(Mark One)

for the Fiscal Year Ended February 29, 2016

for the Transition Period from to .

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

INDIANA

(State of incorporation or organization)

0-23264

(Commission file number)

35-1542018

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

ONE EMMIS PLAZA

40 MONUMENT CIRCLE

SUITE 700

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 46204

(Address of principal executive offices)

(317) 266-0100

(Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(B) OF THE ACT: None

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(G) OF THE ACT: Class A common stock, $.01 par value of Emmis Communications Corporation; 6.25% Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, $.01 par value of Emmis Communications Corporation.

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

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   ý

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all documents and 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   ý    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   ý     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 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, or a non accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of "large accelerated filer," and "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, as of August 31, 2015 , the last business day of the Registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $45,392,000 .

The number of shares outstanding of each of Emmis Communications Corporation's classes of common stock, as of April 29, 2016, was:

43,902,275          Class A Common Shares, $.01 par value

4,569,464         Class B Common Shares, $.01 par value

0          Class C Common Shares, $.01 par value

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTAIN DEFINITIONS

Unless the context requires otherwise, all references in this report to "Emmis," "the Company," "we," "our," "us," and similar terms refer to Emmis Communications Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report includes or incorporates forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You can identify these forward-looking statements by our use of words such as "intend," "plan," "may," "will," "project," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "continue," "potential," "opportunity" and similar expressions, whether in the negative or affirmative. We cannot guarantee that we will achieve these plans, intentions or expectations. All statements regarding our expected financial position, business and financing plans are forward-looking statements.

Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. We have included important facts in various cautionary statements in this report that we believe could cause our actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements that we make. These include, but are not limited to, the factors described in Part I, Item 1A, "Risk Factors."

The forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers or dispositions. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events or otherwise.

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

GENERAL

We are a diversified media company, principally focused on radio broadcasting. Emmis owns 19 FM and 4 AM radio stations in New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Austin (Emmis has a 50.1% controlling interest in Emmis' radio stations located there), Indianapolis and Terre Haute, IN. One of the FM radio stations that Emmis currently owns in New York is operated pursuant to a Local Marketing Agreement ("LMA") whereby a third party provides the programming for the station and sells all advertising within that programming. Emmis also developed and licenses TagStation ® , a cloud-based software platform that allows a broadcaster to manage album art, meta data and enhanced advertising on its various broadcasts, and developed NextRadio ® , a smartphone application that marries over-the-air FM radio broadcasts with visual and interactive features on smartphones.

In addition to our radio properties, we publish several city and regional magazines. Our publishing operations consist of Texas Monthly , Los Angeles , Atlanta , Indianapolis Monthly , Cincinnati, and Orange Coast . We also operate Digonex Technologies, Inc. ("Digonex"), a dynamic pricing business.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

We are committed to improving the operating results of our core assets while simultaneously seeking future growth opportunities in related businesses. Our strategy is focused on the following operating principles:

Develop unique and compelling content and strong local brands

Most of our established local media brands have achieved and sustained a leading position in their respective market segments over many years. Knowledge of local markets and consistently producing unique and compelling content that meets the needs of our target audiences are critical to our success. As such, we make substantial investments in areas such as market research, data analysis and creative talent to ensure that our content remains relevant, has a meaningful impact on the communities we serve and reinforces the core brand image of each respective property.

Extend the reach and relevance of our local brands through digital platforms

In recent years, we have placed substantial emphasis on enhancing the distribution of our content through digital platforms, such as the Internet and smartphones. We believe these digital platforms offer excellent opportunities to further enhance the relationships we have with our audiences by allowing them to consume and share our content in new ways and providing us with new distribution channels for one-to-one communication with them.

Deliver results to advertisers

Competition for advertising revenue is intense and becoming more so. To remain competitive, we focus on sustaining and growing our audiences, optimizing our pricing strategy and developing innovative marketing programs for our clients that allow them to interact with our audiences in more direct and measurable ways. These programs often include elements such as on-air endorsements, events, contests, special promotions, Internet advertising, email marketing, text messaging and online video. Our ability to deploy multi-touchpoint marketing programs allows us to deliver a stronger return-on-investment for our clients while simultaneously generating ancillary revenue streams for our media properties.

Extend sales efforts into new market segments

Given the competitive pressures in many of our "traditional" advertising categories, we are expanding our network of advertiser relationships into not-for-profits, political advertising, corporate philanthropy, environmental initiatives and government agencies. These efforts primarily focus on the health care and education sectors. We believe our capabilities can address these clients' under-served needs. The early return on these efforts has been encouraging and we plan to shift additional resources toward these efforts over time.

Enhance the efficiency of our operations

We believe it is essential that we operate our businesses as efficiently as possible. In response to recent trends, we implemented a series of aggressive restructurings and cost cuts. We have also invested in common technology platforms across all of our radio and publishing entities to help further standardize our business processes.

Effectively deploy technology to enhance the value of our media assets

We continue to seek innovative ways to combine or enhance our scalable, low cost radio distribution system with digital systems like HD Radio ® and wireless broadband, as well as to enhance radio's future through advances like TagStation and NextRadio.

RADIO STATIONS

In the following table, "Market Rank by Revenue" is the ranking of the market revenue size of the principal radio market served by our stations among all radio markets in the United States. Market revenue rankings are from BIA/Kelsey's Media Access Pro database as of March 29, 2016. "Ranking in Primary Demographic Target" is the ranking of the station within its designated primary demographic target among all radio stations in its market based on the March 2016 Nielsen Audio, Inc. ("Nielsen") Portable People Meter results or, in the case of our Terre Haute stations, based on the Fall 2015 Nielsen Survey. A "t" indicates the station tied with another station for the stated ranking. "Station Audience Share" represents a percentage generally computed by dividing the average number of persons in the primary demographic listening to a particular station during specified time periods by the average number of such persons in the primary demographic for all stations in the market area as determined by Nielsen.

1 Our fourth owned station in New York, WEPN-FM, is being operated pursuant to an LMA. Under the terms of the LMA, New York AM Radio LLC, a subsidiary of Disney Enterprises, Inc., provides the programming for the station and sells all advertising within that programming. Emmis continues to own and operate WEPN-FM.

In addition to our other radio broadcasting operations, we own and operate Network Indiana, a radio network that provides news and other programming to 60 affiliated radio stations in Indiana.

PUBLISHING OPERATIONS

We publish the following magazines:

1  Source: Publisher's Statement subject to audit by the Alliance for Audited Media (as of December 31, 2015) or Circulation Verification Council (as of March 31, 2016)

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

We believe that the growth of new technologies present not only a challenge, but an opportunity for broadcasters and publishers. The primary challenge is increased competition for the time and attention of our listeners and readers. The opportunity is to further enhance the relationships we already have with our listeners and readers by expanding products and services offered by our stations and magazines and to increase distribution to portable devices like smartphones and tablets.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

We believe that to be successful, we must be integrally involved in the communities we serve. We see ourselves as community partners. To that end, each of our stations and magazines participates in many community programs, fundraisers and activities that benefit a wide variety of causes. Charitable organizations that have been the beneficiaries of our contributions, marathons, walkathons, concerts, fairs and festivals include, among others, The Salvation Army, Wish for Heroes, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, March of Dimes, Homeboy Industries, Los Angeles Unified School District, American Red Cross, St. Jude, and the Harlem Chamber of Commerce.

The National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation ("NABEF") has honored us with the Hubbard Award, honoring a broadcaster "for extraordinary involvement in serving the community." Emmis was the second broadcaster to receive this prestigious honor, after the Hubbard family, for which the award is named. The NABEF also recognized Emmis' WQHT-FM in New York for its outreach after Hurricane Sandy, both for the news coverage it provided and the relief efforts it organized in the weeks after the storm. WIBC-FM was nominated for a national Crystal Award from the National Association of Broadcasters for our efforts in the community in 2014 and in 2016.

INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT

We have an active leadership role in a wide range of industry organizations. Our senior managers have served in various capacities with industry associations, including as directors of the National Association of Broadcasters, the Radio Advertising Bureau, the Radio Futures Committee, the Nielsen Audio Advisory Council, the Media Financial Management Association, MPA - the Association of Magazine Media, the City and Regional Magazine Association and as founding members of the Magazine Publishers of America. Our chief executive officer has been honored with the National Association of Broadcasters' "National Radio Award" and as Radio Ink's "Radio Executive of the Year." Our management and on-air personalities have won numerous industry awards.

COMPETITION

Radio broadcasting stations compete with the other broadcasting stations in their respective market areas, as well as with other advertising media such as newspapers, cable, magazines, outdoor advertising, transit advertising, the Internet, satellite radio, direct marketing and mobile and wireless device marketing. Competition within the broadcasting industry occurs primarily in individual market areas, so that a station in one market (e.g., New York) does not generally compete with stations in other markets (e.g., Los Angeles). In each of our markets, our stations face competition from other stations with substantial financial resources, including stations targeting the same demographic groups. In addition to management experience, factors that are material to competitive position include the station's rank in its market in terms of the number of listeners, authorized power, assigned frequency, audience characteristics, local program acceptance and the number and characteristics of other stations in the market area. We attempt to improve our competitive position with programming and promotional campaigns aimed at the demographic groups targeted by our stations. We also seek to improve our position through sales efforts designed to attract advertisers that have done little or no radio advertising by emphasizing the effectiveness of radio advertising in

increasing the advertisers' revenues. The policies and rules of the Federal Communications Commission (the "FCC") permit certain joint ownership and joint operation of local stations. Most of our radio stations take advantage of these joint arrangements in an effort to lower operating costs and to offer advertisers more attractive rates and services. Although we believe that each of our stations can compete effectively in its market, there can be no assurance that any of our stations will be able to maintain or increase its current audience ratings or advertising revenue market share.

Although the broadcasting industry is highly competitive, barriers to entry exist. The operation of a broadcasting station in the United States requires a license from the FCC. Also, the number of stations that can operate in a given market is limited by the availability of the frequencies that the FCC will license in that market, as well as by the FCC's multiple ownership rules regulating the number of stations that may be owned or controlled by a single entity, and cross ownership rules which limit the types of media properties in any given market that can be owned by the same person or company.

ADVERTISING SALES

Our stations and magazines derive their advertising revenue from local and regional advertising in the marketplaces in which they operate, as well as from the sale of national advertising. Local and most regional sales are made by a station's or magazine's sales staff. National sales are made by firms specializing in such sales, which are compensated on a commission-only basis. We believe that the volume of national advertising revenue tends to adjust to shifts in a station's audience share position more rapidly than does the volume of local and regional advertising revenue. During the year ended February 29, 2016 , approximately 17% of our total advertising revenues were derived from national sales, and 83% were derived from local sales. For the year ended February 29, 2016 , our publishing entities derived a higher percentage of their advertising revenues from local and regional sales (85%) than our radio stations (83%).

EMPLOYEES

As of February 29, 2016 , Emmis had approximately 750 full-time employees and approximately 335 part-time employees. Approximately 35 employees are represented by unions at our various radio stations. We consider relations with our employees to be good.

INTERNET ADDRESS AND INTERNET ACCESS TO SEC REPORTS

Our Internet address is www.emmis.com . Through our Internet website, free of charge, you may obtain copies of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. These reports will be available the same day we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC. We have been making such reports available on the same day they are filed during the period covered by this report.

FEDERAL REGULATION OF BROADCASTING

Radio broadcasting in the United States is subject to the jurisdiction of the FCC under the Communications Act of 1934 (the "Communications Act"), as amended in part by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the "1996 Act"). Radio broadcasting is prohibited except in accordance with a license issued by the FCC upon a finding that the public interest, convenience and necessity would be served by the grant of such license. The FCC has the power to revoke licenses for, among other things, false statements made in applications or willful or repeated violations of the Communications Act or of FCC rules. In general, the Communications Act provides that the FCC shall allocate broadcast licenses for radio stations in such a manner as will provide a fair, efficient and equitable distribution of service throughout the United States. The FCC determines the operating frequency, location and power of stations; regulates the equipment used by stations; and regulates numerous other areas of radio broadcasting pursuant to rules, regulations and policies adopted under authority of the Communications Act. The Communications Act, among other things, prohibits the assignment of a broadcast license or the transfer of control of an entity holding such a license without the prior approval of the FCC. Under the Communications Act, the FCC also regulates certain aspects of media that compete with broadcast stations.

The following is a brief summary of certain provisions of the Communications Act and of specific FCC regulations and policies. Reference should be made to the Communications Act as well as FCC rules, public notices and rulings for further information concerning the nature and extent of federal regulation of radio stations. Legislation has been introduced from time to time which would amend the Communications Act in various respects, and the FCC from time to time considers new regulations or amendments to its existing regulations. We cannot predict whether any such legislation will be enacted or whether new or amended FCC regulations will be adopted or what their effect would be on Emmis.

LICENSE RENEWAL. Radio stations operate pursuant to broadcast licenses that are ordinarily granted by the FCC for maximum terms of eight years and are subject to renewal upon approval by the FCC. The following table sets forth our FCC license expiration dates in addition to the call letters, license classification, antenna elevation above average terrain (for our FM stations only), power and frequency of all owned stations as of February 29, 2016:

1 Under the Communications Act, a license expiration date is extended automatically pending action on the renewal application.

