently conducted, we may be required to obtain additional equity or debt financing, refinance our existing debt, sell assets and/or curtail certain operations. There is no assurance that any such transactions, if required, could be consummated on terms satisfactory to us or at all. Any default under our 2017 Credit Facility, or inability to renegotiate such agreements or obtain additional financing if needed, would have a material adverse effect on our overall business and financial condition.

If we are not able to properly remediate material weaknesses or are otherwise unable to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, timely file our periodic reports, maintain our stock exchange listing or prevent fraud.

As reported in “Item 9A—Controls and Procedures” contained in this report, management identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 with respect to the complex accounting matters and the number of control activities necessary to properly present consolidated results due to our expanding business operations and geographic scope, primarily related to our Headway acquisition in April 2017. While we have implemented certain measures that we believe will remediate this material weakness, we can provide no assurance that our remediation efforts will be effective. The Company’s remediation plan is also described in “Item 9A—Controls and Procedures” included elsewhere in this report.

Under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, detected or corrected on a timely basis.

If additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting are discovered or occur in the future, there exists a risk that our consolidated financial statements may contain material misstatements that are unknown to us at that time, and such misstatements could require us to restate our financial results. Our management or our independent registered public accounting firm may identify other material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. The existence of a material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting may affect our ability to timely file periodic reports under the Exchange Act, which could consequently result in the New York Stock Exchange delisting our Class A common stock or other regulatory actions that may be initiated against us by the SEC. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock or on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our ability to generate the significant amount of cash needed to service our indebtedness and financial obligations and our ability to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness or obtain additional financing depends on many factors beyond our control. In addition, we may not be able to pay amounts due on our indebtedness.

As of December 31, 2017, we had outstanding total indebtedness of approximately $299.3 million. Our ability to make payments on and refinance our indebtedness, including the amounts borrowed under our 2017 Credit Facility and other financial obligations, and to fund our operations will depend on our ability to generate substantial operating cash flow. Our cash flow generation will depend on our future performance, which is subject to many factors, including prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.

Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow from operations and future borrowings may not be available to us under our 2017 Credit Facility or otherwise, in amounts sufficient to enable us to service our indebtedness, including the borrowings under our 2017 Credit Facility, or to fund our other liquidity needs. If events or circumstances occur such that we are not able to generate positive cash flow and operate our business as it is presently conducted, we may be required to refinance our existing indebtedness, sell assets, curtail certain operations and/or obtain additional equity or debt financing. There is no assurance that any such transactions, if required, could be consummated on terms satisfactory to us or at all. Because of these and other factors beyond our control, we may be unable to pay the principal, premium, if any, interest or other amounts on our indebtedness.

Uncertain or adverse economic conditions may have a negative impact on our industry, business, results of operations or financial position.

Uncertain or adverse economic conditions could have a negative effect on the fundamentals of our business, results of operations and/or financial position. These conditions could have a negative impact on our industry or the industry of those customers

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who advertise on our stations, including, among others, the automotive, services, healthcare, retail, travel, restaurants, and telecommunications industries, which provide a significant amount of our advertising revenue. There can be no assurance that we will not experience any material adverse effect on our business as a result of future economic conditions or that the actions of the United States Government, Federal Reserve or other governmental and regulatory bodies for the purpose of stimulating the economy or financial markets will achieve their intended effect. Additionally, some of these actions may adversely affect financial institutions, capital providers, advertisers or other consumers or our financial condition, results of operations or the trading price of our securities. Potential consequences of the foregoing include:

 

the financial condition of companies that advertise on our stations, including, among others, those in the automotive, services, healthcare, retail, travel, restaurants, and telecommunications industries, which may file for bankruptcy protection or face severe cash flow issues, may result in a further significant decline in our advertising revenue;

 

our ability to borrow capital on terms and conditions that we find satisfactory, or at all, may be limited, which could limit our ability to refinance our existing debt;

 

potential increased costs of borrowing capital if interest rates rise;

 

our ability to pursue permitted acquisitions or divestitures of television or radio assets may be limited, both as a result of these factors and, with respect to acquisitions and dispositions, limitations contained in our 2017 Credit Agreement;

 

the possible further impairment of some or all of the value of our syndicated programming, goodwill and other intangible assets, including our broadcast licenses; and

 

the possibility that our lenders under the 2017 Credit Facility could refuse to fund its commitment to us or could fail, and we may not be able to replace the financing commitment of any such lender on satisfactory terms, or at all.

Actual or perceived difficulties in the global capital and credit markets have adversely affected, and uncertain or adverse economic conditions may negatively affect, our business, as well as the industries of many of our customers, which are cyclical in nature.

Some of the markets in which our advertisers operate, such as the services, telecommunications, automotive, fast food and restaurants, and retail industries, are cyclical in nature, thus posing a risk to us which is beyond our control. A renewed decline in consumer and business confidence and spending, together with significant reductions in the availability and increases in the cost of credit and volatility in the capital and credit markets, could again adversely affect the business and economic environment in which we operate, which in turn can affect the profitability of our business. Our business is significantly exposed to risks associated with the creditworthiness of our key advertisers and other strategic business partners. These conditions have resulted in the past, and could again result, in financial instability or other adverse effects at many of our advertisers and other strategic business partners. The consequences of such adverse effects could include the delay or cancellation of customer advertising orders, cancellation of our programming and termination of facilities that broadcast or re-broadcast our programming. The recurrence of any of these conditions may adversely affect our cash flow, profitability and financial condition. Future disruption of the credit markets, increases in interest rates and/or sluggish economic growth in future periods could adversely affect our customers’ access to or cost of credit, which supports the continuation and expansion of their businesses, and could result in advertising cancellations or suspensions, payment delays or defaults by our customers.

