local advertising is sold by each radio station 's sales staff while national advertising is sold by our national sales team . local advertising , which is our largest source of advertising revenue , and national advertising revenues are tracked separately because these revenue streams have different sales teams and respond differently to changes in the economic environment . we periodically review and refine our selling structures in all regions and markets in an effort to maximize the value of our offering to advertisers and , therefore , our revenue . 31 management also looks at audio 's revenue by region and market size . typically , larger markets can reach larger audiences with wider demographics than smaller markets . additionally , management reviews our share of audio advertising revenues in markets where such information is available , as well as our share of target demographics listening in an average quarter hour . this metric gauges how well our formats are attracting and retaining listeners . management also monitors revenue generated through our programmatic ad-buying platform , soundpoint , and our data analytics advertising product , smartaudio , to measure the success of our enhanced marketing optimization tools . we have made significant investments so we can provide the same ad-buying experience that once was only available from digital-only companies and enable our clients to better understand how our assets can successfully reach their target audiences . a portion of our audio segment 's expenses vary in connection with changes in revenue . these variable expenses primarily relate to costs in our sales department , such as commissions , and bad debt . our content costs , including music royalty and license fees for music delivered via broadcast or digital streaming , vary with the volume and mix of songs played on our stations and the listening hours on our digital platforms . our programming and general and administrative departments incur most of our fixed costs , such as utilities and office salaries . we incur discretionary costs in our advertising , marketing and promotions , which we primarily use in an effort to maintain and or increase our audience share . lastly , we have incentive systems in each of our departments which provide for bonus payments based on specific performance metrics , including ratings , revenue and overall profitability . our advertising revenue is highly correlated to changes in gross domestic product ( “ gdp ” ) as advertising spending has historically trended in line with gdp . in january 2020 , the company announced its modernization initiatives , which will take advantage of the significant investments we have made in new technologies to build an operating infrastructure that provides better quality and newer products and delivers new cost efficiencies . we expect our investment in these modernization initiatives to result in an increase in incremental capital expenditures related to real estate optimization of approximately $ 40 to $ 50 million during 2020. while we expect some additional capital expenditures impact from our modernization in 2021 , the majority of this investment in capital expenditures is expected to impact 2020 and will be weighted to the second-half of the year . combined results our financial results for the periods from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 , the year ended december 31 , 2018 and the year ended december 31 , 2017 are referred to as those of the “ predecessor ” period . our financial results for the period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 are referred to as those of the “ successor ” period . our results of operations as reported in our consolidated financial statements for these periods are prepared in accordance with gaap . although gaap requires that we report our results for the period from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 and the period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 separately , management views the company 's operating results for the year ended december 31 , 2019 by combining the results of the applicable predecessor and successor periods because such presentation provides the most meaningful comparison of our results to prior periods . the company can not adequately benchmark the operating results of the period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 against any of the previous periods reported in its consolidated financial statements without combining it with the period from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 and does not believe that reviewing the results of this period in isolation would be useful in identifying trends in or reaching conclusions regarding the company 's overall operating performance . management believes that the key performance metrics such as revenue , operating income and adjusted ebitda for the successor period when combined with the predecessor period provide more meaningful comparisons to other periods and are useful in identifying current business trends . accordingly , in addition to presenting our results of operations as reported in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with gaap , the tables and discussion below also present the combined results for the year ended december 31 , 2019 . the combined results for the year ended december 31 , 2019 , which we refer to herein as the results for the `` year ended december 31 , 2019 `` represent the sum of the reported amounts for the predecessor period from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 and the successor period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 . these combined results