Under the Communications Act, at the time an application is filed for renewal of a station license, parties in interest, as well as members of the public, may apprise the FCC of the service the station has provided during the preceding license term and urge the denial of the application. If such a petition to deny presents information from which the FCC concludes (or if the FCC concludes on its own motion) that there is a "substantial and material" question as to whether grant of the renewal application would be in the public interest under applicable rules and policy, the FCC may conduct a hearing on specified issues to determine whether the renewal application should be granted. The Communications Act provides for the grant of a renewal application upon a finding by the FCC that the licensee:

If the FCC cannot make such a finding, it may deny the renewal application, and only then may the FCC consider competing applications for the same frequency. In a vast majority of cases, the FCC renews a broadcast license even when petitions to deny have been filed against the renewal application.

REVIEW OF OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS. The FCC is required by statute to review all of its broadcast ownership rules on a quadrennial basis ( i.e. , every four years) and to repeal or modify any of its rules that are no longer "necessary in the public interest."

Despite several such reviews and appellate remands, the FCC's rules limiting the number of radio stations that may be commonly owned, or owned in combination with a television station, in a local market have remained largely intact. The FCC's previous ownership reviews have been subject to litigation. The most recent court decision was issued by the Third Circuit in July 2011 and upheld the FCC's decisions regarding all of its rules except for a revised newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule, which the Court vacated and remanded to the Commission based on the Court's finding that the agency had failed to provide adequate notice and opportunity for comment on the changes to that rule. The Supreme Court denied petitions for certiorari of the Third Circuit's decision in June 2012. In 2010, the FCC again commenced a quadrennial review of its broadcast ownership rules, which it subsequently incorporated into the record of its 2014 quadrennial review launched in April 2014. Both the quadrennial review proceeding and the court appeals remain pending, and we cannot predict whether these

proceedings will result in modifications of the ownership rules or the impact (if any) that such modifications would have on our business.

The discussion below reviews the pertinent ownership rules currently in effect as well as the changes in the newspaper/broadcast rule adopted in the FCC's December 2007 decision, which the FCC has largely proposed to reinstate in its 2010 and 2014 quadrennial reviews.

Local Radio Ownership :

The local radio ownership rule limits the number of commercial radio stations that may be owned by one entity in a given radio market based on the number of radio stations in that market:

Each of the markets in which our radio stations are located has at least 15 radio stations.

For purposes of applying these numerical limits, the FCC has also adopted rules with respect to (i) so-called local marketing agreements, or "LMAs," by which the licensee of one radio station provides programming for another licensee's radio station in the same market and sells all of the advertising within that programming and (ii) so-called joint sale agreements, or "JSAs," by which the licensee of one station sells the advertising time on another station in the market. Under these rules, an entity that owns one or more radio stations in a market and programs more than 15% of the broadcast time, or sells more than 15% of the advertising time, on another radio station in the same market pursuant to an LMA or JSA is generally required to count the station toward its media ownership limits even though it does not own the station. As a result, in a market where we own one or more radio stations, we generally cannot provide programming to another station under an LMA, or sell advertising on another station pursuant to a JSA, if we could not acquire that station under the local radio ownership rule. In the 2010 and 2014 quadrennial reviews, the FCC has also sought comment on whether to expand the categories of agreements that are considered for purposes of evaluating compliance with the ownership rules to include other types of agreements such as "shared services agreements" and/or "local news service" agreements.

On April 26, 2012, a subsidiary of Emmis entered into an LMA with New York AM Radio, LLC pursuant to which, commencing April 30, 2012, it began purchasing from Emmis the right to provide programming on radio station WEPN-FM, 98.7 FM, New York, NY until August 31, 2024, subject to certain conditions. Disney Enterprises, Inc., the parent company of New York AM Radio, LLC, has guaranteed the obligations under the LMA. Emmis' subsidiary will retain ownership of the 98.7 FM FCC license during the term of the LMA and received an annual fee of $8.4 million for the first year of the term under the LMA, which fee increases by 3.5% each year thereafter until the LMA's termination.

Although the FCC's quadrennial review decisions have not changed the numerical caps under the local radio rule, the FCC adjusted the rule in June 2003 by deciding that both commercial and noncommercial stations could be counted in determining the number of stations in a radio market. The decision also altered the definition of the relevant local market for purposes of the rule. The FCC "grandfathered" existing station "clusters" not in compliance with the numerical caps as calculated pursuant to the new market definition, but provided that they could be sold intact only to small businesses meeting certain requirements. In December 2007, the FCC expanded this policy to allow an owner to sell a grandfathered station cluster to any buyer, so long as the buyer committed to file, within 12 months, an application with the FCC to transfer the excess station(s) to an eligible small business or to a trust for ultimate sale to such an entity. Subsequently, however, the Third Circuit vacated the FCC's selected definition of small businesses eligible to purchase clusters that exceed the numerical limits. The change in market definition appears to impact the Austin, Texas market, such that we exceed the numerical cap for FM stations. If we chose to sell our Austin cluster of stations, we would likely therefore have to "spin off" one FM station to a separate buyer. The FCC has proposed to retain intact its local radio ownership rule, and has sought comment on whether to retain intact its previous definition of eligible small businesses or to adopt one of several alternatives, in its most recent quadrennial reviews.

Cross-Media Ownership :

The FCC's radio/television cross-ownership rule generally permits the common ownership of the following combinations in the same market, to the extent permitted under the FCC's television duopoly rule and local radio rules:

For purposes of this rule, the FCC counts as "voices" commercial and non-commercial broadcast television and radio stations as well as some daily newspapers and no more than one cable operator. The FCC will consider permanent waivers of its revised radio/television cross-ownership rule only if one of the stations is a "failed station." The FCC has proposed to eliminate this rule in its most recent quadrennial reviews.

FCC rules also generally prohibit common ownership of a daily newspaper and a radio or television station in the same local market. In its December 2007 quadrennial review decision, the FCC adopted rules that contained a presumption in favor of allowing ownership of one television or radio station in combination with one daily newspaper in the 20 largest media markets. In smaller markets, there would have been a presumption against allowing such ownership. In the case of proposed TV/newspaper combinations, the TV station could not be among the top four ranked stations in its market, and at least eight independently owned and operated TV stations would have had to remain in the market post-transaction. As noted above, the Third Circuit vacated these changes to the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership ban on procedural grounds. The FCC has largely proposed to reinstate the standards applicable to proposed newspaper/TV combinations in its most recent quadrennial reviews, while at the same time seeking comment on whether to eliminate the newspaper/radio cross-ownership rule.

ATTRIBUTION OF OWNERSHIP INTERESTS. In applying its ownership rules, the FCC has developed specific criteria that it uses to determine whether a certain ownership interest or other relationship with an FCC licensee is significant enough to be "attributable" or "cognizable" under its rules. Specifically, among other relationships, certain stockholders, officers and directors of a broadcasting company are deemed to have an attributable interest in the licenses held by that company, such that there would be a violation of the FCC's rules where the broadcasting company and such a stockholder, officer or director together hold attributable interests in more than the permitted number of stations or a prohibited combination of outlets in the same market. The FCC's regulations generally deem the following relationships and interests to be attributable for purposes of its ownership restrictions:

To assess whether a voting stock interest in a direct or indirect parent corporation of a broadcast licensee is attributable, the FCC uses a "multiplier" analysis in which non-controlling voting stock interests are deemed proportionally reduced at each non-controlling link in a multi-corporation ownership chain.

Under existing FCC policy, in the case of corporations having a "single majority shareholder," the interests of minority shareholders are generally not deemed attributable. Because Jeffrey H. Smulyan's voting interest in the Company currently exceeds 50%, this exemption appears to apply to the Company. Elimination of the exemption is, however, under consideration by the FCC. If the exemption is eliminated, or if Mr. Smulyan's voting interest falls to or below 50%, then the interests of any minority shareholders that meet or exceed the thresholds described above would become attributable and would be combined with the Company's interests for purposes of determining compliance with FCC ownership rules.

Ownership-rule conflicts arising as a result of aggregating the media interests of the Company and its attributable shareholders could require divestitures by either the Company or the affected shareholders. Any such conflicts could result in Emmis being unable to obtain FCC consents necessary for future acquisitions. Conversely, Emmis' media interests could operate to restrict other media investments by shareholders having or acquiring an interest in Emmis.

ALIEN OWNERSHIP. Under the Communications Act, no FCC license may be held by a corporation if more than one-fifth of its capital stock is owned or voted by aliens or their representatives, a foreign government or representative thereof, or an entity organized under the laws of a foreign country (collectively, "Non-U.S. Persons"). Furthermore, the Communications Act provides that no FCC license may be granted to an entity directly or indirectly controlled by another entity of which more than one-fourth of its capital stock is owned or voted by Non-U.S. Persons if the FCC finds that the public interest will be served by

the denial of such license. The FCC staff had interpreted this provision to require an affirmative public interest finding to permit the grant or holding of a license, and had made such a finding only in limited circumstances. In November 2013 the FCC clarified that it would accept requests to allow foreign investment above 25% in broadcast holding companies, and that it would evaluate those requests on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the requesting party had provided a sufficient public interest showing. In October 2015, the FCC proposed rules to simplify and streamline the process for requesting authority to exceed the 25% indirect foreign ownership limit in broadcast licensees. The FCC also sought comment on related matters, including revisions to the methodology that broadcasters may use to assess their compliance with the 25% limit. The foregoing restrictions on alien ownership apply in modified form to other types of business organizations, including partnerships and limited liability companies. In addition, an LMA with a foreign owned company is not prohibited as long as the non-foreign holder of the FCC license continues to control and operate the station. Our Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and Second Amended and Restated Code of By-Laws authorize the Board of Directors to prohibit such restricted alien ownership, voting or transfer of capital stock as would cause Emmis to violate the Communications Act or FCC regulations.

ASSIGNMENTS AND TRANSFERS OF CONTROL. The Communications Act prohibits the assignment of a broadcast license or the transfer of control of a broadcast licensee without the prior approval of the FCC. In determining whether to grant such approval, the FCC considers a number of factors, including compliance with the various rules limiting common ownership of media properties, the "character" of the assignee or transferee and those persons holding attributable interests therein and compliance with the Communications Act's limitations on alien ownership as well as other statutory and regulatory requirements. When evaluating an assignment or transfer of control application, the FCC is prohibited from considering whether the public interest might be served by an assignment of the broadcast license or transfer of control of the licensee to a party other than the assignee or transferee specified in the application.

Emmis acquired WBLS and WLIB from a subsidiary of YMF Media ("YMF"), which itself had acquired those stations from a subsidiary of Inner City Broadcasting. Several individuals filed petitions to deny the application requesting FCC approval of the assignment of the stations' licenses from Inner City to YMF, which the Media Bureau denied. Several petitioners filed an application for review of the Media Bureau decision, which the Commission denied. These petitioners appealed the Commission's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The D.C. Circuit dismissed the case, but the petitioners may still appeal to the United States Supreme Court. No party challenged the subsequent assignment of the stations' licenses from YMF to Emmis, and the time for filing any such challenges has expired. However, in March 2015, one party filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of New York challenging the transfer of the assets of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM from Inner City to YMF, and claimed that Emmis had exerted undue influence in securing the FCC's consent to the transfer of the FCC licenses of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM from YMF to Emmis. An amended complaint was filed in February 2016. Although both cases remain pending, Emmis believes the claims presented lack merit.

PROGRAMMING AND OPERATION. The Communications Act requires broadcasters to serve the "public interest." Beginning in the late 1970s, the FCC gradually relaxed or eliminated many of the more formalized procedures it had developed to promote the broadcast of certain types of programming responsive to the needs of a station's community of license. However, licensees are still required to present programming that is responsive to community problems, needs and interests and to maintain certain records demonstrating such responsiveness.

Federal law prohibits the broadcast of obscene material at any time and the broadcast of indecent material during specified time periods; these prohibitions are subject to enforcement by the FCC and carry fines of up to $325,000 per violation. The company has received, and may receive in the future, letters of inquiry or other notifications concerning alleged violations of the indecency rules at certain of its stations. We cannot predict the outcome of any indecency complaint proceeding or investigation or the extent or nature of future FCC enforcement actions.

The FCC's indecency rules have also been the subject of litigation. In July 2010, the Second Circuit held the FCC's indecency standards to be unconstitutionally vague in violation of the First Amendment. The Second Circuit later vacated the agency decision at issue in another appeal based on its earlier decision. The FCC challenged these rulings in the Supreme Court. In June 2012 the Supreme Court vacated the Second Circuit's decision, finding that the FCC had failed to provide adequate notice regarding the contours of its indecency policy with respect to the broadcasts at issue in the underlying proceedings, but leaving open the possibility that the agency might be able to enforce the prohibition on broadcast indecency in the future. The Third Circuit issued a decision vacating another FCC indecency ruling in November 2011, and the Supreme Court denied the FCC's request for review of this decision. It is not clear how the FCC will apply these judicial decisions to outstanding complaints, including those involving Emmis stations, or how they will impact future FCC policies in this area. The FCC has also solicited public comment on whether, and if so how, to revise its indecency enforcement policies, in a proceeding that remains pending.

Federal law also imposes sponsorship identification (or "payola") requirements, which mandate the disclosure of information concerning programming that is paid for by third parties. The company has received, and may receive in the future, letters of inquiry or other notifications concerning alleged violations of the sponsorship identification rules at certain of its stations. We cannot predict the outcome of any sponsorship identification complaint proceeding or investigation or the extent or nature of future FCC enforcement actions.