Uncertain economic conditions may affect our financial performance or our ability to forecast our business with accuracy.

Our operations and performance depend primarily on U.S. and, to a lesser extent, international economic conditions and their impact on purchases of advertising by our customers. As a result of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, which was experienced on a broad and extensive scope and scale, and the last recession in the United States, general economic conditions deteriorated significantly, and the economic recovery since that time has been uneven. Economic conditions, including lower economic growth rates, may remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. We believe that this general economic uncertainty may continue in future periods, as our customers alter their purchasing activities in response to the new economic reality, and, among other things, our customers may change or scale back future purchases of advertising. This uncertainty may also affect our ability to prepare accurate financial forecasts or meet specific forecasted results. If we are unable to adequately respond to or forecast further changes in demand for advertising, our results of operations, financial condition and business prospects may be materially and adversely affected.

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We may be unable to integrate any acquisitions that we undertake successfully, which could disrupt our business and adversely affect our financial conditions and result in operations.

We plan to continue to evaluate opportunities to make future acquisitions as opportunities present themselves, in a manner that is consistent with our overall acquisition strategy.  We cannot accurately predict the timing, size, and success of any currently planned or future acquisitions.  We may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to complete the acquisitions of candidates that we identify.  Additionally, unforeseen expenses, delays and competition frequently encountered in connection with pursuing acquisition targets could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our operating results.

We also may be unable to effectively complete an integration of the acquired businesses with our own or achieve our desired operating, growth, and performance goals for acquired businesses. The integration of acquired businesses involves numerous risks, including:

 

the potential disruption of our core business;

 

the potential strain on our financial and managerial controls, reporting systems and procedures;

 

potential unknown liabilities associated with the acquired business;

 

costs relating to liabilities which we agree to assume;

 

unanticipated costs associated with the acquisition;

 

diversion of management’s attention from our core business;

 

problems assimilating the purchased operations or technologies;

 

risks associated with entering markets and businesses in which we have little or no prior experience;

 

failure of acquired businesses to achieve expected results;

 

adverse effects on existing business relationships;

 

the risk of impairment charges related to potential write-downs of acquired assets; and

 

the potential inability to create uniform standards, controls, procedures, policies, and information systems.

We cannot assure you that we would be successful in overcoming problems encountered in connection with any acquisitions, and our inability to do so could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We expect to experience certain risk factors in our overseas operations, which risks may increase if and as our overseas operations expand.

Outside the United States, our digital media segment engages in business operations primarily in Spain, Mexico, Argentina and other Latin American countries. We are subject to certain risks inherent in business operations outside the United States. These risks include but are not limited to geopolitical concerns, local politics, governmental instability, socioeconomic disparities, fiscal policies, high inflation and hyper-inflation, currency fluctuations, currency exchange controls, restrictions on repatriating foreign-derived profits to the United States, local regulatory compliance, punitive tariffs, unstable local tax policies, trade embargoes, import and export license requirements, trade restrictions, greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable, unfamiliarity with local laws and regulations, differing legal standards in enforcing or defending our rights in courts or otherwise, the possibility of less favorable intellectual property protection than is provided in the United States, changes in labor conditions, difficulties in staffing and managing international operations, difficulties in finding personnel locally who are capable of complying with the requirements of reporting by a U.S. reporting company, and other cultural differences. Foreign economies may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in growth of gross domestic product, rate of inflation, market development, rate of savings, capital investment, resource self-sufficiency and balance of payments positions, and in many other respects.

We expect to experience fluctuations in foreign exchange rates in our overseas operations, which may increase if and as our overseas operations expand.

Our digital media segment engages in business operations involving a wide range of currencies.

Our consolidated financial statements of our operations outside the United States will be translated into U.S. Dollars at the average exchange rates in each applicable period. To the extent that the U.S. Dollar strengthens against foreign currencies, the translation of these foreign currencies denominated transactions will result in reduced revenue, operating expenses and net income for our international operations. Similarly, to the extent that the U.S. Dollar weakens against foreign currencies, the translation of these foreign currency denominated transactions will result in increased revenue, operating expenses and net income for our international operations.

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We are also exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuations as we convert the financial statements of our foreign operations into U.S. Dollars in consolidation. If there is a change in foreign currency exchange rates, the conversion of financial statements into U.S. Dollars will lead to a translation gain or loss which is recorded as a component of other comprehensive income. In addition, we may have certain assets and liabilities that are denominated in currencies other than the relevant entity’s functional currency. Changes in the functional currency value of these assets and liabilities create fluctuations that will lead to a transaction gain or loss.

Some of the countries in which our digital media segment operates, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, have experienced significant and sometimes sudden devaluations of their currency over time, which could magnify these fluctuations, should they happen again in the future. Some of the countries in which our digital media segment operates, including Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, have experienced hyper-inflation in the past, which could magnify socioeconomic, geopolitical or financial uncertainties that could affect our operations in such countries.

Additionally, our digital media assets, liabilities, income and costs can change significantly by showing our foreign currency denominated assets and debts converted to amounts in U.S. Dollars, the currency in which we report, and these can also change when financial statements in foreign currencies from our overseas operations are converted to and presented in U.S. Dollars.

