COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details 3) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2011 Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Y sqm	Dec. 31, 2010 Y sqm	Dec. 31, 2009	Apr. 04, 2011 sqm
Operating leases
Area of office space leased (in square meters)			7,000		2,365
Initial term of lease agreements (in years)	10		10
Extendable term of lease agreements (in years)	10		10
Base rent per square meter per annum (in dollars per square meter)			$ 0.420		$ 0.465
Base rent per year			2,936,000		1,101,000
Rental expense related to leases		4,802,000
Rental expense expected to be recognized for 2012-2020		40,586,000
Technical costs arising from maintenance, taxes and some supplementary municipal services		558,000
Future minimum lease payments due under the leases
2012		4,775,000
2013		4,878,000
2014		5,004,000
2015		5,129,000
2016 and thereafter		28,804,000
Total		48,590,000
Total operating lease expense		6,905,000	5,130,000	4,950,000
Non-Income Taxes
Accruals for contingencies related to non-income taxes		2,722,000	5,023,000
Possible contingences related to non-income taxes, which are not accrued		1,200,000
Broadcast Licenses
Renewal period of broadcasting licenses and other operating licenses (in years)		5
Extension period of broadcasting licenses and other operating licenses (in years)		10
Minimum percentage of programming in the Kazakh language during every six-hour slot		50.00%
Minimum
Operating leases
Terms of operating leases for satellite transponders and office space (in years)		1
Maximum
Operating leases
Terms of operating leases for satellite transponders and office space (in years)		11
Channel 31 Group
Non-Income Taxes
Accruals for contingencies related to non-income taxes related to pre-acquisition operation of the Channel 31 Group		1,700,000	3,589,000
Programming rights
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		222,838,000
2012		160,716,000
2013		49,461,000
2014		12,661,000
Format rights
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		1,346,000
Transmission and satellite services
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		102,875,000
2012		17,581,000
2013		19,149,000
2014		20,842,000
2015		22,439,000
2016		22,864,000
Cable connections
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		$ 8,829,000