Stations also must pay regulatory and application fees and follow various rules promulgated under the Communications Act that regulate, among other things, political advertising, sponsorship identification, equal employment opportunities, contest and lottery advertisements, and technical operations, including limits on radio frequency radiation.

Failure to observe FCC rules and policies can result in the imposition of various sanctions, including monetary fines, the grant of "short-term" (less than the maximum term) license renewals or, for particularly egregious violations, the denial of a license renewal application or the revocation of a license.

ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS AND PROPOSED CHANGES. The FCC has adopted rules implementing a low power FM ("LPFM") service, and approximately 800 such stations are in operation. In November 2007, the FCC adopted rules that, among other things, enhance LPFM's interference protection from subsequently-authorized full-service stations. Congress then passed legislation eliminating certain minimum distance separation requirements between full-power and LPFM stations, thereby reducing the interference protection afforded to FM stations. As required by the legislation, the FCC in January 2012 submitted a report to Congress indicating that the results of a statutorily mandated economic study indicated that, on the whole, LPFM stations do not currently have, and in the future are unlikely to have, a demonstrable economic impact on full-service commercial FM radio stations. In March 2012, the FCC modified its rules to permit the processing of additional LPFM applications and to implement the legislative requirements regarding interference protection. The FCC opened a window for the filing of applications seeking authority to construct or make major changes to LPFM facilities which extended from October 15 through November 14, 2013, and in which it received more than 2,800 LPFM applications. The FCC continues to process the applications submitted during the window and, despite the findings of the March 2012 FCC study, we cannot predict whether any LPFM stations will actually interfere with the coverage of our radio stations.

In June 2009, the FCC adopted rules that allow an AM radio station to use currently authorized FM translator stations to retransmit the AM station's programming within the AM station's authorized service area. In October 2015, the FCC issued an Order that adopted a two-stage process for AM radio stations to acquire additional FM translators, which began in early 2016 and is expected to conclude in 2017. The FCC also adopted certain changes to its rules that govern AM radio stations, and sought comment on additional changes to those rules. The October 2015 proceeding remains pending.

The FCC also previously authorized the launch and operation of a satellite digital audio radio service ("SDARS") system. In July 2008, the two original SDARS companies-Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc.-merged into a new company called Sirius XM, which currently provides nationwide programming service. Sirius XM also offers channels that provide local traffic and weather information for major cities.

In October 2002, the FCC issued an order selecting a technical standard for terrestrial digital audio broadcasting ("DAB," also known as high definition radio or "HD Radio"). The in-band, on-channel ("IBOC") technology chosen by the agency allows AM and FM radio broadcasters to introduce digital operations and permits existing stations to operate on their current frequencies in either full analog mode, full digital mode, or a combination of both (at reduced power). In March 2005, the FCC announced that, pending adoption of final rules, it would allow stations on an interim basis to broadcast multiple digital channels. In March 2007, the FCC adopted service rules for HD Radio ® . Significantly, the FCC decided to allow FM stations to broadcast digital multicast streams without seeking prior FCC authority, to provide datacasting services, to lease excess digital capacity to third parties, and to offer subscription services pursuant to requests for experimental authority. Under the new rules, FM stations may operate in the "extended hybrid mode," which provides more flexibility for multicasting and datacasting services; and may use separate analog and digital antennas without seeking prior FCC authority. FM translators, FM boosters and low power FM stations may also broadcast digitally where feasible, and AM stations may now operate digitally during nighttime hours. The new rules mandate that broadcasters offering digital service provide at least one free over-the-air signal comparable in quality to their analog signal and that they simulcast their analog programming on their main digital stream, and prohibit broadcasters from operating exclusively in digital. The FCC declined either to set any mandatory deadline for broadcasters to convert to digital operations or to impose additional public interest obligations (beyond those that already apply to analog broadcasters) on digital broadcasters. The FCC did, however, adopt a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on (among other things) whether additional public interest obligations are necessary, including consideration of a requirement that radio stations report their public service programming in detail on a standardized form and post that form and all other contents of their public inspection files on the station's website. The FCC subsequently imposed an online public file requirement on television stations and, in January 2016, announced that it would extend that requirement to radio stations. In January 2010, the FCC revised its DAB service rules to allow FM DAB stations to increase the permitted power levels of DAB transmissions. In September 2008, shortly after approving the Sirius-XM merger, the FCC sought comment on whether it should mandate the inclusion of HD Radio ® features in satellite radio receivers. That proceeding remains pending, and we cannot predict its outcome or the impact that a decision might have on our business.

In order to broadcast musical compositions or to stream them over the Internet, Emmis must pay royalties to copyright owners of musical compositions (typically, songwriters and publishers). These copyright owners often rely on organizations known as performing rights organizations, which negotiate licenses with copyright users for the public performance of their compositions, collect royalties, and distribute them to copyright owners. The three major performing rights organizations, from which Emmis

has licenses and to which Emmis pays royalties, are the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Broadcast Music, Inc., and SESAC, Inc.. These rates are set periodically and are often negotiated by organizations acting on behalf of broadcasters. They may increase in the future. It also is possible that songwriters or publishers may disassociate with these performing rights organizations, or that additional such organizations could emerge in the future. One new organization has been formed, but the scope of its repertory is not clear and it is not clear that it licenses compositions that have not already been licensed by the other organizations. If a significant number of musical composition copyright owners withdraw from the established performing rights organizations, or if new performing rights organizations form to license compositions that are not already licensed, Emmis' royalty rates or negotiation costs could increase.

In order to stream music over the Internet, Emmis must also obtain licenses and pay royalties to the owners of copyrights in sound recordings (typically, artists and record companies). These royalties are in addition to royalties for Internet streaming that must also be paid to performance rights organizations. For the license period 2006-2015, Emmis has been paying royalty rates for non-interactive Internet streaming of sound recordings in accordance with a settlement agreement reached in February 2009 between the National Association of Broadcasters ("NAB") and SoundExchange (the entity that represents the recording industry and receives royalty payments from webcasters). On March 9, 2011, the Copyright Royalty Board ("CRB") published statutory royalty rates and terms for non-interactive Internet streaming of sound recordings for 2011-2015. The rates published by the CRB do not apply to services, like Emmis' Internet streaming services, that are governed by the NAB-SoundExchange settlement. For radio broadcasters, however, the CRB modeled the statutory rates after the rates agreed to in the settlement; both sets of rates increase from 0.17 cent per listener per song in 2011 to 0.25 cent per listener per song in 2015. The CRB has recently completed its proceeding to set rates for the 2016-2020 license period. The CRB set a rate during this period for performances by non-subscription noninteractive services of 0.17 cent per listener per song, and a rate for noninteractive subscription services of 0.22 cent per listener per song. Both rates are subject to changes that mirror changes in the Consumer Price Index. We expect SoundExchange to appeal the CRB's decision, and we cannot predict the outcome of that appeal.

In addition, lawsuits have been filed under various state laws challenging the right of digital audio transmission services and broadcasters to publicly perform or reproduce sound recordings fixed prior to February 15, 1972 ("pre-1972 sound recordings") without a license. Such sound recordings currently are exempt from federal copyright protection. The 1976 Copyright Act provides that pre-1972 sound recordings may be the subject of state copyright protection until 2067. As a result, there are various protections of pre-1972 sound recordings in place across various states, and the scope of protections and of exceptions and limitations to those protections varies from state to state. Moreover, the existence or scope of any public performance right in pre-1972 sound recordings is unclear. In 2014, courts in California and New York issued decisions in favor of the putative copyright owners against a digital transmission service. In 2015, a court in Florida ruled in favor of the digital transmission service, holding that no state public performance right exists under Florida law. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in New York) recently heard an appeal of the New York decision and has asked the New York State Court of Appeals to officially advise on the issue. We expect these other cases to be appealed. If appellate courts affirm these rulings and the decisions are interpreted to apply to radio broadcasting or Internet streaming, this could impede Emmis' ability to broadcast and/or stream pre-1972 sound recordings and/or increase its costs.

Legislation also has previously been introduced in Congress that would require the payment of performance royalties to artists, musicians, or record companies whose music is played on terrestrial radio stations, ending a long-standing copyright law exception. If enacted, such legislation could have an adverse impact on the cost of music programming.

In December 2007, the FCC initiated a proceeding to consider imposing requirements intended to promote broadcasters' service to their local communities, including (i) requiring stations to establish a "community advisory board," (ii) reinstating a requirement that a station's main studio be in its community of license and (iii) imposing local programming "guidelines" that, if not met, would result in additional scrutiny of a station's license renewal application. While many broadcasters have opposed these proposals, we cannot predict how the FCC will resolve the issues.

Congress and the FCC also have under consideration, and may in the future consider and adopt, new laws, regulations and policies regarding a wide variety of additional matters that could, directly or indirectly, affect the operation, ownership and profitability of our broadcast stations, result in the loss of audience share and advertising revenues for our broadcast stations and/or affect our ability to acquire additional broadcast stations or finance such acquisitions. Such matters include, but are not limited to:

We cannot predict whether any proposed changes will be adopted, what other matters might be considered in the future, or what impact, if any, the implementation of any of these proposals or changes might have on our business.

The foregoing is only a brief summary of certain provisions of the Communications Act and of specific FCC regulations. Reference should be made to the Communications Act as well as FCC regulations, public notices and rulings for further information concerning the nature and extent of federal regulation of broadcast stations.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

The risk factors listed below, in addition to those set forth elsewhere in this report, could affect the business and future results of the Company. Past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results or trends in future periods.

Risks Related to our Business

Our results of operations could be negatively impacted by weak economic conditions and instability in financial markets.

We believe that advertising is a discretionary business expense. Spending on advertising tends to decline disproportionately during an economic recession or downturn as compared to other types of business spending. Consequently, a downturn in the United States economy generally has an adverse effect on our advertising revenue and, therefore, our results of operations. A recession or downturn in the economy of any individual geographic market, particularly a major market such as Los Angeles or New York, also generally has a significant effect on us.

Even in the absence of a general recession or downturn in the economy, an individual business sector (such as the automotive industry) that tends to spend more on advertising than other sectors might be forced to reduce its advertising expenditures if that sector experiences a downturn. If that sector's spending represents a significant portion of our advertising revenues, any reduction in its advertising expenditures may affect our revenue.

Radio revenues in the markets in which we operate have been challenged and may remain so.

Radio revenues in the markets in which we operate have lagged the growth of the general United States economy. Our market revenues, as measured by the accounting firm Miller Kaplan Arase LLP ("Miller Kaplan"), during the years ended February 2014, 2015 and 2016 were up 2.7%, down 3.7% and down 1.5%, respectively. During this same period, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that U.S. GDP growth has been 3% to 4% each year. Our results of operations could be negatively impacted if radio revenue performance in the markets in which we operate continues to lag general United States economic growth.

We may lose audience share and advertising revenue to competing radio stations or other types of media.

We operate in highly competitive industries. Our radio stations compete for audiences and advertising revenue with other radio stations and station groups, as well as with other media. Shifts in population, demographics, audience tastes, consumer use of technology and forms of media and other factors beyond our control could cause us to lose market share. Any adverse change in a particular market, or adverse change in the relative market positions of the stations located in a particular market, could have a material adverse effect on our revenue or ratings, could require increased promotion or other expenses in that market, and could adversely affect our revenue in other markets. Other radio broadcasting companies may enter the markets in which we operate or may operate in the future. These companies may be larger and have more financial resources than we have. Our radio stations may not be able to maintain or increase their current audience ratings and advertising revenue in the face of such competition.

We routinely conduct market research to review the competitive position of our stations in their respective markets. If we determine that a station could improve its operating performance by serving a different demographic within its market, we may change the format of that station. Our competitors may respond to our actions by more aggressive promotions of their stations or by replacing the format we vacate, limiting our options if we do not achieve expected results with our new format.

From time to time, other stations may change their format or programming, a new station may adopt a format to compete directly with our stations for audiences and advertisers, or stations might engage in aggressive promotional campaigns. These tactics could result in lower ratings and advertising revenue or increased promotion and other expenses and, consequently, lower earnings and cash flow for us. Any failure by us to respond, or to respond as quickly as our competitors, could also have an adverse effect on our business and financial performance. In February 2015, one of our large competitors changed the

format of one of its radio stations in the Los Angeles radio market to more directly compete with our radio station in Los Angeles. This development in Los Angeles negatively impacted our financial performance in fiscal 2016. We expect this to continue in fiscal 2017 and possibly in succeeding years.

Because of the competitive factors we face, we cannot assure investors that we will be able to maintain or increase our current audience ratings and advertising revenue.

Our radio operations are heavily concentrated in the New York and Los Angeles markets.

Our radio operations in New York and Los Angeles, including the LMA fee we receive from a subsidiary of Disney, accounted for approximately 50% of our radio revenues in fiscal 2016. Our results from operations can be materially affected by decreased ratings or resulting revenues in either one of these markets.

Our radio operations lack the scale of some of our competitors, especially in the New York and Los Angeles markets.

We currently own one station in Los Angeles and four stations in New York, one of which is being programmed by another broadcaster under the terms of an LMA. Some of our competitors in these markets have larger clusters of radio stations. Our competitors may be able to leverage their market share to extract a greater percentage of available advertising revenues in these markets and may be able to realize operating efficiencies by programming multiple stations in a market. Also, given the reliance on urban formats in each of these markets, our results from operations can be materially affected by additional urban format competition by our competitors.