We have not entered into agreements or purchased instruments to hedge our exchange rate risks, and it is therefore possible for our consolidated results of operations, including our sales volume in foreign currencies, our cost of revenue in foreign currencies and other items, to be influenced if exchange rates change significantly in one or more of these currencies. While it is possible that we may engage in some exchange rate risk hedging in the future, the availability and effectiveness of any hedging transaction may be limited and we may not be able to successfully hedge our exchange rate risks.

We must comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

We are required to comply with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. companies from engaging in bribery or other prohibited payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices occur from time-to-time in certain countries, including some of the countries in which we operate. If our competitors engage in these practices, they may receive preferential treatment from personnel of some companies, giving our competitors an advantage in securing business or from government officials who might give them priority in obtaining new business, which would put us at a disadvantage. Although we intend to inform our personnel that such practices are illegal, we cannot assure you that our employees or other agents will not engage in such conduct for which we might be held responsible. If our employees or other agents are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties.

We may have difficulty establishing adequate management, legal and financial controls in some of the countries in which we operate, which difficulties may increase if and as our overseas operations expand.

Certain of the countries in which we operate historically have been deficient in U.S.-style local management and internal financial reporting concepts and practices, as well as in modern banking and other control systems. We may have difficulty in hiring and retaining a sufficient number of locally-qualified employees to work in such countries who are capable of satisfying the obligations of a U.S. public reporting company. As a result of these factors, we may experience difficulty in establishing adequate management, legal and financial controls (including internal controls over financial reporting), collecting financial data and preparing financial statements, books of account and corporate records and instituting business practices in such countries that meet U.S. standards as in effect from time to time.

We may be exposed to certain risks enforcing our legal rights generally in some of the countries in which we operate.

Unlike the United States, most of the countries in which we operate have a civil law system based on written statutes in which judicial decisions have limited precedential value. While we believe that most or all the countries in which we operate have enacted laws and regulations to deal with economic matters such as corporate organization and governance, foreign investment, intellectual property, commerce, taxation and trade, our experience in interpreting and enforcing our rights under these laws and regulations is limited, and our future ability to enforce commercial claims or to resolve commercial disputes in any of these countries is therefore unpredictable. These matters may be subject to the exercise of considerable discretion by national, provincial or municipal governments, agencies and/or courts, and forces and factors unrelated to the legal merits of a particular matter or dispute may influence their determination.

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Cancellations or reductions of advertising could adversely affect our results of operations.

We do not obtain long-term commitments from our advertisers, and advertisers may cancel, reduce or postpone orders without penalty. We have experienced cancellations, reductions or delays in purchases of advertising from time to time in the past and more regularly during the recent global financial crisis and recession. These have affected, and could continue to affect, our revenue and results of operations, especially if we are unable to replace such advertising purchases. Many of our expenses are based, at least in part, on our expectations of future revenue and are therefore relatively fixed once budgeted. Therefore, weakness in advertising sales would adversely impact both our revenue and our results of operations.

Our advertising revenue can vary substantially from period to period based on many factors beyond our control, including but not limited to those discussed above. This volatility affects our operating results and may reduce our ability to repay indebtedness or reduce the market value of our securities.

We rely on sales of advertising time for most of our revenues and, as a result, our operating results are sensitive to the amount of advertising revenue we generate. If we generate less revenue, it may be more difficult for us to repay our indebtedness and the value of our business may decline. Our ability to sell advertising time depends on:

 

the levels of advertising, which can fluctuate between and among industry groups and in general, based on industry and general economic conditions;

 

for our television and radio segment, the health of the economy in the area where our television and radio stations are located and in the nation as a whole, and for our digital segment, the health of the economy in the areas where our digital advertising customers, publishers and audiences are located, and globally as a whole;

 

the popularity of our programming and that of our competition;

 

changes in the makeup of the population in the areas where our stations are located;

 

the activities of our competitors, including increased competition from other forms of advertising-based mediums, such as other broadcast television stations, radio stations, MVPDs, Internet and broadband content providers, and publishers and digital advertising technology companies serving in the same markets; and

 

other factors that may be beyond our control.

Changes in our accounting estimates and assumptions could negatively affect our financial position and operating results.

We prepare our financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of our assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, and our financial statements. We are also required to make certain judgments that affect the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during each reporting period. We periodically evaluate our estimates and assumptions, including those relating to the valuation of intangible assets, investments, income taxes, stock-based compensation, reserves, litigation and contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience and various assumptions that we believe to be reasonable at the time we make those assumptions, based on specific circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from our estimated results. Additionally, changes in accounting standards, assumptions or estimates may have an adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

The terms of any additional equity or convertible debt financing could contain terms that are superior to the rights of our existing security holders.

Depending upon our future results of operations, and our ability to further reduce costs as necessary and comply with our financing agreements, we may require additional equity or debt financing. If future funds are raised through issuance of stock or convertible debt, these securities could have rights, privileges and preference senior to those of common stock. The sale of additional equity securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities could also result in dilution to our current stockholders. There can be no assurance that additional financing, if required, will be available on terms satisfactory to us or at all.

Any failure to maintain our FCC broadcast licenses could cause a default under our 2017 Credit Facility and cause an acceleration of our indebtedness.

Our 2017 Credit Facility requires us to maintain our FCC licenses. If the FCC were to revoke any of our material licenses, our lender could declare all amounts outstanding under the 2017 Credit Facility to be immediately due and payable. If our indebtedness is accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds to pay the amounts owed.

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We have a significant amount of goodwill and other intangible assets and we may never realize the full value of our intangible assets.

