COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details 3) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		$ 443,176,000
2013		244,637,000
2014		89,643,000
2015		39,891,000
2016		38,003,000
2017		31,002,000
Operating leases
Total operating lease expense		7,032,000	6,905,000	5,130,000
Non-Income Taxes
Accruals for contingencies related to non-income taxes		998,000	2,722,000
Possible contingencies related to non-income taxes, which are not accrued		1,055,000
Compliance with Licenses terms
Renewal period of broadcasting licenses and other operating licenses		5 years
Broadcast Licenses term	10 years
Broadcasting licenses, indefinite lived | Broadcasting licenses, finite lived
Purchase commitments
Analog-to-digital transmission expenses		26,000,000
Estimated annual payment to fund the construction and the infrastructure and signal transmission		26,000,000
Minimum
Operating leases
Terms of operating leases for satellite transponders and office space		1 year
Compliance with Licenses terms
Percentage of programming in the Kazakh language during every six-hour slot		50.00%
Maximum
Operating leases
Terms of operating leases for satellite transponders and office space		11 years
Channel 31 Group
Non-Income Taxes
Accruals for contingencies related to non-income taxes related to pre-acquisition operation of the Channel 31 Group		347,000	1,700,000
Acquisition of programming rights
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		250,486,000
2013		202,154,000
2014		48,332,000
Transmission and satellite fees
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		115,474,000
2013		22,766,000
2014		22,494,000
2015		22,515,000
2016		23,718,000
2017		23,981,000
Leasehold obligations
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		36,457,000
2013		7,762,000
2014		8,093,000
2015		8,551,000
2016		8,971,000
2017		3,080,000
Network affiliation agreements
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		9,409,000
2013		2,984,000
2014		2,931,000
2015		2,184,000
2016		1,009,000
2017		301,000
Acquisition of format rights
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		1,113,000
2013		1,113,000
Cable connections
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		4,883,000
2013		2,170,000
2014		2,170,000
2015		543,000
Payments for intellectual rights
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		15,571,000
2013		2,947,000
2014		3,118,000
2015		3,290,000
2016		3,461,000
2017		2,755,000
Other contractual obligations
Purchase commitments
Total commitments		9,783,000
2013		2,741,000
2014		2,505,000
2015		2,808,000
2016		844,000
2017		$ 885,000