We must respond to the rapid changes in technology, services and standards that characterize our industry in order to remain competitive, and changes in technology may increase the risk of material intellectual property infringement claims.

The radio broadcasting industry is subject to rapid technological changes, evolving industry standards and the emergence of competition from new technologies and services. We cannot assure that we will have the resources to acquire new technologies or to introduce new services that could compete with these new technologies. Various media technologies and services that have been developed or introduced include:

New media has resulted in fragmentation in the advertising market, but we cannot predict the impact that additional competition arising from new technologies may have on the radio broadcasting industry or on our financial condition and results of operations. We also cannot ensure that our investments in HD Radio ® , TagStation ® , NextRadio ® and other technologies will produce the desired returns.

Programmatic buying, which enables an advertiser to purchase advertising inventory through an exchange or other service and bypass the traditional personal sales relationship, has become widely adopted in the purchase of digital advertising and is an emerging trend in the radio industry. We cannot predict the impact programmatic buying may have on the radio industry or our financial condition and results of operations.

Additionally, technological advancements in the operation of radio stations and related businesses have increased the number of patent and other intellectual property infringement claims brought against broadcasters, including Emmis. While Emmis has not historically been subject to material patent and other intellectual property claims and takes certain steps to limit the likelihood of, and exposure to, such claims, no assurance can be given that material claims will not be asserted in the future.

Our business depends heavily on maintaining our licenses with the FCC. We could be prevented from operating a radio station if we fail to maintain its license.

The radio broadcasting industry is subject to extensive and changing regulation. The Communications Act and FCC rules and policies require FCC approval for transfers of control and assignments of FCC licenses. The filing of petitions or complaints against FCC licensees could result in the FCC delaying the grant of, or refusing to grant, its consent to the assignment of licenses to or from an FCC licensee or the transfer of control of an FCC licensee. In certain circumstances, the Communications Act and FCC rules and policies will operate to impose limitations on alien ownership and voting of our common stock. There can be no assurance that there will be no changes in the current regulatory scheme, the imposition of additional regulations or the creation of new regulatory agencies, which changes could restrict or curtail our ability to acquire, operate and dispose of stations or, in general, to compete profitably with other operators of radio and other media properties.

Each of our radio stations operates pursuant to one or more licenses issued by the FCC. Under FCC rules, radio licenses are granted for a term of eight years. Our licenses expire at various times through June 2022. Although we will apply to renew these licenses, third parties may challenge our renewal applications. While we are not aware of facts or circumstances that would prevent us from having our current licenses renewed, there can be no assurance that the licenses will be renewed or that renewals will not include conditions or qualifications that could adversely affect our business and operations. Failure to obtain the renewal of any of our broadcast licenses may have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. In addition, if we or any of our officers, directors or significant stockholders materially violates the FCC's rules and regulations or the Communications Act, is convicted of a felony or is found to have engaged in unlawful anticompetitive conduct or fraud upon another government agency, the FCC may, in response to a petition from a third party or on its own initiative, in its discretion, commence a proceeding to impose sanctions upon us which could involve the imposition of monetary fines, the revocation of our broadcast licenses or other sanctions. If the FCC were to issue an order denying a license renewal application or revoking a license, we would be required to cease operating the applicable radio station only after we had exhausted all rights to administrative and judicial review without success.

The FCC has engaged in vigorous enforcement of its indecency rules against the broadcast industry, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The FCC's rules prohibit the broadcast of obscene material at any time and indecent material between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Broadcasters risk violating the prohibition on the broadcast of indecent material because of the FCC's broad definition of such material, coupled with the spontaneity of live programming.

Congress has dramatically increased the penalties for broadcasting obscene, indecent or profane programming and broadcasters can potentially face license revocation, renewal or qualification proceedings in the event that they broadcast indecent material. In addition, the FCC's heightened focus on indecency, against the broadcast industry generally, may encourage third parties to oppose our license renewal applications or applications for consent to acquire broadcast stations. As a result of these developments, we have implemented certain measures that are designed to reduce the risk of broadcasting indecent material in violation of the FCC's rules. These and other future modifications to our programming in an effort to reduce the risk of indecency violations could have an adverse effect on our competitive position.

Any changes in current FCC ownership regulations may negatively impact our ability to compete or otherwise harm our business operations.

The FCC is required to review all of its broadcast ownership rules every four years and to repeal or modify any of its rules that are no longer "necessary in the public interest." We cannot predict the impact of these reviews on our business or their effect on our ability to acquire broadcast stations in the future or to continue to own and freely transfer stations that we have already acquired.

In 2003, we acquired a controlling interest in five FM stations and one AM station in the Austin, Texas market. Under ownership regulations released after the date of our acquisition, it appears that we would be permitted to own or control only four FM stations in the Austin market (ownership of one AM station would continue to be allowed). The new rules do not require divestiture of existing non-conforming station combinations, but do provide that such clusters may be transferred only to defined small business entities or to buyers that commit to selling any excess stations to such entities within one year. Consequently, if we wish to sell our interest in the Austin stations, we will likely have to either sell to an entity that meets those FCC requirements or exclude at least one FM station from the transaction.

Changes in current Federal regulations could adversely affect our business operations.

Congress and the FCC have under consideration, and may in the future consider and adopt, new laws, regulations and policies that could, directly or indirectly, affect the profitability of our broadcast stations. In particular, Congress is considering a revocation of radio's exemption from paying royalties to performing artists for use of their recordings (radio already pays a royalty to songwriters). A requirement to pay additional royalties could have an adverse effect on our business operations and financial performance.

Our business strategy and our ability to operate profitably depend on the continued services of our key employees, the loss of whom could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our ability to maintain our competitive position depends to a significant extent on the efforts and abilities of our senior management team and certain key employees. Although our executive officers are typically under employment agreements, their managerial, technical and other services would be difficult to replace if we lose the services of one or more of them or other key personnel. Our business could be seriously harmed if one of them decides to join a competitor or otherwise competes directly or indirectly against us.

Our radio stations employ or independently contract with several on-air personalities and hosts of syndicated radio programs with significant loyal audiences in their respective broadcast areas. These on-air personalities are sometimes significantly responsible for the ranking of a station and, thus, the ability of the station to sell advertising. In the first quarter of calendar 2015, a competitor hired our morning radio host in Los Angeles to host a morning show on a station that had changed its format to directly compete with us. The loss of our morning radio host in Los Angeles and the addition of a direct format competitor negatively impacted our financial performance in fiscal 2016. We expect this impact to continue in fiscal 2017 and possibly in succeeding years. Other key individuals may not remain with our radio stations and we may not retain their audiences.

Impairment losses related to our intangible assets have reduced our earnings.

We have reported significant net losses in our consolidated statement of operations in the past as a result of recording noncash impairment charges, mostly related to FCC licenses and goodwill. During the years ended February 2015 and 2016, we incurred impairment losses of $67.9 million and $9.5 million, respectively. As of February 29, 2016 , our FCC licenses and goodwill comprise 69% of our total assets. If events occur or circumstances change that would reduce the fair value of the FCC licenses and goodwill below the amount reflected on the balance sheet, we may be required to recognize impairment charges, which may be material, in future periods.

Future operation of our business may require significant additional capital.

The continued development, growth and operation of our businesses may require substantial capital. In particular, additional acquisitions may require large amounts of capital. We intend to fund our growth, including acquisitions, if any, with cash generated from operations, borrowings under our Credit Agreement dated June 10, 2014 (the "2014 Credit Agreement"), as amended, and proceeds from future issuances of debt and equity, both public and private. Currently, the 2014 Credit Agreement substantially limits our ability to make acquisitions. Our ability to raise additional debt or equity financing is subject to market conditions, our financial condition and other factors. If we cannot obtain financing on acceptable terms when needed, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely impacted.

We may fail to realize any benefits and incur unanticipated losses related to any acquisition.

The success of our strategic acquisitions will depend, in part, on our ability to successfully integrate the acquired assets with our existing assets. It is possible that the integration process could result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of ongoing business or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies that adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with clients, customers and employees or to achieve the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. Successful integration may also be hampered by any differences between the operations and corporate culture of the two organizations. If we experience difficulties with the integration process, the anticipated benefits of the acquisition may not be realized fully, or at all, or may take longer to realize than expected. Finally, any cost savings that are realized may be offset by losses in revenues from the acquired business.

Our operating results have been and may again be adversely affected by acts of war, terrorism and natural catastrophes.

Acts of war and terrorism against the United States, and the country's response to such acts, may negatively affect the U.S. advertising market, which could cause our advertising revenues to decline due to advertising cancellations, delays or defaults in payment for advertising time, and other factors. In addition, these events may have other negative effects on our business, the nature and duration of which we cannot predict.

For example, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, we decided that the public interest would be best served by the presentation of continuous commercial-free coverage of the unfolding events on our stations. This temporary policy had a material adverse effect on our advertising revenues and operating results for the month of September 2001. Future events like those of September 11, 2001 may cause us to adopt similar policies, which could have a material adverse effect on our advertising revenues and operating results.

Additionally, the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 resulted in the destruction of the transmitter facilities that were located there. Although we had no transmitter facilities located at the World Trade Center, broadcasters that had facilities located in the destroyed buildings experienced temporary disruptions in their ability to broadcast. Since we tend to locate transmission facilities for stations serving urban areas on tall buildings or other significant structures, such as the Empire State Building in New York, further terrorist attacks or other disasters could cause similar disruptions in our broadcasts in the

areas affected. If these disruptions occur, we may not be able to locate adequate replacement facilities in a cost-effective or timely manner or at all. Failure to remedy disruptions caused by terrorist attacks or other disasters and any resulting degradation in signal coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Similarly, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, wild fires and other natural disasters can have a material adverse effect on our operations in any given market. While we generally carry insurance covering such catastrophes, we cannot be sure that the proceeds from such insurance will be sufficient to offset the costs of rebuilding or repairing our property or the lost income.

We have significant obligations relating to our current operating leases.

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board released Accounting Standards Update 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) ("ASU 2016-02"). This update requires lessees to recognize, on the balance sheet, assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by leases of greater than twelve months. Leases will be classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement.

As of February 29, 2016 , we had operating lease commitments of approximately $55.9 million . These leases are classified as operating leases and disclosed in Note 11 to our accompanying consolidated financial statements. Currently, operating leases are classified as off-balance sheet transactions and only the current year operating lease expense is accounted for in the consolidated statements of operations as rent expense. All of our leases, which have been classified as operating leases, require us to make certain estimates at the inception of the lease in order to determine whether the lease is operating or capital. ASU 2016-02 requires that substantially all operating leases be recognized as assets (the right to use the leased property) and liabilities (the present value of future lease payments). This guidance will be effective for the Company as of March 1, 2019 and requires a modified retrospective implementation. When adopted, ASU 2016-02 will result in an increase in the assets and liabilities reflected on our consolidated balance sheets.

Our business is dependent upon the proper functioning of our internal business processes and information systems and modification or interruption of such systems may disrupt our business, processes and internal controls.

The proper functioning of our internal business processes and information systems is critical to the efficient operation and management of our business. If these information technology systems fail or are interrupted, our operations may be adversely affected and operating results could be harmed. Our business processes and information systems need to be sufficiently scalable to support the future growth of our business and may require modifications or upgrades that expose us to a number of operational risks. Our information technology systems, and those of third party providers, may also be vulnerable to damage or disruption caused by circumstances beyond our control. These include catastrophic events, power anomalies or outages, natural disasters, computer system or network failures, viruses or malware, physical or electronic intrusions, unauthorized access and cyber-attacks. Any material disruption, malfunction or similar challenges with our business processes or information systems, or disruptions or challenges relating to the transition to new processes, systems or providers, could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Because of our holding company structure, we depend on our subsidiaries for cash flow, and our access to this cash flow is restricted.

We operate as a holding company. All of our radio stations and magazines are currently owned and operated by our subsidiaries. Emmis Operating Company ("EOC"), our wholly-owned subsidiary, is the borrower under our credit facility. All of our station and magazine operating subsidiaries and FCC license subsidiaries are subsidiaries of EOC. Further, we guarantee EOC's obligations under the credit facility and substantially all of EOC's assets are pledged as collateral under the credit facility. As a holding company, our only source of cash to pay our obligations, including corporate overhead expenses, is cash distributed from our subsidiaries. We currently expect that the majority of the net earnings and cash flow of our subsidiaries will be retained and used by them in their operations, including servicing their debt obligations. Even if our subsidiaries elect to make distributions to us, we cannot be assured that applicable state law and contractual restrictions, including covenants contained in our credit facility, would permit such dividends or distributions.

Risks Related to our Indebtedness:

Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health.

We have a significant amount of indebtedness. At February 29, 2016 , our total indebtedness was $256.4 million, consisting of $184.8 million under our 2014 Credit Agreement, $65.4 million of 98.7FM nonrecourse debt and $6.2 million of other long-term debt. The Company expects that proceeds from the LMA in New York with a subsidiary of Disney will be sufficient to pay all debt service related to the 98.7FM nonrecourse debt. Our shareholders' deficit was $52.5 million . Our substantial indebtedness could have important consequences to investors. For example, it could:

If we cannot continue to comply with the financial covenants in our debt instruments, or obtain waivers or other relief from our lenders, we may default, which could result in loss of our sources of liquidity and acceleration of our indebtedness.