Goodwill and intangible assets totaled $348.5 million and $283.9 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, primarily attributable to acquisitions in prior years. At the date of these acquisitions, the fair value of the acquired goodwill and intangible assets equaled its book value.

Goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets are tested annually on October 1 for impairment, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that our assets might be impaired. Such circumstances may include, among other things, a significant decrease in our operating performance, decrease in prevailing broadcast transaction multiples, deterioration in broadcasting industry revenues, adverse market conditions, a significant decrease in our market capitalization, adverse changes in applicable laws and regulations, including changes that restrict the activities of or affect the products or services sold by our businesses and a variety of other factors. Appraisals of any of our reporting units or changes in estimates of our future cash flows could affect our impairment analysis in future periods and cause us to record either an additional expense for impairment of assets previously determined to be impaired or record an expense for impairment of other assets. Depending on future circumstances, we may never realize the full value of our intangible assets. Any determination of impairment of our goodwill or other intangibles could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Univision’s ownership of our Class U common stock may make some transactions difficult or impossible to complete without Univision’s support.

Univision is the holder of all of our issued and outstanding Class U common stock. Although the Class U common stock has limited voting rights and does not include the right to elect directors, we may not, without the consent of Univision, merge, consolidate or enter into another business combination, dissolve or liquidate or dispose of any interest in any FCC license for any of our Univision-affiliated television stations, among other things. Univision’s ownership interest may have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change in control and may make some transactions more difficult or impossible to complete without Univision’s support or due to Univision’s then-existing media interests in applicable markets.

If our affiliation or other contractual relationships with Univision or Univision’s programming success change in an adverse manner, it could negatively affect our television ratings, business, revenue and results of operations.

Our affiliation and other contractual relationships with Univision have a significant impact on our business, revenue and results of operations of our television stations. If our affiliation agreement or another contractual relationship with Univision were terminated, or if Univision were to stop providing programming to us for any reason and we were unable to obtain replacement programming of comparable quality, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenue and results of operations. We regularly engage in discussions with Univision regarding various matters relating to our contractual relationships. If Univision were to not continue to provide programming, marketing, available advertising time and other support to us on the same basis as currently provided, or if our affiliation agreement or another contractual relationship with Univision were to otherwise change in an adverse manner, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenue and results of operations.

Our television stations compete for audiences and advertising revenue primarily on the basis of programming content and advertising rates. Audience ratings are a key factor in determining our television advertising rates and the revenue that we generate. If Univision’s programming success or ratings were to decline, it could lead to a reduction in our advertising rates and advertising revenue on which our television business depends. Univision’s relationships with Televisa and Venevision are important to Univision’s, and consequently our, continued success. If Televisa were to stop providing programming to Univision for any reason, and Univision were unable to provide us with replacement programming of comparable quality, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Additionally, by aligning ourselves closely with Univision, we might forego other opportunities that could diversify our television programming and avoid dependence on Univision’s television networks.

We are dependent on key personnel.

Our business is managed by a small number of key management and operating personnel, and the loss of one or more of these individuals could have a material adverse effect on our business. We believe that our future success will also depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel and to effectively train and manage our employee base.

 

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Our Chief Executive Officer currently has control of our company, giving him the ability to determine the outcome of most actions by our company and its stockholders, including the election of all of our company's directors.

As of March 26, 2018, Walter F. Ulloa, and stockholders affiliated with him, collectively hold approximately 53.5% of the voting power of our common stock. Under Delaware law, these stockholders, by themselves, have the power to elect all the directors of our company and determine the outcome of most matters placed before the stockholders for action.

Stockholders who desire to change control of our company may be prevented from doing so by provisions of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the 2017 Credit Agreement. In addition, other agreements contain provisions that could discourage a takeover.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, or our certificate of incorporation, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders. The provisions of our certificate of incorporation could diminish the opportunities for a stockholder to participate in tender offers. In addition, under our certificate of incorporation, our board of directors may issue preferred stock on terms that could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company. The issuance of preferred stock could also negatively affect the voting power of holders of our common stock. The provisions of our certificate of incorporation may have the effect of discouraging or preventing an acquisition or sale of our business.

In addition, the 2017 Credit Agreement contains limitations on our ability to enter into a change of control transaction. Under the 2017 Credit Agreement, the occurrence of a change of control would constitute an event of default permitting acceleration of our outstanding indebtedness.

We operate in highly competitive industries subject to changing technologies, and we may not be able to compete successfully.

We operate in highly competitive industries. Our television stations, radio stations and digital media platforms compete for audiences and advertising with other television stations, radio stations and digital media platforms, as well as with other forms of media. Advances in technologies or alternative methods of content delivery, as well as changes in audience or advertiser expectations driven by changes in these or other technologies and methods of content delivery, could have a negative effect on our business. Examples of such advances in technologies include video-on-demand, satellite radio, video games, text messaging, streaming video and downloaded content from mobile phones, tablets and other personal video and audio devices. For example, devices that allow users to view or listen to television or radio programs on a time-shifted basis, and technologies which enable users to fast-forward or skip advertisements altogether, such as DVRs and mobile devices, are causing changes in consumer behavior that could affect the perceived attractiveness of our services to advertisers, and could adversely affect our advertising revenue and our results of operations. In addition, further increases in the use of mobile devices which allow users to view or listen to content of their own choosing, in their own time, while avoiding traditional commercial advertisements, could adversely affect our advertising revenue and our results of operations. Additionally, MVPDs, direct-to-home satellite operators, and other sources are developing services (known as “over-the-top” services, operated by MVPDs and others, including Dish Network, DirecTV, YouTube, and Sony) that allow them to transmit targeted programming or limited (“skinny”) bundles of broadcast and non-broadcast programming that may or may not include our stations over the Internet to audiences, potentially leading to increased competition for viewers in our markets. New technologies and methods of buying advertising present an additional competitive challenge, as competitors offer products and services such as the ability to purchase advertising programmatically or bundled offline and online advertising, aimed at capturing advertising spend that previously went to broadcasters.