are not considered to be prepared in accordance with gaap and have not been prepared as pro forma results per applicable regulations . the combined operating results do not reflect the actual results we would have achieved absent our emergence from bankruptcy and may not be indicative of future results . story_separator_special_tag other operating income , net of $ 9.3 million in 2017 was primarily related to the gain on the exchange of four radio stations in chattanooga , tn and six radio stations in richmond , va for four radio stations in boston , ma and three radio stations in seattle , wa . interest expense , net interest expense decreased $ 1,149.6 million during 2018 compared to 2017 as a result of the company ceasing to accrue interest expense on long-term debt reclassified as liabilities subject to compromise as of the petition date . other expense , net other expense , net was $ 23.0 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 related primarily to expenses incurred in connection with negotiations with lenders and other activities related to our capital structure which were incurred prior to the filing of the chapter 11 cases . other expense , net was $ 43.9 million for the year 2017 related primarily to expenses incurred in connection with negotiations with lenders and other activities related to our capital structure , including $ 41.8 million related to the notes exchange offers and term loan offers that were launched in early 2017 . 39 income tax benefit ( expense ) the effective tax rate for the year ended december 31 , 2018 was ( 57.3 ) % the effective tax rate for 2018 was primarily impacted by $ 11.3 million of deferred tax expense attributed to the valuation allowance recorded against federal and state deferred tax assets generated in the period due to the uncertainty of the ability to realize those assets in future periods . the effective tax rate for the year ended december 31 , 2017 was 21.3 % . the effective tax benefit rate for 2017 was impacted by the effects of u.s. corporate tax reform which resulted in a tax benefit of $ 282.1 million recorded in connection with the reduction in the u.s. federal corporate tax rate . in partial offset to this tax benefit , the company recorded tax expense of $ 202.0 million in connection with the valuation allowance recorded against federal and state deferred tax assets generated in the period due to the uncertainty of the ability to realize those assets in future periods . net loss attributable to the company net loss attributable to the company decreased $ 196.2 million to $ 201.9 million during the year ended december 31 , 2018 compared to a net loss of $ 398.1 million during the year ended december 31 , 2017 , primarily due to the factors discussed above . non-gaap financial measures reconciliations of operating income to adjusted ebitda replace_table_token_11_th replace_table_token_12_th 40 reconciliations of net income ( loss ) to ebitda and adjusted ebitda replace_table_token_13_th replace_table_token_14_th ( 1 ) increase in depreciation and amortization is driven by the application of fresh start accounting , resulting in significantly higher values of our tangible and intangible assets . 41 ( 2 ) increase in share-based compensation expense is due to our new equity compensation plan entered into in connection with our plan of reorganization . ( 3 ) music license fees adjustment represents the impact of updated estimates to music license fee expenses primarily related to the predecessor periods , which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 and is not representative of the company 's operations during a normal business cycle . ( 4 ) we define adjusted ebitda as consolidated operating income adjusted to exclude restructuring and reorganization expenses included within direct operating expenses , selling , general and administrative expenses , ( “ sg & a ” ) and corporate expenses and share-based compensation expenses included within corporate expenses , as well as the following line items presented in our statements of operations : depreciation and amortization , impairment charges and other operating income ( expense ) , net . alternatively , adjusted ebitda is calculated as net income ( loss ) , adjusted to exclude ( income ) loss from discontinued operations , net of tax , income tax ( benefit ) expense , interest expense , depreciation and amortization , reorganization items , net , loss on investments , net , other ( income ) expense , net , equity in earnings ( loss ) of nonconsolidated affiliates , net , impairment charges , other operating ( income ) expense , net , share-based compensation , restructuring and reorganization expenses and music license fees adjustment . restructuring expenses primarily include severance expenses incurred in connection with cost saving initiatives , as well as certain expenses , which , in the view of management , are outside the ordinary course of business or otherwise not representative of the company 's operations during a normal business cycle . reorganization expenses primarily include the amortization of retention bonus amounts paid or payable to certain members of management directly as a result of the reorganization . we use adjusted ebitda , among other measures , to evaluate the company 's operating performance . this measure is among the primary measures used by management for the planning and forecasting of future periods , as well as for measuring performance for compensation of executives and other members of management . we believe this measure is an important indicator of our operational strength and performance of our business because it provides a link between operational performance and operating income . it is also a primary measure used by management in evaluating companies as potential acquisition targets . we believe the presentation of this measure is relevant and useful for investors because it allows investors to view performance in a manner similar to the method used by management . we believe it helps improve investors ' ability to understand our operating performance and makes it easier to compare our results with other companies that have different capital structures or tax rates . in addition , we believe this measure is also among the primary measures used externally by our investors