We have a substantial amount of indebtedness, and the instruments governing such indebtedness contains restrictive financial covenants. Our ability to comply with the covenants in our debt instruments will depend upon our future performance and various other factors, such as business, competitive, technological, legislative and regulatory factors, some of which are beyond our control. We may not be able to maintain compliance with all of these covenants. In that event, we would need to seek an amendment to our debt instruments, or would need to refinance our debt instruments. There can be no assurance that we can obtain future amendments or waivers of our debt instruments, or refinance our debt instruments and, even if so, it is likely that such relief would only last for a specified period, potentially necessitating additional amendments, waivers or refinancings in the future. In the event that we do not maintain compliance with the covenants under our debt instruments, the lenders could declare an event of default, subject to applicable notice and cure provisions, resulting in a material adverse impact on our financial position. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under our debt instruments, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under our 2014 Credit Agreement to be immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. Our lenders under our 2014 Credit Agreement have taken security interests in substantially all of our consolidated assets. If the lenders accelerate the repayment of borrowings, we may be forced to liquidate certain assets to repay all or part of our debt instruments, and we cannot be assured that sufficient assets will remain for us to continue our business operations after we have paid all of the borrowings under our debt instruments. Our ability to liquidate assets is affected by the regulatory restrictions associated with radio stations, including FCC licensing, which may make the market for these assets less liquid and increase the chances that these assets will be liquidated at a significant loss.

Our 98.7FM debt is not subject to these risks to the same degree as the debt under our 2014 Credit Agreement, as certain rights and payments under the 98.7FM LMA have been assigned to the holder of the 98.7FM debt, the 98.7FM debt is generally nonrecourse to the rest of Emmis, and the LMA payments have been guaranteed by Disney Enterprises, Inc.

The terms of our indebtedness and the indebtedness of our direct and indirect subsidiaries may restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to changes in market conditions or to take some actions.

Our debt instruments impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions significantly limit or prohibit, among other things, our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to incur additional indebtedness, issue preferred stock, incur liens, pay dividends, enter into asset purchase or sale transactions, merge or consolidate with another company, dispose of all or substantially all of our assets or make certain other payments or investments.

These restrictions currently limit our ability to grow our business through acquisitions and could limit our ability to respond to market conditions or meet extraordinary capital needs. They also could restrict our corporate activities in other ways. These restrictions could adversely affect our ability to finance our future operations or capital needs.

To service our indebtedness and other obligations, we will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control.

Our 2014 Credit Agreement, as amended, requires us to repay $9.3 million of our term notes in fiscal 2017 and annually thereafter until maturity in addition to periodic interest payments. Our ability to make payments on our indebtedness and to fund capital expenditures will depend on our ability to generate cash in the future. This ability to generate cash, to a certain extent, is subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors that are beyond our control. Our businesses might not generate sufficient cash flow from operations. We might not be able to complete future offerings, and future borrowings might not be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay our indebtedness or to fund our other liquidity needs.

Risks Related to our Common Stock:

One shareholder controls a majority of the voting power of our common stock, and his interest may conflict with those of other shareholders.

As of April 29, 2016, our Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey H. Smulyan, beneficially owned shares representing approximately 51.9% of the outstanding combined voting power of all classes of our common stock, as calculated pursuant to Rule 13d-3 of the Exchange Act. He therefore is in a position to exercise substantial influence over the outcome of most matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including the election of directors.

The difficulties associated with any attempt to gain control of our company could adversely affect the price of our Class A common stock.

Jeffrey H. Smulyan has substantial influence over the decision as to whether a change in control will occur for our company. There are also provisions contained in our articles of incorporation, by-laws and Indiana law that could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of Emmis. In addition, FCC approval for transfers of control of FCC licenses and assignments of FCC licenses are required. These restrictions and limitations could adversely affect the trading price of our Class A common stock.

Our stock price and trading volume could be volatile.

Our Class A common stock is currently listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation ("Nasdaq") Global Select Market under the symbol "EMMS." The market price of our Class A common stock and our trading volume have been subject to fluctuations since our initial public offering in 1994. Accordingly, the market price of our Class A common stock could experience volatility, regardless of our operating performance.

Our Class A common stock may cease to be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Our Class A common stock is currently listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "EMMS". On December 7, 2015, we received a notification from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq indicating that our Class A common stock was not in compliance with Markeplace Rule 5450(a)(1) (the "Minimum Bid Price Rule") because the minimum bid price of our Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market closed below $1.00 per share for 30 consecutive business days.

In accordance with Marketplace Rules 5810(c)(3)(A) and 5810(c)(3)(D), the Company has 180 calendar days, or until June 6, 2016 to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule. During the 180 day period, the Class A common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. If the Company does not regain compliance prior to the end of the 180 day period, Nasdaq will notify us that the Class A common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Nasdaq rules would then permit us to appeal any delisting determination by the Nasdaq staff to a Listing Qualifications Panel and we would seek such an appeal.

On May 3, 2016, the Company's board of directors unanimously determined that it would be in the Company's best interests to seek shareholder approval to amend the Company's articles of incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the authorized and outstanding Class A common stock and Class B common stock using a one-for-four conversion ratio. The amendment would also apply to the number of authorized shares of our Class C common stock, but would not apply to the number of authorized shares of any preferred stock. There are no shares of Class C common stock or preferred stock currently outstanding. One of the primary objectives in effecting a reverse stock split would be to raise the per share trading price of our Class A common stock in order to maintain the eligibility of the Class A common stock for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. However, there can be no assurance that the Class A common stock will remain equal to or in excess of $1.00 per share for a substantial period of time after a reverse stock split is completed. Jeffrey H. Smulyan, who controls more than fifty percent of the combined voting power of our common stock, has stated that he intends to vote for this amendment at the Company's annual shareholder meeting scheduled to be held on July 7, 2016, thus we expect this amendment will be approved. While any reverse stock split would not be implemented until after the expiration of our 180 day grace period for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, we expect to seek an extension of the grace period from Nasdaq, if necessary.

A delisting of our Class A common stock from the Nasdaq Global Select Market could negatively impact us by, among other things, reducing the liquidity and market price of our common stock. There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the Minimum Bid Price Rule, or any other requirement in the future.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

The types of properties required to support each of our radio stations include offices, studios and transmitter/antenna sites. We typically lease our studio and office space, although we do own some of our facilities. Most of our studio and office space leases contain lease terms with expiration dates of five to fifteen years. A station's studios are generally housed with its offices in downtown or business districts. We generally consider our facilities to be suitable and of adequate size for our current and intended purposes. We own many of our main transmitter/antenna sites and lease the remainder of our transmitter/antenna sites with lease terms that generally range from five to twenty years. The transmitter/antenna site for each station is generally located so as to provide maximum market coverage, consistent with the station's FCC license. In general, we do not anticipate difficulties in renewing facility or transmitter/antenna site leases or in leasing additional space or sites if required. We have approximately $55.9 million in aggregate minimum rental commitments under real estate leases. Many of these leases contain escalation clauses such as defined contractual increases or cost-of-living adjustments.

Our principal executive offices are located at 40 Monument Circle, Suite 700, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, in approximately 91,500 square feet of owned office space which is shared by our Indianapolis radio stations and our Indianapolis Monthly publication. This property is subject to a mortgage under our 2014 Credit Agreement.

We own substantially all of our other equipment, consisting principally of transmitting antennae, transmitters, studio equipment and general office equipment. The towers, antennae and other transmission equipment used by our stations are generally in good condition, although opportunities to upgrade facilities are periodically reviewed.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

The Company is a party to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of management of the Company, there are no legal proceedings pending against the Company likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company.

Emmis and certain of its officers and directors were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed April 16, 2012 by certain holders of Preferred Stock (the "Lock-Up Group") in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana entitled Corre Opportunities Fund, LP, et al. v. Emmis Communications Corporation, et al. The plaintiffs alleged, among other things, that Emmis and the other defendants violated various provisions of the federal securities laws and breached fiduciary duties in connection with Emmis' entry into total return swap agreements and voting agreements with certain holders of Emmis Preferred Stock, as well as by issuing shares of Preferred Stock to Emmis' 2012 Retention Plan and Trust (the "Trust") and entering into a voting agreement with the trustee of the Trust. The plaintiffs also alleged that Emmis violated certain provisions of Indiana corporate law by directing the voting of the shares of Preferred Stock subject to the total return swap agreements (the "Swap Shares") and the shares of Preferred Stock held by the Trust (the "Trust Shares") in favor of certain amendments to Emmis' Articles of Incorporation.

Emmis filed an answer denying the material allegations of the complaint, and filed a counterclaim seeking a declaratory judgment that Emmis could legally direct the voting of the Swap Shares and the Trust Shares in favor of the proposed amendments.

On August 31, 2012, the U.S. District Court denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs subsequently filed an amended complaint seeking monetary damages and dismissing all claims against the individual officer and director defendants. On February 28, 2014, the U.S. District Court issued a ruling in favor of Emmis on all counts. In March 2014, the Plaintiffs filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit an appeal of the U.S. District Court's decision. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit heard oral arguments in this case on December 5, 2014, and on July 2, 2015, unanimously affirmed the U.S. District Court's ruling.

On December 4, 2015, Emmis entered into a settlement agreement with the Lock-Up Group to settle any and all remaining issues with respect to the Lawsuit described above. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, (i) the Company withdrew its bill of costs with respect to certain reimbursable expenses in the Lawsuit; (ii) the Company agreed to submit to a vote of its shareholders, and the Lock-Up Group and Jeffrey H. Smulyan agreed to vote in favor of, an amendment to Exhibit A to the Company's Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation (the "Revisions") to amend the terms of the Company's Series A Non-Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock") to (A) change the voluntary conversion ratio to permit holders of Preferred Stock to convert their shares of Preferred Stock into Class A Common Stock at a ratio of 2.80 shares of the Company's Class A Common Stock for each share of Preferred Stock, and (B) provide that all shares of Preferred Stock shall automatically convert into shares of Class A Common Stock at a ratio of 2.80 shares of Class A Common Stock for each share of Preferred Stock on the fifth business day after the delisting of the Preferred Stock by Nasdaq; and (iii) both the Company and the Lock-Up Group released each other from claims related to the lawsuit. The Revisions were approved at a special meeting of shareholders on February 17, 2016. Additionally, the Preferred Stock was delisted by Nasdaq on March 28, 2016, and pursuant to the Revisions, all outstanding shares of Preferred Stock were automatically converted to

Class A Common Stock on April 4, 2016. The value associated with the increase to the conversion ratio was accounted for upon the effective date of the Revisions and resulted in a decrease of approximately $0.2 million to earnings available to common shareholders.

On July 7, 2014, individuals who had been seeking to overturn the FCC's approval of the transfer of the broadcast licenses for WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM from entities associated with Inner City Broadcasting to YMF (the entities that subsequently sold the two stations to Emmis) filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit a Notice of Appeal of the FCC's approval of the transfer. The District of Columbia Circuit dismissed the case, but the individuals may still appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Additionally, in March 2015, an individual filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of New York challenging the transfer of the assets of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM from Inner City to YMF, and claimed that Emmis had exerted undue influence in securing the FCC's consent to the transfer of the FCC licenses of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM from YMF to Emmis. An amended complaint was filed in February 2016. Based upon the facts alleged in the cases and the extensive precedent of courts not overturning FCC approvals of transfers of broadcast licenses except in exceedingly rare circumstances, Emmis believes the claims presented lack merit.

Certain groups and individuals have challenged an application for renewal of one of the Company's FCC licenses. This challenge is currently pending before the FCC. Emmis does not expect the challenge to result in the denial of our license renewal.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

Listed below is certain information about the executive officers of Emmis or its affiliates who are not directors or nominees to be directors.

Mr. Enright was appointed Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary in March 2009. Previously, Mr. Enright served as Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Secretary of Emmis from September 2006 to February 2009 and as Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary from the date he joined Emmis in October 1998, adding the office of Secretary in 2002.

Mr. Hornaday was appointed Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer in August 2015. Previously, Mr. Hornaday served as Senior Vice President - Finance and Treasurer from December 2008 to July 2015. Mr. Hornaday joined Emmis in 1999.

Mr. Loewen was appointed President – Publishing Division and Chief Strategy Officer in March 2010. Mr. Loewen has also served as President of Digonex since our acquisition of a controlling interest in June 2014. Previously, Mr. Loewen served as Chief Strategy Officer from February 2007 to February 2010. Prior to joining Emmis in February 2007, Mr. Loewen served as Vice President of Digital Media and Strategy for The Toronto Star.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

MARKET INFORMATION FOR OUR COMMON STOCK

Emmis' Class A common stock is traded in the over-the-counter market and is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol EMMS. There is no established public trading market for Emmis' Class B common stock or Class C common stock.

The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices of the Class A common stock for the periods indicated.

HOLDERS

At April 29, 2016, there were 4,749 record holders of the Class A common stock, and there was one record holder of the Class B common stock.

DIVIDENDS

Emmis currently intends to retain future earnings for use in its business and has no plans to pay any dividends on shares of its common stock in the foreseeable future. Emmis' 2014 Credit Agreement sets forth certain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends. See Note 5 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements for more discussion of the 2014 Credit Agreement.