Our inability, for technological, business or other reasons, to adapt to changes in program offerings and technology on a timely and effective basis, exploit new sources of revenue from these changes, or to enhance, develop, introduce and deliver compelling advertising solutions in response to changing market conditions and technologies or evolving expectations of advertisers may affect our business prospects and results of operations.

We are subject to cybersecurity threats which could lead to business disruptions or data breaches that could damage our reputation, harm our business, expose us to liability and materially adversely affect our results of operations.

We may be subject to disruptions, breaches or cyber-attacks of our secured networks and information technology systems caused by illegal hacking, criminal fraud or impersonation, computer viruses, acts of vandalism or terrorism or employee error, and our security measures or those of any third party service providers we use may not detect or prevent such security breaches. We may incur significant costs to eliminate or alleviate cybersecurity breaches and vulnerabilities, which could be significant, and our efforts to protect against such breaches or vulnerabilities may not be successful. Any such compromise of our information security or the third-party providers on which we rely could also result in the unauthorized publication of our confidential business or proprietary information or the unauthorized release of customer or employee data or a violation of privacy or other laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Any of the foregoing could irreparably damage our reputation and business and/or expose us to material monetary liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

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Legislation and regulation of digital media businesses, including privacy and data protection regimes, could create unexpected costs, subject us to enforcement actions for compliance failures, or cause us to change our digital media technology platform or business model.

U.S. and foreign governments have enacted, considered or are currently considering legislation or regulations that relate to digital advertising, including, for example, the online collection and use of anonymous user data and unique device identifiers, such as IP address or unique mobile device identifiers, geo-location data, biometric data, and other privacy and data protection regulation. Such legislation or regulations could affect the costs of doing business online, and could reduce the demand for our digital solutions or otherwise harm our digital operations. For example, a wide variety of state, national and international laws and regulations apply to the collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer and other processing of personal data. While we take measures to protect the security of information that we collect, use and disclose in the operation of our business, such measures may not always be effective. Data protection and privacy-related laws and regulations are evolving and could result in ever-increasing regulatory and public scrutiny and escalating levels of enforcement and sanctions. In addition, it is possible that these laws and regulations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our business practices. These laws and regulations may impose obligations that are inconsistent with or interfere with our ability to comply with other legal obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with U.S., federal, state, or international laws, including laws and regulations governing privacy, data security or consumer protection, could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities, consumers or others. Any such proceedings could force us to spend significant amounts in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, result in fines or require us to pay significant monetary damages, damage our reputation, adversely affect the demand for our services, increase our costs of doing business or otherwise cause us to change our business practices or limit or inhibit our ability to operate or expand our digital operations. Because we, at times, rely on third parties to perform functions on our behalf, non-compliance by these third parties with laws and regulations relating to the services they provide to us may subject us to additional legal exposure.

We may be subject to intellectual property rights claims by third parties, which may be extremely costly to defend, could require us to pay significant damages and could limit our ability to use certain technologies.

Third parties may assert claims of infringement of intellectual property rights in proprietary technology against us for which we may be liable. Any claim of infringement by a third party, even those without merit, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim and could distract our management from operating our business. Although third parties may offer a license to their technology, the terms of any offered license may not be satisfactory to us  and the failure to obtain a license or the costs associated with any license could cause our business, financial condition and results of operations to be materially and adversely affected. In addition, some licenses may be non-exclusive, and therefore our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us. Alternatively, we may be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense and ultimately may not be successful. Furthermore, a successful claimant could secure a judgment or we may agree to a settlement that prevents us from distributing certain products or performing certain services or that requires us to pay substantial damages, including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed such claimant's patents or copyrights, royalties or other fees. Any of these events could seriously harm our business financial condition and results of operations.

If we cannot renew our FCC broadcast licenses, our broadcast operations would be impaired.

Our television and radio businesses depend upon maintaining our broadcast licenses, which are issued by the FCC. The FCC has the authority to renew licenses, not renew them, renew them only with significant qualifications, including renewals for less than a full term, or revoke them. Although we have to date renewed all our FCC licenses in the ordinary course, we cannot assure investors that our future renewal applications will be approved, or that the renewals will not include conditions or qualifications that could adversely affect our operations. Failing to renew any of our stations’ main licenses would prevent us from operating the affected stations, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we renew our licenses with substantial conditions or modifications (including renewing one or more of our licenses for less than the standard term of eight years), it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Displacement of any of our low-power television stations (other than Class A stations) could cause our ratings and revenue for any such station to decrease.

We own and operate a number of television stations in the FCC’s low-power television service. Our low-power television stations operate with less power and coverage than our full-power stations. The FCC rules under which we operate provide that low-power television stations (but not our Class A television stations) are treated as a secondary service. If any or all of our low-power stations are found to cause interference to full-power stations or sufficient channels become unavailable to accommodate incumbent broadcast television stations, owing to the relocation of full-power stations to fewer channels as part of the incentive auction repacking process, we could be required to eliminate the interference, terminate service, or consider other options, including channel sharing arrangements. In a few urban markets where we operate, including San Diego, there are a limited number of alternative channels to

39


 

which our low-power television stations can migrate. If, as a result of the elimination of part of the broadcast spectrum or otherwise, as part of the incentive auction and repacking process, we are unable to move the signals of our low-power television stations to replacement channels, or such channels do not permit us to maintain the same level of service, we may be unable to maintain the viewership these stations currently have, which could harm our ratings and advertising revenue or, in the worst case, cause us to discontinue operations at these low-power television stations.

