Acquisitions and Dispositions - Fair Values of Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed (Details) - USD ($)	Oct. 02, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Jan. 31, 2017	Jan. 17, 2017	Jan. 04, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Aug. 02, 2016	Mar. 14, 2016	Jan. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill						$ 2,142,846,000	$ 473,304,000				$ 451,662,000
Consolidated VIEs [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Goodwill						$ 163,549,000	$ 98,107,000
Media General [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents				$ 63,850,000
Accounts receivable				301,604,000
Spectrum asset				465,582,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets				35,973,000
Property and equipment				482,144,000
FCC licenses				1,242,847,000
Goodwill				1,701,097,000
Other noncurrent assets				36,104,000
Total assets acquired and consolidated				5,753,484,000
Less: Accounts payable and accrued expenses				(187,721,000)
Less: Taxes payable				(10,854,000)
Less: Interest payable				(12,794,000)
Less: Debt				(434,269,000)
Less: Deferred tax liabilities				(957,779,000)
Less: Other noncurrent liabilities				(227,378,000)
Less: Noncontrolling interests in consolidated VIEs				(7,600,000)
Net assets acquired and consolidated				3,915,089,000
Cash Consideration				1,376,108,000
Media General [Member] | Network Affiliation Agreements [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets				1,323,200,000
Media General [Member] | Other definite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets				$ 101,083,000
WVMH [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accounts receivable					$ 438,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets					114,000
Property and equipment					18,362,000
Goodwill					35,000
Total assets acquired and consolidated					22,351,000
Less: Accounts payable and accrued expenses					(623,000)
Less: Other noncurrent liabilities					(307,000)
Net assets acquired and consolidated					21,421,000
Deposit on second closing					43,543,000
Cash Consideration			$ 66,900,000		64,964,000
WVMH [Member] | Consolidated VIEs [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Broadcast rights								$ 527,000
Property and equipment								3,489,000
FCC licenses								41,230,000
Goodwill								28,588,000
Total assets acquired and consolidated								109,221,000
Less: Broadcast rights payable								(527,000)
Net assets acquired and consolidated								108,694,000
WVMH [Member] | Network Affiliation Agreements [Member] | Consolidated VIEs [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets								$ 35,387,000
WVMH [Member] | Other definite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets					$ 3,402,000
Parker [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
FCC licenses		$ 1,539,000
Goodwill		698,000
Total assets acquired and consolidated		4,000,000
Cash Consideration		800,000
Parker [Member] | Network Affiliation Agreements [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets		1,743,000
Parker [Member] | Other definite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets		$ 20,000
WLWC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Broadcast rights	$ 1,599,000
Property and equipment	1,158,000
Goodwill	0
Total assets acquired and consolidated	5,659,000
Less: Broadcast rights payable	(1,599,000)
Net assets acquired and consolidated	4,060,000
Cash Consideration	4,100,000
WLWC [Member] | Network Affiliation Agreements [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets	2,517,000
WLWC [Member] | Other definite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets	$ 385,000
Reiten [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Broadcast rights										$ 13,000
Property and equipment										8,139,000
FCC licenses										9,779,000
Goodwill										7,931,000
Total assets acquired and consolidated										44,019,000
Less: Accounts payable and accrued expenses										(8,000)
Less: Broadcast rights payable										(13,000)
Net assets acquired and consolidated										43,998,000
Reiten [Member] | Network Affiliation Agreements [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets										16,084,000
Reiten [Member] | Other definite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets										$ 2,073,000
KCWI [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Accounts receivable									$ 396,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets									40,000
Broadcast rights									1,740,000
Property and equipment									1,076,000
FCC licenses									2,180,000
Goodwill									350,000
Total assets acquired and consolidated									5,784,000
Less: Accounts payable and accrued expenses									(17,000)
Less: Broadcast rights payable									(1,886,000)
Net assets acquired and consolidated									3,881,000
KCWI [Member] | Other definite-lived intangible assets [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets									$ 2,000