SHARE REPURCHASES

During the three-month period ended February 29, 2016 , there was withholding of shares of common stock upon vesting of restricted stock to cover withholding tax obligations. The following table provides information on our repurchases during the three months ended February 29, 2016 :

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide this information.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

GENERAL

The following discussion pertains to Emmis Communications Corporation ("ECC") and its subsidiaries (collectively, "Emmis" or the "Company").

We own and operate radio and publishing properties located in the United States. Our revenues are mostly affected by the advertising rates our entities charge, as advertising sales represent approximately 70% of our consolidated revenues. These rates are in large part based on our entities' ability to attract audiences/subscribers in demographic groups targeted by their advertisers. The Nielsen Company generally measures radio station ratings weekly for markets measured by the Portable People Meter ™ and two times a year for markets measured by diaries. Because audience ratings in a station's local market are critical to the station's financial success, our strategy is to use market research, advertising and promotion to attract and retain audiences in each station's chosen demographic target group.

Our revenues vary throughout the year. As is typical in the broadcasting industry, our revenues and operating income are usually lowest in our fourth fiscal quarter.

In addition to the sale of advertising time for cash, stations typically exchange advertising time for goods or services, which can be used by the station in its business operations. These barter transactions are recorded at the estimated fair value of the product or service received. We generally confine the use of such trade transactions to promotional items or services for which we would otherwise have paid cash. In addition, it is our general policy not to preempt advertising spots paid for in cash with advertising spots paid for in trade.

The following table summarizes the sources of our revenues for the past three years. The category "Non Traditional" principally consists of ticket sales and sponsorships of events our stations and magazines conduct in their local markets. Growth within the Non Traditional category during the three years ended February 29, 2016 mostly relates to the growth of revenues associated with our outdoor concerts, including Summer Jam, our annual hip hop festival held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The category "Other" includes, among other items, revenues related to our TagStation and Digonex businesses, network revenues and barter. We began operating WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York pursuant to a Local Programming and Marketing Agreement in fiscal 2015, which impacts the comparability of fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2015 and 2016.

A significant portion of our expenses varies in connection with changes in revenue. These variable expenses primarily relate to costs in our sales department, such as salaries, commissions and bad debt. Our costs that do not vary as much in relation to revenue are mostly in our programming and general and administrative departments, such as talent costs, syndicated programming fees, utilities, office expenses and salaries. Lastly, our costs that are highly discretionary are costs in our marketing and promotions department, which we primarily incur to maintain and/or increase our audience and market share.

KNOWN TRENDS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Although advertising revenues have stabilized following the 2008 economic recession, radio revenue growth remains challenged. Management believes this is principally the result of two factors: (1) new media, such as various media distributed via the Internet, telecommunication companies and cable interconnects, as well as social networks, have gained advertising share against radio and other traditional media and created a proliferation of advertising inventory and (2) the fragmentation of the radio audience and time spent listening caused by satellite radio and streaming radio has led some investors and advertisers to conclude that the effectiveness of radio advertising has diminished.

The Company and the radio industry are leading several initiatives to address these issues. The radio industry is working aggressively to increase the number of smartphones and other wireless devices that contain an enabled FM tuner. Most smartphones currently sold in the United States contain an FM tuner. However, most wireless carriers in the United States have not historically permitted the FM tuner to receive the free over-the-air local radio stations it was designed to receive. Furthermore, in many countries outside the United States, enabled FM tuners are made available to smartphone consumers; consequently, radio listening increases. Activating FM as a feature on smartphones sold in the United States has the potential to increase radio listening and improve perception of the radio industry while offering wireless network providers the benefits of a proven emergency notification system, reduced network congestion from audio streaming services, and a host of new revenue generating applications. Emmis is at the leading edge of this initiative and has developed TagStation ® , a cloud-based software platform that allows a broadcaster to manage album art, meta data and enhanced advertising on its various broadcasts, and NextRadio ® , a smartphone application that marries over-the-air FM radio broadcasts with visual and interactive features, as an industry solution to enrich the user experience of listening to free over-the-air radio broadcasts on their FM-enabled smartphones.

On August 9, 2013, NextRadio LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emmis, entered into an agreement with Sprint whereby Sprint agreed to pre-load the Company's NextRadio smartphone application in a minimum of 30 million FM-enabled wireless devices on the Sprint wireless network over a three-year period. In return, NextRadio LLC agreed to serve as a conduit for the radio industry to pay Sprint $15 million per year in equal quarterly installments over the three year term and to share with Sprint certain revenue generated by the NextRadio application. NextRadio LLC collects money from the radio industry and forwards it to Sprint. During the three years ended February 2014, 2015 and 2016, Emmis' funding of its share of NextRadio's payment to Sprint was $1.1 million, $0.5 million and $0.4 million, respectively. These amounts are included in station operating expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. Emmis has not guaranteed NextRadio LLC's performance under this agreement and Sprint does not have recourse to any Emmis related entity other than NextRadio LLC. Additionally, the agreement does not limit the ability of NextRadio LLC to place the NextRadio application on FM-enabled devices on other wireless networks. Through February 29, 2016, the NextRadio application had not generated a material amount of revenue.

Since the inception of NextRadio LLC's agreement with Sprint, NextRadio LLC has remitted to Sprint approximately $31.0 million through February 29, 2016. NextRadio LLC is currently in arrears with Sprint, but is in discussions with radio broadcasters and other companies involved in the radio industry to fund the remaining $14.0 million due to Sprint.

On July 27, 2015, NextRadio LLC entered into an agreement with AT&T whereby AT&T agreed to include FM chip activation in its Android device specifications to wireless device manufacturers. In exchange, AT&T will receive a share of certain revenue generated by the NextRadio application. In August 2015, T-Mobile expressed its intent to include FM chip activation in its device specifications. TagStation LLC, the parent entity of NextRadio LLC and owner of the TagStation and NextRadio applications, and T-Mobile are working together to formalize this business relationship. BLU Products, an American mobile phone manufacturer, began installing the NextRadio application as the native FM tuner for all its new Android devices in the first half of 2016. TagStation LLC and the radio industry continue to work with other leading United States wireless network providers, device manufacturers, regulators and legislators to cause FM tuners to be enabled in all smartphones.

Emmis granted the U.S. radio industry (as defined in the funding agreements) a call option on substantially all of the assets used in the NextRadio and TagStation businesses in the United States. The call option may be exercised in August 2017 or August 2019 by paying Emmis a purchase price equal to the greater of (i) the appraised fair market value of the NextRadio and TagStation businesses, or (ii) two times Emmis' cumulative investments in the development of the businesses. If the call option is exercised, the businesses will continue to be subject to the operating limitations applicable today, and no radio operator will be permitted to own more than 30% of the NextRadio and TagStation businesses.

Along with the rest of the radio industry, the majority of our stations have deployed HD Radio ® . HD Radio offers listeners advantages over standard analog broadcasts, including improved sound quality and additional digital channels. In addition to offering secondary channels, the HD Radio spectrum allows broadcasters to transmit other forms of data. We are

participating in a joint venture with other broadcasters to provide the bandwidth that a third party uses to transmit location-based data to hand-held and in-car navigation devices. The number of radio receivers incorporating HD Radio has increased in the past year, particularly in new automobiles. It is unclear what impact HD Radio will have on the markets in which we operate.

The Company has also aggressively worked to harness the power of broadband and mobile media distribution in the development of emerging business opportunities by becoming one of the largest streaming audio providers in the United States, developing highly interactive websites with content that engages our listeners, using SMS texting and deploying mobile applications, harnessing the power of digital video on our websites and YouTube channels, and delivering real-time traffic to navigation devices.

The results of our radio operations are heavily dependent on the results of our stations in the New York and Los Angeles markets. These markets account for approximately 50% of our radio net revenues. Our acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York in fiscal 2015 enhanced our ability to adapt to competitive environment shifts in that market, but our single station in the Los Angeles market, KPWR-FM, has less ability to adapt. Furthermore, some of our competitors that operate larger station clusters in New York and Los Angeles are able to leverage their market share to extract a greater percentage of available advertising revenue through packaging a variety of advertising inventory at discounted unit rates and may be able to realize operating efficiencies by programming multiple stations in these markets. In February 2015, one of our large competitors changed the format of one of its radio stations in the Los Angeles radio market to more directly compete with our radio station in Los Angeles. In addition, the new station hired our former KPWR-FM morning radio host to be its morning radio host. This development in Los Angeles negatively impacted our financial performance in fiscal 2016 and we expect this to continue in fiscal 2017 and possibly in succeeding years.

Both the Los Angeles and New York radio markets remain weak, down 0.2% and 2.5%, respectively, for the year ended February 29, 2016 as compared to the same period of the prior year, according to Miller Kaplan Arase LLP, an independent public accounting firm used by the radio industry to compile revenue information. During the same period, KPWR-FM in Los Angeles lagged the Los Angeles radio market due to the introduction of a new format competitor, as discussed above, and our New York cluster, which includes WQHT-FM, WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM, underperformed the New York radio market. We made several leadership changes in New York in January 2016, and financial performance in early fiscal 2017 has improved.

As part of our business strategy, we continually evaluate potential acquisitions of radio stations, publishing properties and other businesses that we believe hold promise for long-term appreciation in value and leverage our strengths. However, Emmis' 2014 Credit Agreement substantially limits our ability to make acquisitions. We also regularly review our portfolio of assets and may opportunistically dispose of assets when we believe it is appropriate to do so.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Critical accounting policies are defined as those that encompass significant judgments and uncertainties, and potentially derive materially different results under different assumptions and conditions. We believe that our critical accounting policies are those described below.

Revenue Recognition

Broadcasting revenue is recognized as advertisements are aired. Publication revenue is recognized in the month of delivery of the publication. Both broadcasting revenue and publication revenue recognition is subject to meeting certain conditions such as persuasive evidence that an arrangement exists and collection is reasonably assured. These criteria are generally met at the time the advertisement is aired for broadcasting revenue and upon delivery of the publication for publication revenue. Advertising revenues presented in the financial statements are reflected on a net basis, after the deduction of advertising agency fees, usually at a rate of 15% of gross revenues.

Digonex provides a dynamic pricing service to online retailers, attractions, live event producers and other customers. Revenue is recognized as recommended prices are delivered to customers. In some cases, this is upon initial delivery of prices, such as for implementations, or over the period of the services agreement for fee-based pricing. Revenue pursuant to some service agreements is not earned until tickets or merchandise are sold and, therefore, revenue is recognized as tickets are sold for the related events or as merchandise is sold.

FCC Licenses and Goodwill

We have made acquisitions in the past for which a significant amount of the purchase price was allocated to FCC licenses and goodwill assets. As of February 29, 2016 , we have recorded approximately $219.8 million in goodwill and FCC licenses, which represents approximately 69% of our total assets.

In the case of our radio stations, we would not be able to operate the properties without the related FCC license for each property. FCC licenses are renewed every eight years; consequently, we continually monitor our stations' compliance with the various regulatory requirements. Historically, all of our FCC licenses have been renewed at the end of their respective periods, and we expect that all FCC licenses will continue to be renewed in the future. We consider our FCC licenses to be indefinite-lived intangibles.

We do not amortize goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible assets, but rather test for impairment at least annually or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate that an asset may be impaired. When evaluating our radio broadcasting licenses for impairment, the testing is performed at the unit of accounting level as determined by Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 350-30-35. In our case, radio stations in a geographic market cluster are considered a single unit of accounting, provided that they are not being operated under a Local Marketing Agreement by another broadcaster.

We complete our annual impairment tests on December 1 of each year and perform additional interim impairment testing whenever triggering events suggest such testing is warranted.

Valuation of Indefinite-lived Broadcasting Licenses

Fair value of our FCC licenses is estimated to be the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. To determine the fair value of our FCC licenses, the Company uses an income valuation method when it performs its impairment tests. Under this method, the Company projects cash flows that would be generated by each of its units of accounting assuming the unit of accounting was commencing operations in its respective market at the beginning of the valuation period. This cash flow stream is discounted to arrive at a value for the FCC license. The Company assumes the competitive situation that exists in each market remains unchanged, with the exception that its unit of accounting commenced operations at the beginning of the valuation period. In doing so, the Company extracts the value of going concern and any other assets acquired, and strictly values the FCC license. Major assumptions involved in this analysis include market revenue, market revenue growth rates, unit of accounting audience share, unit of accounting revenue share and discount rate. Each of these assumptions may change in the future based upon changes in general economic conditions, audience behavior, consummated transactions, and numerous other variables that may be beyond our control. The projections incorporated into our license valuations take current economic conditions into consideration.

Below are some of the key assumptions used in our annual impairment assessments. As part of both of our December 1, 2014 and December 1, 2015 annual impairment assessments, we reduced long-term growth rates in the markets in which we operate based on recent industry trends and our expectations for the markets going forward. The methodology used to value our FCC licenses has not changed in the three-year period ended February 29, 2016 .