Because our full-power television stations rely on retransmission consent rights to obtain MVPD carriage, new laws or regulations that eliminate or limit the scope of our MVPD carriage rights or affect how we negotiate our agreements, could have a material adverse impact on our television operations.

We no longer rely on “must carry” rights to obtain the retransmission of our full-power television stations on MVPDs. New laws or regulations could affect retransmission consent rights and the negotiating process between broadcasters and MVPDs and this may affect our negotiating strategies and the economic results we achieve in such negotiations. For instance, the inability of non-common owners of television stations in a television market to negotiate with MVPDs has an impact on our negotiating arrangements with Univision.

Our low-power television stations do not have MVPD “must carry” rights. Some of our low-power television stations are carried on MVPDs as they provide broadcast programming the MVPDs desire or are part of the retransmission consent agreements we are party to. Where MVPDs are not contractually required to carry our low-power stations, we face future uncertainty with respect to the availability of MVPD carriage for our low-power stations.

We are a party to various retransmission consent agreements that may be terminated or not extended following their current termination dates.

If our retransmission consent agreements are terminated or not extended following their current termination dates, our ability to reach MVPD subscribers and, thereby, compete effectively, may be adversely affected, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Retransmission consent revenue may not continue to grow at recent rates and are subject to reverse network compensation.

While we expect the amount of revenues generated from our retransmission consent agreements to continue to grow in the near-term and beyond, the rate of growth of such revenue may not continue at recent or current rates and may be detrimentally affected by network program suppliers seeking reverse network compensation and the growing concentration in the MVPD industry that may result in the amounts that MVPDs are willing to pay for our programming.

Carriage of our signals on DBS services is subject to DBS companies providing local broadcast signals in the television markets we serve and our decision as to the terms upon which our signals will be carried.

SHVIA allowed DBS television companies, which are currently DirecTV and Dish Network, to transmit local broadcast television station signals back to their subscribers in local markets. In exchange for this privilege, however, SHVIA required that in television markets in which a DBS company elects to pick up and retransmit any local broadcast station signals, the DBS provider must also offer to its subscribers signals from all other qualified local broadcast television stations in that market. Our broadcast television stations in markets for which DBS operators have elected to carry local stations have previously obtained carriage under this “carry one/carry all” rule.

SHVIA expired in 2004 and Congress adopted SHVERA, which expired in 2009, but was extended in May 2010 by STELA. STELA and STELAR provide further five-year extensions, now until 2019, of the “carry one/carry all” rule earlier adopted in SHVIA and SHVERA. To the extent we have decided to secure our carriage on DBS through retransmission consent agreements, the “carry one/carry all” rule no longer is relevant to us.

Changes in the FCC’s ownership rules could lead to increased market power for our competitors or could place limits on our ability to acquire stations in certain markets.

As required by the Communications Act and as the regulator of over-the-air broadcasting, the FCC, both on a quadrennial basis and in individual proceedings, continues to review its policies for the ownership of both radio and television stations. To date, however, only a reduction in the nationwide television cap, to 39% of the viewing public, has been the subject of federal legislation. The impact of changes in the FCC’s rules as to how many stations a party may own, operate and/or control, and how these are counted, depends on whether the FCC expands its ownership limits, as it has done in the past, or adopts new limits on ownership, as it has also done as in the case of time brokerage and joint sales agreements. In the case of the former, expanding ownership limits could

40


 

result in our competitors’ ability to increase their ownership presence in the markets in which we operate. In the case of the latter, as has been discussed herein in connection with the UHF discount and attribution of joint sales agreements, we may be unable to acquire stations in markets where additional station ownership would enable us to achieve operating efficiencies or grow our broadcasting business.

We rely on over-the-air spectrum which is being altered in connection in the incentive auction context, the results of which may affect the broadcasting services in general and our operations in particular.

Our television business operates through over-the-air transmission of broadcast signals. These transmissions are authorized under licenses issued to our stations by the FCC. The current electromagnetic spectrum is finite and certain parts of the spectrum are better than others owing to the ability of electromagnetic signals to penetrate buildings. This is the portion of the spectrum where broadcast stations operate.

With the advent of mobile wireless communications and its use not only for voice but for broadband distribution, the need for spectrum has grown. The FCC has sought to increase the amount of spectrum available for use by wireless broadband services at the expense of over-the-air broadcast services. Available sources of such spectrum are limited and the spectrum allotted for television broadcasting as a source for such spectrum repurposing has been identified as containing spectrum that the FCC seeks to recover in part and make available for wireless broadband use. The FCC has been required by statute to undertake and has now completed an incentive auction involving relinquishing and repurposing broadcast spectrum usage rights that have been auctioned off for what is expected to be wireless service use.  While existing broadcasters that did not relinquish spectrum usage rights as part of the incentive auction are entitled to have their service protected, the future of broadcasting with a smaller and repacked broadcast band cannot be known until the entire process is completed.  In this regard, it cannot be certain how the FCC’s efforts to secure additional spectrum for mobile wireless communications and the incentive auction, including the results of our participation in the incentive auction process and repacking processes that accompany the redistribution of reduced broadcast spectrum, will affect television broadcasting in general and our operations in particular.  There will be many changes in the industry that will depend on the repurposing of spectrum previously used for over-the-air broadcasting, the ultimate results arising from the repacking of broadcast spectrum, the relocation of certain broadcast stations to new positions in the broadcast band during the 39-month repacking period, and the actions and reactions of broadcasters and the viewing public in responding to the new and different broadcast spectrum environment.

