Segment Information - Information On Reportable Segments And Reconciliation To Consolidated Net Income (Details) subscription in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) subscription	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) subscription	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) subscription	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) subscription
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 3,999,374	$ 2,984,859	$ 11,607,500	$ 8,406,958
Cost of revenues	2,412,346	1,992,980	6,898,288	5,552,312
Marketing	435,269	312,490	1,441,271	858,083
Contribution profit	1,151,759	679,389	3,267,941	1,996,563
Other operating expenses	671,091	470,762	1,878,482	1,403,187
Operating income	480,668	208,627	1,389,459	593,376
Other income (expense)	(101,858)	(92,390)	(282,397)	(239,385)
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(24,025)	(13,353)	29,754	(19,421)
Net income	402,835	129,590	1,077,308	373,412
Amortization of content assets	$ 1,921,726	$ 1,640,736	$ 5,510,675	$ 4,532,322
Domestic Streaming
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total paid memberships at end of period | subscription	56,957	51,345	56,957	51,345
Total memberships at end of period | subscription	58,464	52,772	58,464	52,772
Revenues	$ 1,937,314	$ 1,547,210	$ 5,650,555	$ 4,522,751
Cost of revenues	991,823	864,408	2,812,399	2,445,858
Marketing	183,521	128,901	639,504	357,547
Contribution profit	761,970	553,901	2,198,652	1,719,346
Amortization of content assets	$ 800,884	$ 727,832	$ 2,283,102	$ 2,033,268
International Streaming
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total paid memberships at end of period | subscription	73,465	52,678	73,465	52,678
Total memberships at end of period | subscription	78,635	56,476	78,635	56,476
Revenues	$ 1,973,283	$ 1,327,435	$ 5,676,513	$ 3,538,862
Cost of revenues	1,383,422	1,081,485	3,966,471	2,946,414
Marketing	251,748	183,589	801,767	500,536
Contribution profit	338,113	62,361	908,275	91,912
Amortization of content assets	$ 1,110,883	$ 899,645	$ 3,195,326	$ 2,450,686
Domestic DVD
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total paid memberships at end of period | subscription	2,828	3,520	2,828	3,520
Total memberships at end of period | subscription	2,852	3,569	2,852	3,569
Revenues	$ 88,777	$ 110,214	$ 280,432	$ 345,345
Cost of revenues	37,101	47,087	119,418	160,040
Marketing	0	0	0	0
Contribution profit	51,676	63,127	161,014	185,305
Amortization of content assets	$ 9,959	$ 13,259	$ 32,247	$ 48,368