In connection with the April 2012 LMA of 98.7FM in New York previously discussed, the Company separated its New York stations into two separate units of accounting (one consisting of 98.7FM and the other consisting of our remaining stations in New York). As part of the annual impairment testing as of December 1, 2014, the Company recorded an impairment charge related to the 98.7FM FCC license of $9.5 million and also recorded $0.1 million of impairment related to our Terre Haute radio cluster. These impairments were mostly related to market revenue performance during calendar 2014 that was below expectations as well as lowered expectations for future long-term revenue growth rates. As part of the annual impairment testing as of December 1, 2015, the Company recorded an impairment charge related to the 98.7FM FCC license of $1.8 million and also recorded $3.7 million of impairment related to our St. Louis, Austin and Terre Haute radio clusters. Similar to the prior year, these impairments were mostly related to market revenue performance during calendar 2015 that was below expectations as well as lowered expectations for future long-term revenue growth rates.

Valuation of Goodwill

ASC Topic 350 requires the Company to test goodwill for impairment at least annually using a two-step process. The first step is a screen for potential impairment, while the second step measures the amount of impairment. The Company conducts the two-step impairment test on December 1 of each fiscal year, unless indications of impairment exist during an interim period. When assessing its goodwill for impairment, the Company uses an enterprise valuation approach to determine the fair value of each of the Company's reporting units (radio stations grouped by market, excluding any stations being operated pursuant to an LMA, and magazines on an individual basis). Management determines enterprise value for each of its reporting units by multiplying the two-year average station operating income generated by each reporting unit (current year based on

actual results and the next year based on budgeted results) by an estimated market multiple. The Company uses a blended station operating income trading multiple of publicly traded radio operators as a benchmark for the multiple it applies to its radio reporting units. There are no publicly traded publishing companies that are focused predominantly on city and regional magazines as is our publishing segment. Therefore, the market multiple used as a benchmark for our publishing reporting units is based on recently completed transactions within the city and regional magazine industry or analyst reports that include valuations of magazine divisions within publicly traded media conglomerates. For the annual assessment performed as of December 1, 2015, the Company applied a market multiple of 8.0 times and 6.0 times the reporting unit's operating performance for our radio and publishing reporting units, respectively. Management believes this methodology for valuing radio and publishing properties is a common approach and believes that the multiples used in the valuation are reasonable given our peer comparisons and market transactions. To corroborate the step-one reporting unit fair values determined using the market approach described above, management also uses an income approach, which is a discounted cash flow method to determine the fair value of the reporting unit.

This enterprise valuation is compared to the carrying value of the reporting unit for the first step of the goodwill impairment test. If the reporting unit exhibits impairment, the Company proceeds to the second step of the goodwill impairment test. For its step-two testing, the enterprise value is allocated among the tangible assets, indefinite-lived intangible assets (FCC licenses valued using a direct-method valuation approach) and unrecognized intangible assets, such as customer lists, with the residual amount representing the implied fair value of the goodwill. To the extent the carrying amount of the goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of the goodwill, the difference is recorded as an impairment charge in the statement of operations. The methodology used to value our goodwill has not changed in the three-year period ended February 29, 2016 .

During our December 1, 2014 annual goodwill impairment test, the Company wrote off $58.4 million of goodwill associated with our WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM radio stations in New York. We began programming these stations on March 1, 2014 pursuant to an LMA and completed our first closing of the stations on June 10, 2014, with the second closing on February 13, 2015. We accounted for the acquisition of the stations as a purchase in June 2014. According to Miller Kaplan, gross revenues for the New York radio market were down 7.0% during fiscal 2015, which was significantly below our expectations for the year. Although our New York cluster outperformed the market for the year, financial performance at the newly acquired stations did not meet the expectations of management and resulted in a step-one indication of impairment on both the market and income approaches. Upon completing the step-two analysis, the Company determined that the full carrying amount of our New York cluster goodwill of $58.4 million, all of which related to our acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM, was impaired.

During our December 1, 2015 annual goodwill impairment test, the Company wrote off $0.7 million of goodwill associated with Digonex, our dynamic pricing business. Emmis acquired a controlling interest in Digonex in June 2014. In connection with our acquisition of a controlling interest of Digonex, Emmis recorded approximately $2.8 million of goodwill. Although Emmis still believes that Digonex's long-term prospects remain strong, Digonex's performance since Emmis' acquisition of a controlling interest has lagged original expectations. Digonex failed the step-one analysis and upon completing the step-two analysis, Emmis determined that the goodwill of Digonex was partially impaired and recorded a $0.7 million impairment charge during the three months ended February 29, 2016.

Sensitivity Analysis

Based on the results of our December 1, 2015 annual impairment assessment, the fair value of our broadcasting licenses was approximately $291.7 million , which was in excess of the $205.1 million carrying value by $86.5 million, or 42.2% . The fair values exceeded the carrying values of all of our units of accounting. Should our estimates or assumptions worsen, or should negative events or circumstances occur in the units that have limited fair value cushion, additional license impairments may be needed.

If we were to assume a 100 basis point change in any of our three key assumptions (a reduction in the long-term revenue growth rate, a reduction in local commercial share or an increase in the discount rate) used to determine the fair value of our broadcasting licenses on December 1, 2015, the resulting impairment charge would have been $35.1 million, $23.5 million and $17.2 million, respectively. Also, if we were to assume a market multiple decrease of one or a 10% decrease in the two-year average station operating income, two of the key assumptions used to determine the fair value of our goodwill on December 1, 2014, the resulting estimates of enterprise valuations would still exceed the carrying values of the enterprises. As such, step two of the goodwill impairment testing would not be required, thus no goodwill impairment would be recognized if these two key assumptions were lowered.

Deferred Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequence of events that have been recognized in the Company's financial statements or income tax returns. Income taxes are recognized during the year in which the underlying transactions are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations. Deferred taxes are provided for temporary differences between amounts of assets and liabilities recorded for financial reporting purposes as compared to amounts recorded for income tax purposes. After determining the total amount of deferred tax assets, the Company determines whether it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. If the Company determines that a deferred tax asset is not likely to be realized, a valuation allowance will be established against that asset to record it at its expected realizable value.

Insurance Claims and Loss Reserves

The Company is self-insured for most healthcare claims, subject to stop-loss limits. Claims incurred but not reported are recorded based on historical experience and industry trends, and accruals are adjusted when warranted by changes in facts and circumstances. The Company had $0.8 million and $0.7 million accrued for employee healthcare claims as of February 28 (29), 2015 and 2016 , respectively. The Company also maintains large deductible programs (ranging from $100 thousand to $250 thousand per occurrence) for workers' compensation, employment liability, automotive liability and media liability claims.

ACQUISITIONS, DISPOSITIONS AND INVESTMENTS

The transactions described below impact the comparability of operating results for the three years ended February 29, 2016 .

Acquisition of a controlling interest in Digonex Technologies, Inc.

On June 16, 2014, Emmis invested $3.0 million in Digonex Technologies, Inc., an Indiana corporation that provides dynamic pricing solutions to customers in various industries. Emmis believes that its acquisition of Digonex gives it entry into the growing dynamic pricing marketplace which can serve a diverse clientèle, and can possibly help Emmis with yields on its own advertising inventory and special events. Emmis' initial investment of $3.0 million ($1.0 million in Digonex Preferred Stock and $2.0 million in the form of convertible debt) resulted in Emmis appointing a majority of the board of directors of Digonex and holding rights convertible into 51% of the fully diluted common equity of Digonex. As Emmis controlled the board of directors of Digonex as of its initial investment on June 16, 2014, Emmis began consolidating the results of Digonex as of that date. Subsequent to its consolidation of Digonex, Emmis has contributed an additional $4.5 million to Digonex in the form of convertible debt, which has resulted in Emmis owning rights that are convertible into at least 76% of the common equity of Digonex.

Acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York City

On February 11, 2014, subsidiaries of Emmis entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with YMF, pursuant to which Emmis agreed to purchase the assets of New York radio stations WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM (collectively, the "Stations") for $131.0 million, subject to customary adjustments and prorations. The purchase of the Stations enhanced the Company's scale in New York, the second largest market in the United States as measured by total radio revenues. Additionally, the Stations' adult urban and urban gospel formats complement the hip-hop format of our existing station in New York.

Upon approval of the transaction by the Federal Communications Commission, Emmis and YMF executed the first closing of the transaction on June 10, 2014, whereby YMF transferred the assets of the Stations to Emmis and Emmis paid YMF $55.0 million of cash and transferred to YMF Media New York a 49.9% ownership interest in the Emmis subsidiaries that own the Stations' assets. The second closing occurred on February 13, 2015 and involved the payment of the balance of the purchase price of $76.0 million to YMF in exchange for the transfer to Emmis of YMF Media New York's interest in the Emmis subsidiaries that own the Stations' assets.

On February 11, 2014, Emmis and YMF entered into an LMA for the Stations. On March 1, 2014, Emmis began providing programming and selling advertising for the Stations. Under the terms of the LMA, Emmis paid $1.275 million per month 75 days in arrears to YMF for the right to program the station and sell advertising. The monthly LMA fee decreased to approximately $0.74 million after the first closing of the purchase of the Stations on June 10, 2014. The ongoing, reduced monthly LMA fees were recognized as additional purchase price of the Stations on June 10, 2014. Prior to the first closing of the purchase, LMA fees were recognized as operating expenses.

Sale of Slovakia radio operations

On February 25, 2013, Emmis completed the sale of its Slovakian radio network to Bauer Ausland 1 GMBH for $21.2 million in cash. Emmis believed the sale of its international radio properties would better enable the Company to focus its efforts on its domestic radio stations. The sale of our Bulgarian radio network on January 3, 2013 created a one-time tax benefit that we could use if we sold the Slovakian network on or before February 28, 2013. In connection with the sale, Emmis recorded a gain on sale of assets of approximately $14.8 million, which is included in income from discontinued operations in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. Emmis paid approximately $1.7 million to settle working capital adjustments and other transaction related costs during the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

YEAR ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2015 COMPARED TO YEAR ENDED FEBRUARY 29, 2016

Net revenues:

Radio net revenues decreased during the year ended February 29, 2016 due to general declines in radio revenues in the markets where we operate radio stations, coupled with below-market performance for our stations in New York, Los Angeles and Austin. We typically monitor the performance of our stations against the aggregate performance of the markets in which we operate based on reports for the periods prepared by Miller Kaplan. Miller Kaplan reports are generally prepared on a gross revenues basis and exclude revenues from barter arrangements. Miller Kaplan reports are not available for the Terre Haute radio market. A summary of market revenue performance and Emmis' revenue performance in those markets for the year ended February 29, 2016 is presented below:

1 Emmis revenue performance in New York excludes the results of WEPN-FM which is being operated pursuant to an LMA

In Los Angeles, our weak performance mostly related to a new format competitor that began directly competing against our station there in February 2015. The revenue impact was most pronounced in the second half of fiscal 2016. Emmis expects a similar decline for our station in the first half of fiscal 2017 as we experienced in the back half of fiscal 2016. However, Emmis expects these declines to abate beginning in the third quarter of fiscal 2017.

Publishing net revenues were flat for the year ended February 29, 2016 as strong performance by the division in general, and Texas Monthly in particular, in the first half of the fiscal year were offset by weakness in the second half of the fiscal year.

Emerging Technologies consist of our NextRadio, TagStation, and Digonex businesses. Current revenues primarily relate to licensing fees of our TagStation software. These fees are recognized as revenue over the life of the license agreement, which is typically two years. TagStation supplements radio broadcasts with visual content (e.g., album art, artist information, etc.) and enhanced ads for display on HD Radio dashboards, HD Radio devices, and the NextRadio application. The increase in net revenues of Emerging Technologies for the year ended February 29, 2016 is due to additional stations licensing the TagStation software as well as Digonex revenues. Since Emmis acquired its controlling interest in Digonex on June 16, 2014, Digonex net revenues were included in our consolidated results for only a portion of the prior year.

Station operating expenses excluding LMA fees and depreciation and amortization expense:

Radio station operating expenses, excluding LMA fees and depreciation and amortization expense were mostly flat for the year ended February 29, 2016 due to a variety of offsetting items. These items include (i) increased marketing expenses in Los Angeles for KPWR-FM, (ii) severance costs of $2.3 million primarily associated with cost reductions implemented in January 2016, (iii) reduced operating expenses in January 2016 and February 2016 as a result of the January 2016 cost reductions and (iv) lower commission expense and other revenue-related expenses due to lower revenues.

Station operating expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense for publishing decreased during the year ended February 29, 2016 primarily due to lower magazine production costs.

Station operating expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense for emerging technologies increased during the year ended February 29, 2016 mostly due to increased headcount and development expenses associated with TagStation and NextRadio as well as expenses of Digonex, which was acquired in the second quarter of the prior fiscal year and only included in our consolidated results for a portion of the prior year.

Corporate expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense:

Corporate expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense decreased during the year ended February 29, 2016 mostly due to lower legal fees associated with our preferred stock litigation coupled with reduced discretionary spending. Additionally, effective January 2016, our executive officers and other key employees agreed to a 5% pay reduction for calendar 2016.

LMA fees:

On February 11, 2014, Emmis and YMF entered into an LMA for WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York. As discussed in Note 1 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements, on March 1, 2014, Emmis began providing programming and selling advertising for the two stations. Under the terms of the LMA, Emmis paid $1.275 million per month to YMF for the right to program the stations and sell advertising. The monthly LMA fee decreased to approximately $0.74 million after the first closing of the purchase of the stations, which occurred on June 10, 2014, and ceased effective with the second closing on February 13, 2015. The LMA fees paid after the first closing were recognized as a liability as of the date of purchase of the stations on June 10, 2014. Accordingly, LMA fees incurred after June 10, 2014 did not impact our results of operations.

