Quarterly Data - Schedule of Quarterly Financial Information (Parenthetical) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
		Jun. 06, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2017		Jun. 30, 2016		Jun. 30, 2015
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Investments written-off										$ 21		$ 21		$ 5
Fixed-asset impairment charges				$ 464						679
Tax benefit recognized	[1]									(28)		54		(185)
NAM Group one-time costs of settlement										0		158		0
Gain on litigation settlement							$ 122					122
Litigation settlement		$ 130	$ 30				130
Non-cash impairment charge										785		0		0
News America Marketing [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
NAM Group one-time costs of settlement								$ 280
Australian Newspapers [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Non-cash impairment charge						$ 310
Foxtel [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Investments written-off						227				227
REA Group [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Gain on sale of business						$ 120				$ 107	[2]	$ 0	[2]	$ 0	[2]
Impact of foreign currency fluctuations					$ (13)
Deferred Tax Valuation Allowance [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Tax benefit recognized									$ 106
NAR [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Payment of litigation settlement							$ 8
Assets of discontinued operations [Member] | Digital Education [Member]
Schedule Of Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Non-cash impairment charge									76
Income tax benefit discontinued operations									$ 144

[1] The Company recognized a tax benefit of approximately $144 million upon reclassification of the Digital Education segment to discontinued operations in (Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax, in the Statement of Operations in fiscal year 2016. In addition, a tax benefit of $30 million related to the operations of the Digital Education segment was recorded to discontinued operations in (Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax, in the Statement of Operations in fiscal 2016. The tax expense (benefit) shown above excludes the tax benefit of the Company's digital education business. The Company will not have a current federal tax expense after accounting for the federal current tax benefits attributed to discontinued operations.

[2] The Company recognized a pre-tax gain of $107 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 related to REA Group's sale of its European business. See Note 3-Acquisitions, Disposals and Other Transactions.