Segment Information - Information On Reportable Segments And Reconciliation To Consolidated Net Income (Details) subscription in Thousands, membership in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) subscription membership	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($) subscription membership
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 4,520,992	$ 3,700,856
Cost of revenues	2,870,614	2,300,579
Marketing	616,578	536,777
Contribution profit	1,033,800	863,500
Other operating expenses	574,716	416,922
Operating income	459,084	446,578
Other income (expense)	(59,425)	(146,962)
Provision for income taxes	55,607	9,492
Net income	344,052	290,124
Amortization of content assets	$ 2,133,195	$ 1,759,978
Domestic Streaming
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total paid memberships at end of period | subscription	60,229	55,087
Total paid net membership additions | membership	1,743	2,277
Total free trials at end of period | membership	1,563	1,618
Revenues	$ 2,073,555	$ 1,820,019
Cost of revenues	1,139,535	936,480
Marketing	221,046	250,719
Contribution profit	712,974	632,820
Amortization of content assets	$ 864,311	$ 730,272
International Streaming
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total paid memberships at end of period | subscription	88,634	63,815
Total paid net membership additions | membership	7,861	5,981
Total free trials at end of period | membership	5,003	4,475
Revenues	$ 2,366,749	$ 1,782,086
Cost of revenues	1,697,121	1,321,706
Marketing	395,532	286,058
Contribution profit	274,096	174,322
Amortization of content assets	$ 1,260,375	$ 1,018,572
Domestic DVD
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total paid memberships at end of period | subscription	2,565	3,138
Total paid net membership additions | membership	(141)	(192)
Total free trials at end of period | membership	22	29
Revenues	$ 80,688	$ 98,751
Cost of revenues	33,958	42,393
Marketing	0	0
Contribution profit	46,730	56,358
Amortization of content assets	$ 8,509	$ 11,134