cash provided by operating activities was $ 966.7 million in 2018 compared to $ 491.2 million of cash used for operating activities in 2017. cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $ 741.2 million in 2018 compared to $ 619.2 million of cash used for operating activities from continuing operations in 2017. the increase in cash provided by operating activities is primarily attributed to the $ 1,374.4 million decrease in cash paid for interest . cash paid for interest was $ 398.0 million during 2018 compared to $ 1,772.4 million during 2017. in addition , cash provided by operating activities increased as a result of changes in working capital balances , particularly accounts receivable , which were affected by improved collections as well as accounts payable and accrued expenses which were impacted by the timing of payments . cash paid for reorganization items , net was $ 103.7 million during 2018. as part of our liquidity measures taken in anticipation of our march 14 , 2018 bankruptcy filing , we did not make scheduled interest payments on our 9.0 % priority guarantee notes due 2021 , 11.25 % priority guarantee notes due 2021 and 14.0 % senior notes due 2021 and we extended certain accounts payable to conserve cash . subsequent to the bankruptcy filing , interest payments on our debt classified as `` liabilities subject to compromise '' were stayed and only limited pre-petition payments on accounts payable were made . 2017 cash used for operating activities was $ 491.2 million in 2017 compared to $ 15.8 million of cash used for operating activities in 2016. the increase in cash used for operating activities is primarily attributed to lower operating income as well as changes in working capital balances , particularly accounts receivable , which was impacted by slower collections , and prepaid assets , partially offset by accrued interest and accounts payable due to the timing of payments . investing activities 2019 cash used for investing activities of $ 334.4 million in 2019 primarily reflects $ 222.4 million in cash used for investing activities from discontinued operations . in addition , we used $ 112.2


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash provided by operating activities was $ 966.7 million in 2018 compared to $ 491.2 million of cash used for operating activities in 2017. cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations was $ 741.2 million in 2018 compared to $ 619.2 million of cash used for operating activities from continuing operations in 2017. the increase in cash provided by operating activities is primarily attributed to the $ 1,374.4 million decrease in cash paid for interest . cash paid for interest was $ 398.0 million during 2018 compared to $ 1,772.4 million during 2017. in addition , cash provided by operating activities increased as a result of changes in working capital balances , particularly accounts receivable , which were affected by improved collections as well as accounts payable and accrued expenses which were impacted by the timing of payments . cash paid for reorganization items , net was $ 103.7 million during 2018. as part of our liquidity measures taken in anticipation of our march 14 , 2018 bankruptcy filing , we did not make scheduled interest payments on our 9.0 % priority guarantee notes due 2021 , 11.25 % priority guarantee notes due 2021 and 14.0 % senior notes due 2021 and we extended certain accounts payable to conserve cash . subsequent to the bankruptcy filing , interest payments on our debt classified as `` liabilities subject to compromise '' were stayed and only limited pre-petition payments on accounts payable were made . 2017 cash used for operating activities was $ 491.2 million in 2017 compared to $ 15.8 million of cash used for operating activities in 2016. the increase in cash used for operating activities is primarily attributed to lower operating income as well as changes in working capital balances , particularly accounts receivable , which was impacted by slower collections , and prepaid assets , partially offset by accrued interest and accounts payable due to the timing of payments . investing activities 2019 cash used for investing activities of $ 334.4 million in 2019 primarily reflects $ 222.4 million in cash used for investing activities from discontinued operations . in addition , we used $ 112.2