Hungary license litigation expense:

On October 28, 2009, the Hungarian National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) announced that it was awarding to another bidder the national radio license then held by our majority-owned subsidiary, Slager. Slager ceased broadcasting effective November 19, 2009. The Company believed that the awarding of the license to the other bidder was unlawful. In October 2011, Emmis filed for arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") seeking resolution of its claim. In April 2014, the ICSID arbitral tribunal ruled that ICSID did not have the jurisdiction to hear the merits of Emmis' claim. We sold our Hungarian legal entities in October 2014 for a nominal amount and liquidated our Dutch holding companies in December 2014. We do not expect future Hungary license litigation expenses.

Impairment loss on intangible assets:

In connection with the annual impairment review conducted on December 1, 2014, the Company concluded that its FCC license for 98.7FM in New York, which is accounted for as a single unit of accounting as it is subject to an LMA, and the licenses of our Terre Haute radio cluster were impaired by $9.5 million. The Company also concluded that the goodwill associated with its acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York was fully impaired. The Company recorded an impairment loss of $58.4 million related to this goodwill impairment.

In connection with the annual impairment review conducted on December 1, 2015, the Company concluded that its FCC license for 98.7FM in New York, and the licenses for our Austin, St. Louis and Terre Haute clusters were impaired by $5.4 million. The Company also concluded that the goodwill and patents associated with Digonex were impaired and recorded an impairment loss of $4.1 million related to these assets.

We may determine that it will be necessary to take impairment charges in future periods if we determine the carrying value of our intangible assets exceeds their fair value. Our annual impairment test of our broadcasting licenses and goodwill was performed as of December 1, 2015. We may be required to retest prior to our next annual evaluation, which could result in additional impairment charges.

Depreciation and amortization:

The increase in depreciation and amortization for the year ended February 29, 2016 for our radio division is mostly due to the June 2014 acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM. The decrease in Corporate and Emerging Technologies is mostly due to certain computer equipment and software becoming fully depreciated in fiscal 2015. This decrease in Corporate and Emerging Technologies depreciation and amortization expense is partially offset by the amortization of Digonex intangibles, which we began amortizing with the commencement of our consolidation of Digonex in June 2014. See Note 7 of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for a discussion of our acquisitions.

Gain on contract settlement:

Emmis and YMF Media executed an amendment to their Asset Purchase Agreement dated April 5, 2012 relating to Emmis' sale of the intellectual property of WRKS-FM to YMF Media. The amendment, executed on June 10, 2014, fixed all future earn-out payments YMF Media owed to Emmis pursuant to the April 5, 2012 Asset Purchase Agreement based upon the parties' estimate of the earn-out payments that would otherwise be owed to Emmis under this pre-existing contractual relationship. Emmis recognized a gain on settlement of the contract of $2.5 million.

Operating income (loss):

Radio operating income increased in the year ended February 29, 2016 principally due to the effect of impairment losses recorded during fiscal 2015 and 2016. Excluding the impairment losses, radio operating income would have decreased $4.7 million mostly due to lower net revenues partially offset by the elimination of LMA fees.

Publishing operating income increased in the year ended February 29, 2016 mostly due operating expense savings as discussed above.

Corporate and Emerging Technologies operating losses increased mostly due to additional investments in TagStation and NextRadio as previously discussed and the losses of Digonex, which was acquired in June 2014 and only included in our consolidated results for a portion of the prior year.

Interest expense:

The increase in interest expense is attributable to additional debt incurred to finance our acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM and higher rates on amounts borrowed. The weighted-average interest rate of debt outstanding under our 2014 Credit Agreement was 7.0% at February 29, 2016. The weighted-average interest rate of debt outstanding under our 2012 Credit Agreement was 4.3% prior to its retirement on June 10, 2014. This increase in interest expense is partially offset by $3.1 million of interest expense related to the accretion of certain liabilities recognized as part of our acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in fiscal 2015. For more discussion of this transaction, refer to Note 7 of our accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Loss on debt extinguishment:

The loss on debt extinguishment for the year ended February 28, 2015 relates to the write-off of unamortized deferred debt issuance costs and original issue discount related to our 2012 Credit Agreement that was retired on June 10, 2014.

Other (expense) income, net:

Other expense for the year ended February 28, 2015 included a $6.7 million write-off of an investment in preferred stock of Courseload, Inc, a provider of online textbooks and other course material. While an unrealized loss on this type of investment is generally included as a component of other comprehensive income until it is realized, Emmis concluded that this loss was other-than-temporary and included the loss in its statement of operations. The activity in fiscal 2016 mostly relates to various nonrecurring recoveries and noncash gains.

Provision for income taxes:

During the fourth quarter of the year ended February 28, 2015, we recorded a full valuation allowance for our net deferred tax assets, including our net operating loss carryforwards, but excluding deferred tax liabilities related to indefinite-lived intangibles, as substantial impairment losses recorded in the fourth quarter of that year caused us to be in a three year cumulative loss position.

Consolidated net loss:

The change in consolidated net loss is principally due to the $34.9 million change in our provision for income taxes and the $58.4 million change in impairment loss, both of which were recorded in the prior year and are discussed above.

Loss on modification of preferred stock:

On February 17, 2016, Emmis filed amendments to its Articles of Incorporation that modified the rights of holders of the Company's Preferred Stock. The amendments, among other things, modified the conversion ratio for shares of Preferred Stock into Class A Common Stock from 2.44 shares of Class A Common Stock to 2.80 shares of Class A Common Stock. In connection with this modification, the Company recorded a loss of $0.2 million.

YEAR ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2014 COMPARED TO YEAR ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2015

Net revenues:

Radio net revenues increased during the year ended February 28, 2015 mostly due to the commencement of our LMA of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York on March 1, 2014 and subsequent acquisition of those stations in fiscal 2015. Net revenues of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM for the year ended February 28, 2015 totaled $28.1 million. Excluding net revenues of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM, radio net revenues would have increased $2.9 million or 2.0%.

We typically monitor the performance of our stations against the aggregate performance of the markets in which we operate based on reports for the periods prepared by Miller Kaplan. Miller Kaplan reports are generally prepared on a gross revenues basis and exclude revenues from barter arrangements. Miller Kaplan reports are not available for the Terre Haute radio market. A summary of market revenue performance and Emmis' revenue performance in those markets for the year ended February 28, 2015 is presented below:

 1 Emmis revenue performance in New York reflects only WQHT-FM and Los Angeles reflects only KPWR-FM

We principally attribute our better-than-market revenue growth in all of the markets in which we operate to two factors: (1) our strategic focus on local sales and and programming, which has allowed us to outperform local market performance, and (2) our Incite group, which caters to the under-served government, not-for-profit, and corporate philanthropy segment of the local advertising market.

Publishing net revenues increased in the year ended February 28, 2015 as investments in our sales teams have enabled us to sustain revenue growth at our magazines. In addition, we increased the number of custom publications (e.g., college alumni magazines, tourism guides, etc.) that we produce.

Emerging Technologies consist of our NextRadio, TagStation, and Digonex businesses. Current revenues primarily relate to licensing fees of our TagStation software. These fees are recognized as revenue over the life of the license agrement, which is typically two years. TagStation supplements radio broadcasts with visual content (e.g., album art, artist information, etc.) and enhanced ads for display on HD Radio dashboards, HD Radio devices, and the NextRadio application. The increase in net revenues of Emerging Technologies for the year ended February 28, 2015 is mostly due to additional stations that have licensed the TagStation software.

Station operating expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense:

The increase in station operating expenses excluding LMA fees and depreciation and amortization expense for our radio division for the year ended February 28, 2015 is mostly due to the commencement of our LMA of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York on March 1, 2014 and subsequent acquisition of those stations in fiscal 2015. Station operating expenses excluding LMA fees and depreciation and amortization expense of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM for the year ended February 28, 2015 totaled $16.1 million. Excluding these expenses of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM, radio station operating expenses excluding LMA fees and depreciation and amortization would have increased $3.5 million or 3.6%. The remaining increase is mostly attributable to higher ratings expense as we recently entered into a new long-term agreement with Nielsen, legal fees associated with the contested departure of our morning radio host in Los Angeles and the non-recurring nature of a songwriter performing rights organization credit recognized in the prior year.

Station operating expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense for publishing increased during the year ended February 28, 2015 mostly due to higher sales-related costs and other customary increases in magazine production costs, including increases in paper and printing costs.

Station operating expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense for emerging technologies increased during the year ended February 28, 2015 mostly due to additional development costs associated with enhancements to the NextRadio application and operating costs associated with Digonex, the dynamic pricing business we began operating in fiscal 2015.

Corporate expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense:

Corporate expenses excluding depreciation and amortization expense decreased during the year ended February 28, 2015 mostly due to (i) a decrease in noncash compensation expense associated with a contractual bonus in fiscal 2014 that was nonrecurring, (ii) a decrease in compensation expense for incentives as certain operating targets were not met in fiscal 2015, but were met during the same period in fiscal 2014, (iii) a decrease in legal costs associated with our preferred stock litigation, and (iv) a decrease in consulting fees associated with international and domestic tax consulting.

LMA fees:

On February 11, 2014, Emmis and YMF entered into an LMA for WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York. As discussed in Note 1 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements, on March 1, 2014, Emmis began providing programming and selling advertising for the two stations. Under the terms of the LMA, Emmis paid $1.275 million per month to YMF for the right to program the stations and sell advertising. The monthly LMA fee decreased to approximately $0.74 million after the first closing of the purchase of the stations, which occurred on June 10, 2014, and ceased effective with the second closing on February 13, 2015. The LMA fees paid after the first closing were recognized as a liability as of the date of purchase of the stations on June 10, 2014. Accordingly, LMA fees incurred after June 10, 2014 did not impact our results of operations.

Hungary license litigation expense:

On October 28, 2009, the Hungarian National Radio and Television Board (ORTT) announced that it was awarding to another bidder the national radio license then held by our majority-owned subsidiary, Slager. Slager ceased broadcasting effective November 19, 2009. The Company believed that the awarding of the license to the other bidder was unlawful. In October 2011, Emmis filed for arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") seeking resolution of its claim. In April 2014, the ICSID arbitral tribunal ruled that ICSID did not have the jurisdiction to hear the merits of Emmis' claim. We sold our Hungarian legal entities in October 2014 for a nominal amount and liquidated our Dutch holding companies in December 2014. We do not expect future Hungary license litigation expenses.

Impairment loss on intangible assets:

In connection with the annual impairment review conducted on December 1, 2014, the Company concluded that its FCC license for 98.7FM in New York, which is accounted for as a single unit of accounting as it is subject to an LMA, and the licenses of our Terre Haute radio cluster were impaired by $9.5 million. The Company also concluded that the goodwill associated with its acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York was fully impaired. The Company recorded an impairment loss of $58.4 million related to this goodwill impairment.

We may determine that it will be necessary to take impairment charges in future periods if we determine the carrying value of our intangible assets exceed their fair value. Our annual impairment test of our broadcasting licenses and goodwill was performed as of December 1, 2014. We may be required to retest prior to our next annual evaluation, which could result in additional impairment charges.

Depreciation and amortization:

The increase in depreciation and amortization for the year ended February 28, 2015 for our radio division is mostly due to the newly acquired tangible and intangible assets of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM. The increase in Corporate and Emerging Technologies is mostly due to depreciation associated with new computer software and equipment and amortization of newly acquired intangibles of Digonex. See Note 7 of the accompanying consolidated financial statements for a discussion of our acquisitions.

Gain on contract settlement:

Emmis and YMF Media executed an amendment to their Asset Purchase Agreement dated April 5, 2012 relating to Emmis' sale of the intellectual property of WRKS-FM to YMF Media. The amendment, executed on June 10, 2014, fixed all future earn-out payments YMF Media owed to Emmis pursuant to the April 5, 2012 Asset Purchase Agreement based upon the parties' estimate of the earn-out payments that would otherwise be owed to Emmis under this pre-existing contractual relationship. Emmis recognized a gain on settlement of the contract of $2.5 million.

Operating income (loss):

Radio operating income decreased in the year ended February 28, 2015 principally due to the $67.9 million impairment loss that was recorded in connection with our December 1, 2014 annual impairment review. Excluding the impairment loss, radio operating income would have increased $10.5 million mostly due to the acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM during the year.

Publishing operating income increased in the year ended February 28, 2015 mostly due to an increase in the number of profitable custom publications we produced during the period.

Corporate and Emerging Technologies operating losses decreased by $0.7 million mostly due to lower cash and noncash incentive-based compensation, lower legal fees and lower consulting fees as previously discussed. These operating expense reductions were partially offset by continued investment in the development and enhancement of our NextRadio application and operating expenses associated with Digonex.

Interest expense:

The increase in interest expense is attributable to additional debt incurred to finance our acquisition of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM and higher rates on amounts borrowed. The weighted-average interest rate of debt outstanding under our 2014 Credit Agreement was 6.0% at February 28, 2015. The weighted-average interest rate of debt outstanding under our 2012 Credit Agreement was 4.3% prior to its retirement on June 10, 2014.

Loss on debt extinguishment: