Business Segments (Information by Operating Segment) (Details 2) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011		Oct. 02, 2011	Jul. 03, 2011	Apr. 03, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011		Jan. 02, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Education [Member]	Jan. 02, 2011 Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Higher Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Higher Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Higher Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Test Preparation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Test Preparation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Test Preparation [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Kaplan International [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Kaplan International [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Kaplan International [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Kaplan Corporate and Other [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Kaplan Corporate and Other [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Kaplan Corporate and Other [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Cable Television [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cable Television [Member]	Jan. 02, 2011 Cable Television [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Newspaper Publishing [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Newspaper Publishing [Member]		Jan. 02, 2011 Newspaper Publishing [Member]		Dec. 31, 2012 Television Broadcasting [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Television Broadcasting [Member]	Jan. 02, 2011 Television Broadcasting [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Other Businesses [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Other Businesses [Member]	Jan. 02, 2011 Other Businesses [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate Office [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate Office [Member]	Jan. 02, 2011 Corporate Office [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Intersegment Elimination [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Intersegment Elimination [Member]	Jan. 02, 2011 Intersegment Elimination [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Intersegment Elimination [Member] Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Intersegment Elimination [Member] Education [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Intersegment Elimination [Member] Education [Member]
Operating revenues	$ 1,050,096		$ 1,011,334	$ 995,024	$ 961,199	$ 1,040,421		$ 1,012,498	$ 1,049,305	$ 1,028,921	$ 4,017,653		$ 4,131,145		$ 4,586,417	$ 2,196,496	$ 2,404,459	$ 2,804,840	$ 2,804,840	$ 1,149,407	$ 1,399,583	$ 1,905,038	$ 284,252	$ 303,093	$ 314,879	$ 764,184	$ 704,581	$ 587,781	$ 4,645	$ 4,585	$ 5,537	$ 787,117	$ 760,221	$ 759,884	$ 581,686		$ 622,532		$ 675,931		$ 399,691	$ 319,206	$ 342,164	$ 53,540	$ 25,507	$ 4,442	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ (877)	$ (780)	$ (844)	$ (5,992)	$ (7,383)	$ (8,395)
Income (loss) from operations	(14,425)		75,921	62,556	20,479	109,263		70,239	86,587	59,769	144,531		325,858		602,864	(105,368)	96,286	359,584	359,584	27,245	148,915	406,880	(10,799)	(28,498)	(32,583)	49,069	41,506	49,309	(171,929)	(64,517)	(63,788)	154,581	156,844	163,945	(53,702)		(21,204)		(11,115)		191,642	117,089	121,348	(23,244)	(8,735)	(6,326)	(19,378)	(14,422)	(24,572)				1,046	(1,120)	(234)
Equity in earnings (losses) of affiliates, net	2,785		4,099	3,314	3,888	568		(1,494)	3,138	3,737	14,086		5,949		(4,133)
Interest expense, net											(32,551)		(29,079)		(27,927)
Other income (expense), net	(17,572)		4,163	(635)	8,588	1,073		(29,650)	(2,591)	(24,032)	(5,456)		(55,200)		7,515
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	(37,375)		76,093	57,031	24,861	103,440		31,422	80,171	32,495	120,610		247,528		578,319
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	79,880		63,739	62,749	62,275	62,932		61,589	62,615	61,929	268,643		249,065		242,405	101,183	83,735	73,351	73,351	58,514	48,379	42,412	19,718	15,489	14,095	21,173	16,953	12,993	1,778	2,914	3,851	129,107	126,302	124,834	25,072		26,336		30,341		13,018	12,448	12,720	263	0	0	0	244	1,159
Amortization of intangible assets and impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets											132,595		22,335		21,552	129,312	19,417	19,202														211	267	327	654		1,051		1,223		0	0	0	2,418	1,600	800	0	0	0
Amortization of intangible assets	7,610		5,091	4,428	3,873	5,042		6,320	5,797	5,176	21,002		22,335		21,552	17,719	19,417		19,202
Impairment of goodwill and other long-lived assets	111,593		0	0	0						111,593		0		0	111,593	0		0
Pension expense (credit)											25,393		(1,745)		16,427	11,584	6,345	5,707	5,707	7,943	4,249	3,379	2,007	1,288	1,467	241	167	130	1,393	641	731	2,540	1,924	1,919	42,436	[1]	25,283	[1]	42,287	[1]	4,970	1,669	1,113	60	17	0	(36,197)	(36,983)	(34,599)
Capital expenditures											216,688		212,916		237,574	51,241	51,871	110,730	110,730	26,406	19,735	58,660	8,211	17,266	32,798	16,864	16,304	14,163	(240)	(1,434)	5,109	150,525	143,225	109,579	7,746		11,405		10,590		6,401	6,415	6,675	775	0	0	0	0	0
Identifiable assets	4,104,624					4,159,422					4,104,624		4,159,422			1,988,015	2,217,719			949,260	919,443		197,672	334,343		820,565	810,140		20,518	153,793		1,187,603	1,164,756		293,592		314,405				374,075	376,259		81,211	15,381		180,128	70,902
Investment in Marketable Equity Securities	380,087	[2]				303,201	[2]				380,087	[2]	303,201	[2]
Investments In Affiliates	15,535					17,101					15,535		17,101
Prepaid Pension Cost	604,823					537,262					604,823		537,262
Total Assets	5,105,069					5,016,986					5,105,069		5,016,986
Multiemployer Defined Benefit Plan Withdrawal Charge											$ 886		$ 2,415		$ 20,355																				$ 900		$ 2,400		$ 20,400

[1] Includes a $0.9 million, $2.4 million and $20.4 million charge in 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively, related to the withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan.

[2] The Company’s investments in marketable equity securities are classified as available-for-sale.