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : local advertising is sold by each radio station 's sales staff while national advertising is sold by our national sales team . local advertising , which is our largest source of advertising revenue , and national advertising revenues are tracked separately because these revenue streams have different sales teams and respond differently to changes in the economic environment . we periodically review and refine our selling structures in all regions and markets in an effort to maximize the value of our offering to advertisers and , therefore , our revenue . 31 management also looks at audio 's revenue by region and market size . typically , larger markets can reach larger audiences with wider demographics than smaller markets . additionally , management reviews our share of audio advertising revenues in markets where such information is available , as well as our share of target demographics listening in an average quarter hour . this metric gauges how well our formats are attracting and retaining listeners . management also monitors revenue generated through our programmatic ad-buying platform , soundpoint , and our data analytics advertising product , smartaudio , to measure the success of our enhanced marketing optimization tools . we have made significant investments so we can provide the same ad-buying experience that once was only available from digital-only companies and enable our clients to better understand how our assets can successfully reach their target audiences . a portion of our audio segment 's expenses vary in connection with changes in revenue . these variable expenses primarily relate to costs in our sales department , such as commissions , and bad debt . our content costs , including music royalty and license fees for music delivered via broadcast or digital streaming , vary with the volume and mix of songs played on our stations and the listening hours on our digital platforms . our programming and general and administrative departments incur most of our fixed costs , such as utilities and office salaries . we incur discretionary costs in our advertising , marketing and promotions , which we primarily use in an effort to maintain and or increase our audience share . lastly , we have incentive systems in each of our departments which provide for bonus payments based on specific performance metrics , including ratings , revenue and overall profitability . our advertising revenue is highly correlated to changes in gross domestic product ( “ gdp ” ) as advertising spending has historically trended in line with gdp . in january 2020 , the company announced its modernization initiatives , which will take advantage of the significant investments we have made in new technologies to build an operating infrastructure that provides better quality and newer products and delivers new cost efficiencies . we expect our investment in these modernization initiatives to result in an increase in incremental capital expenditures related to real estate optimization of approximately $ 40 to $ 50 million during 2020. while we expect some additional capital expenditures impact from our modernization in 2021 , the majority of this investment in capital expenditures is expected to impact 2020 and will be weighted to the second-half of the year . combined results our financial results for the periods from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 , the year ended december 31 , 2018 and the year ended december 31 , 2017 are referred to as those of the “ predecessor ” period . our financial results for the period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 are referred to as those of the “ successor ” period . our results of operations as reported in our consolidated financial statements for these periods are prepared in accordance with gaap . although gaap requires that we report our results for the period from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 and the period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 separately , management views the company 's operating results for the year ended december 31 , 2019 by combining the results of the applicable predecessor and successor periods because such presentation provides the most meaningful comparison of our results to prior periods . the company can not adequately benchmark the operating results of the period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 against any of the previous periods reported in its consolidated financial statements without combining it with the period from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 and does not believe that reviewing the results of this period in isolation would be useful in identifying trends in or reaching conclusions regarding the company 's overall operating performance . management believes that the key performance metrics such as revenue , operating income and adjusted ebitda for the successor period when combined with the predecessor period provide more meaningful comparisons to other periods and are useful in identifying current business trends . accordingly , in addition to presenting our results of operations as reported in our consolidated financial statements in accordance with gaap , the tables and discussion below also present the combined results for the year ended december 31 , 2019 . the combined results for the year ended december 31 , 2019 , which we refer to herein as the results for the `` year ended december 31 , 2019 `` represent the sum of the reported amounts for the predecessor period from january 1 , 2019 through may 1 , 2019 and the successor period from may 2 , 2019 through december 31 , 2019 . these combined results are not considered to be prepared in accordance with gaap and have not been prepared as pro forma results per applicable regulations . the combined operating results do not reflect the actual results we would have achieved absent our emergence from bankruptcy and may not be indicative of future results . story_separator_special_tag other operating income , net of $ 9.3 million in 2017 was primarily related to the gain on the exchange of four radio stations in chattanooga , tn and six radio stations in richmond , va for four radio stations in boston , ma and three radio stations in seattle , wa . interest expense , net interest expense decreased $ 1,149.6 million during 2018 compared to 2017 as a result of the company ceasing to accrue interest expense on long-term debt reclassified as liabilities subject to compromise as of the petition date . other expense , net other expense , net was $ 23.0 million for the year ended december 31 , 2018 related primarily to expenses incurred in connection with negotiations with lenders and other activities related to our capital structure which were incurred prior to the filing of the chapter 11 cases . other expense , net was $ 43.9 million for the year 2017 related primarily to expenses incurred in connection with negotiations with lenders and other activities related to our capital structure , including $ 41.8 million related to the notes exchange offers and term loan offers that were launched in early 2017 . 