There are significant political, legal and technical issues to overcome and be considered by us as the changes in spectrum operation and usage occur. We are giving consideration to all of the implications of the expected changes in how spectrum will be made available for broadcasting and how it will be used and expect to have a better idea of the changes upon receiving information following the completion of the incentive auction process.

Changes in the competitive landscape or technology may impact our ability to monetize our spectrum assets

With the proliferation of mobile devices and advances in technology that have freed up excess spectrum capacity, the monetization of our spectrum usage rights has become an integral part of our business in recent years.  We rely on the demand to broadcast multicast networks and demand from telecommunications operators to operate interference free in our markets in order to monetize our spectrum. There are no assurances that this demand will continue in future periods.  Additionally, program offerings and how they are made available as well as technology involving the utilization of spectrum are evolving rapidly. If we were not able, for technological, business or other reasons, to adapt to these changes in technology on a timely and effective basis, our ability to monetize our spectrum assets could be affected and have an adverse impact on our results of operations.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on our corporate website, www.entravision.com, the following reports, and amendments to those reports, filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC:

 

our annual report on Form 10-K;

 

our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q; and

 

our current reports on Form 8-K.

The information on our website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this report or incorporated by reference into this or any other filing we make with the SEC.

 

 

41


 

ITEM 1B.

UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

 

 

ITEM 2.

PROPERTIES

Our corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. We lease approximately 16,000 square feet of space in the building housing our corporate headquarters under a lease expiring in 2021. We also lease approximately 41,000 square feet of space in the building housing our radio network headquarters in Los Angeles, California, under a lease expiring in 2026.

The types of properties required to support each of our television stations, radio stations and digital operations typically include offices, broadcasting studios and antenna towers where broadcasting transmitters and antenna equipment are located. The majority of our office, studio and tower facilities are leased pursuant to long-term leases. We also own the buildings and/or land used for office, studio and tower facilities at certain of our television and/or radio properties. We own substantially all of the equipment used in our television and radio broadcasting business. We believe that all of our facilities and equipment are adequate to conduct our present operations. We also lease certain facilities and broadcast equipment in the operation of our business. See Note 12 to Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

 

ITEM 3.

LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We currently and from time to time are involved in litigation incidental to the conduct of our business, but we are not currently a party to any lawsuit or proceeding which, in the opinion of management, is likely to have a material adverse effect on us or our business.

 

 

ITEM 4.

MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

 

 

 

42


 

PART II

ITEM 5.

MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our Class A common stock has been listed and traded on The New York Stock Exchange since August 2, 2000 under the symbol “EVC.” The following table sets forth the range of high and low sales prices reported by The New York Stock Exchange for our Class A common stock for the periods indicated:

 

 

 

High

 

 

Low

 

Year Ending December 31, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Quarter

 

$

8.20

 

 

$

6.33

 

Second Quarter

 

$

8.31

 

 

$

5.94

 

Third Quarter

 

$

8.00

 

 

$

6.56

 

Fourth Quarter

 

$

7.74

 

 

$

5.20

 

Year Ending December 31, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Quarter

 

$

7.05

 

 

$

4.90

 

Second Quarter

 

$

6.73

 

 

$

5.45

 

Third Quarter

 

$

6.90

 

 

$

5.40

 

Fourth Quarter

 

$

7.90

 

 

$

5.05

 

 

As of March 26, 2018, there were approximately 113 holders of record of our Class A common stock. We believe that the number of beneficial owners of our Class A common stock substantially exceeds this number.

43


 

Performance Graph

The following graph, which was produced by S&P Global Market Intelligence, depicts our performance for the period from December 31, 2012 through December 31, 2017, as measured by total stockholder return calculated on a dividend reinvestment basis, on our Class A common stock compared with the total return of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Broadcasting & Cable TV Index. This graph assumes $100 was invested in each of our Class A Common Stock, the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Broadcasting & Cable TV Index as of the market close on December 31, 2012. Upon request, we will furnish to stockholders a list of the component companies of such indices.

We caution that the stock price performance shown in the graph below should not be considered indicative of potential future stock price performance.

 

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN*

Among Entravision Communications Corporation, the S&P 500 Index

and the S&P Broadcasting Index

 

 

 

 

Period Ending

 

Index

 

12/31/12

 

12/31/13

 

12/31/14

 

12/31/15

 

12/31/16

 

12/31/17

 

Entravision Communications Corporation

 

 

100.00

 

 

374.68

 

 

405.45

 

 

489.54

 

 

452.35

 

 

474.04

 

S&P 500 Index

 

 

100.00

 

 

132.39

 

 

150.51

 

 

152.59

 

 

170.84

 

 

208.14

 

S&P Broadcasting Index

 

 

100.00

 

 

157.10

 

 

131.87

 

 

107.91

 

 

130.75

 

 

126.75

 

 

44


 

