Station operating expense, as Chris talked about, was up 5.9% to $23 million for the three-month period. As discussed in previous conference calls, we made a strategic decision to reward our staff pay increases in recognition of the work they do, and for economic and competitive purposes, we continue to do so. These pay increases and related payroll taxes amounted to an estimated $471,000 or approximately 37% of the increase in the first quarter's station operating expense. We also had other smaller but still meaningful increases in our station operating expenses, including increases in health insurance, sales surveys, interactive streaming and content, and bad debt expense. This in total amounted to approximately 50% of our total station operating expense increases in the first quarter.

May 9, 2024 / CFO / receipt, needs a key / Sam Bush, CFO | earnings call 2024-05-09 | transcript d05d2218-fd2e-421d-b695-c4477ce7ae8a | chars 6177-6975 | segment 6