39 income tax benefit ( expense ) the effective tax rate for the year ended december 31 , 2018 was ( 57.3 ) % the effective tax rate for 2018 was primarily impacted by $ 11.3 million of deferred tax expense attributed to the valuation allowance recorded against federal and state deferred tax assets generated in the period due to the uncertainty of the ability to realize those assets in future periods . the effective tax rate for the year ended december 31 , 2017 was 21.3 % . the effective tax benefit rate for 2017 was impacted by the effects of u.s. corporate tax reform which resulted in a tax benefit of $ 282.1 million recorded in connection with the reduction in the u.s. federal corporate tax rate . in partial offset to this tax benefit , the company recorded tax expense of $ 202.0 million in connection with the valuation allowance recorded against federal and state deferred tax assets generated in the period due to the uncertainty of the ability to realize those assets in future periods . net loss attributable to the company net loss attributable to the company decreased $ 196.2 million to $ 201.9 million during the year ended december 31 , 2018 compared to a net loss of $ 398.1 million during the year ended december 31 , 2017 , primarily due to the factors discussed above . non-gaap financial measures reconciliations of operating income to adjusted ebitda replace_table_token_11_th replace_table_token_12_th 40 reconciliations of net income ( loss ) to ebitda and adjusted ebitda replace_table_token_13_th replace_table_token_14_th ( 1 ) increase in depreciation and amortization is driven by the application of fresh start accounting , resulting in significantly higher values of our tangible and intangible assets . 41 ( 2 ) increase in share-based compensation expense is due to our new equity compensation plan entered into in connection with our plan of reorganization . ( 3 ) music license fees adjustment represents the impact of updated estimates to music license fee expenses primarily related to the predecessor periods , which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019 and is not representative of the company 's operations during a normal business cycle . ( 4 ) we define adjusted ebitda as consolidated operating income adjusted to exclude restructuring and reorganization expenses included within direct operating expenses , selling , general and administrative expenses , ( “ sg & a ” ) and corporate expenses and share-based compensation expenses included within corporate expenses , as well as the following line items presented in our statements of operations : depreciation and amortization , impairment charges and other operating income ( expense ) , net . alternatively , adjusted ebitda is calculated as net income ( loss ) , adjusted to exclude ( income ) loss from discontinued operations , net of tax , income tax ( benefit ) expense , interest expense , depreciation and amortization , reorganization items , net , loss on investments , net , other ( income ) expense , net , equity in earnings ( loss ) of nonconsolidated affiliates , net , impairment charges , other operating ( income ) expense , net , share-based compensation , restructuring and reorganization expenses and music license fees adjustment . restructuring expenses primarily include severance expenses incurred in connection with cost saving initiatives , as well as certain expenses , which , in the view of management , are outside the ordinary course of business or otherwise not representative of the company 's operations during a normal business cycle . reorganization expenses primarily include the amortization of retention bonus amounts paid or payable to certain members of management directly as a result of the reorganization . we use adjusted ebitda , among other measures , to evaluate the company 's operating performance . this measure is among the primary measures used by management for the planning and forecasting of future periods , as well as for measuring performance for compensation of executives and other members of management . we believe this measure is an important indicator of our operational strength and performance of our business because it provides a link between operational performance and operating income . it is also a primary measure used by management in evaluating companies as potential acquisition targets . we believe the presentation of this measure is relevant and useful for investors because it allows investors to view performance in a manner similar to the method used by management . we believe it helps improve investors ' ability to understand our operating performance and makes it easier to compare our results with other companies that have different capital structures or tax rates . in addition , we believe this measure is also among the primary measures used externally by our investors