Dividend Policy

We paid a cash dividend on our Class A, Class B, and Class U common stock of $0.03125 per share in each of the first and second quarters and $0.05 per share in each of the third and fourth quarters during 2017. We paid a cash dividend on our Class A, Class B, and Class U common stock of $0.03125 per share each quarter during 2016. We paid a cash dividend on our Class A, Class B, and Class U common stock of $0.025 per share during each of the first three quarters of 2015, and $0.03125 per share during the fourth quarter of 2015. We currently anticipate making cash dividends on a quarterly basis in future periods. Any decision to pay future cash dividends will be subject to further approval by the Board. Our future dividend policy, including the amount of any dividend, will depend on factors considered relevant in the discretion of the Board of Directors, which may include, among other things, our earnings, capital requirements and financial condition. In addition, the 2017 Credit Agreement places certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends on any class of our common stock.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table sets forth information regarding outstanding options and shares reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2017:

 

Plan Category

  

Number of Securities

to be Issued upon

Exercise of

Outstanding Options,

Warrants and Rights

 

 

Weighted-Average

Exercise Price of

Outstanding Options,

Warrants and Rights

 

 

Number of Securities

Remaining Available

for Future Issuance

Under Equity

Compensation Plans

(excluding Securities

Reflected in the

First Column)

 

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incentive Stock Plans (1)

 

 

3,809,791

(2)

 

$

2.50

(3)

 

 

4,204,373

 

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

 

 

N/A

(4)

 

 

N/A

(4)

 

 

3,997,062

 

Total

 

 

3,809,791

 

 

$

2.50

 

 

 

8,201,435

 

 

(1)

Represents information with respect to both our 2000 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan and our 2004 Equity Incentive Plan. No options, warrants or rights have been issued other than pursuant to these plans.

(2)

Includes an aggregate of 2,482,541 restricted stock units.

(3)

Weighted average exercise price of outstanding options; excludes restricted stock units.

(4)

Our 2001 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, permits full-time employees to have payroll deductions made to purchase shares of our Class A common stock during specified purchase periods. The purchase price is the lower of 85% of (1) the fair market value per share of our Class A common stock on the last business day before the purchase period begins and (2) the fair market value per share of our Class A common stock on the last business day of the purchase period. Consequently, the price at which shares will be purchased for the purchase period currently in effect is not known. We suspended the ESPP in 2009.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

On July 13, 2017, our Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program of up to $15.0 million of our outstanding common stock. Under the share repurchase program we are authorized to purchase shares from time to time through open market purchases or negotiated purchases, subject to market conditions and other factors. The stock repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time without prior notice.

As of December 31, 2017, we repurchased to date a total of approximately 1.0 million shares of Class A common stock at an average price of $5.54 since the beginning of share repurchase program, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $5.3 million. All repurchased shares were retired as of December 31, 2017.

45


 

ITEM 6.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The selected financial data set forth below with respect to our consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 and with respect to our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements which are included elsewhere herein. The consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included herein.

The selected consolidated financial data set forth below is qualified in its entirety by, and should be read in conjunction with both, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”, and the consolidated statements and the notes to those consolidated financial statements included in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”, of this annual report on Form 10-K.

(In thousands, except share and per share data)

 

 

 

Years Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2017

 

 

2016

 

 

2015

 

 

2014

 

 

2013

 

Statements of Operations Data:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revenue from advertising and retransmission consent

 

$

272,091

 

 

$

258,514

 

 

$

243,484

 

 

$

242,038

 

 

$

223,916

 

Revenue from spectrum usage rights

 

 

263,943

 

 

 

 

 

 

10,650

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

536,034

 

 

$

258,514

 

 

$

254,134

 

 

$

242,038

 

 

$

223,916

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenue - television (spectrum usage rights)

 

 

12,340

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenue - digital media

 

 

32,206

 

 

 

9,536

 

 

 

7,242

 

 

 

2,993

 

 

 

 

Direct operating expenses

 

 

119,283

 

 

 

113,439

 

 

 

110,323

 

 

 

104,874

 

 

 

101,419

 

Selling, general and administrative expenses

 

 

49,116

 

 

 

46,798

 

 

 

42,815

 

 

 

37,806

 

 

 

33,823

 

Corporate expenses

 

 

27,937

 

 

 

24,543

 

 

 

22,520

 

 

 

21,301

 

 

 

19,771

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

16,411

 

 

 

15,342

 

 

 

15,989

 

 

 

14,663

 

 

 

14,953

 

Impairment charge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

735

 

 

 

 

Foreign currency (gain) loss

 

 

350

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

257,643

 

 

 

209,658

 

 

 

198,889

 

 

 

182,372

 

 

 

169,966

 

Operating income

 

 

278,391

 

 

 

48,856

 

 

 

55,245

 

 

 

59,666

 

 

 

53,950

 

Interest expense

 

 

(16,709

)

 

 

(15,469

)

 

 

(13,047

)

 

 

(13,904

)

 

 

(24,631

)

Interest income

 

 

774

 

 

 

300

 

 

 

45

 

 

 

50

 

 

 

44

 

Other income (loss)

 

 

262

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gain (loss) on debt extinguishment

 

 

(3,306

)

 

 

(161

)

 

 

(204

)

 

 

(246

)

 

 

(29,675

)

Income (loss) before income taxes

 

 

259,412

 

 

 

33,526

 

 

 

42,039

 

 

 

45,566

 

 

 

(312

)

Income tax (expense) benefit

 

 

(82,809

)

 

 

(13,121

)

 

 

(16,414

)

 

 

(18,444

)

 

 

134,137

 

Income (loss) before equity in net income (loss) of nonconsolidated affiliate

 

 

176,603