Derivative Instruments (Narrative) (Details)						1 Months Ended							1 Months Ended							12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Ziggo [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Ziggo [Member] Securities Subject to Re-Use Rights [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Ziggo [Member] Shares Borrowed as Hedge [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 Ziggo [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2013 Ziggo Collar [Member] Liberty Global Limited [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2013 Ziggo Collar [Member] Liberty Global Limited [Member] EUR (€)	Jul. 31, 2013 Ziggo Collar [Member] Liberty Global Limited [Member] Put Options Purchased [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2013 Ziggo Collar [Member] Liberty Global Limited [Member] Put Options Purchased [Member] EUR (€)	Jul. 31, 2013 Ziggo Collar [Member] Ziggo [Member]	Jan. 31, 2014 Ziggo Collar [Member] Ziggo [Member] Put Options Purchased [Member]	Jul. 31, 2013 Ziggo Collar [Member] Ziggo [Member] Put Options Purchased [Member]	Jul. 31, 2014 ITV Collar [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2014 ITV Collar [Member] GBP (£)	Dec. 31, 2014 ITV Collar [Member]	Dec. 31, 2014 Sumitomo Collar [Member] USD ($) installment	Dec. 31, 2014 Sumitomo Collar [Member] JPY (¥)	Jun. 28, 2007 Sumitomo Collar [Member] USD ($)	Jun. 28, 2007 Sumitomo Collar [Member] JPY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2014 Virgin Media Capped Call [Member] USD ($)
Derivative [Line Items]
Fair value derivative assets, counterparty credit risk exposure	$ 1,040,900,000
Net option contract premium paid								51,000,000	38,600,000
Number of options											19,965,600	24,957,000
Borrowed funds						816,400,000	617,100,000
Restricted cash						643,500,000	486,400,000
Discount rate						0.00%	0.00%						0.00%	0.00%
Implied yield						0.45%	0.45%						1.73%	1.73%
Number of common stock shares owned (in shares)		57,000,738	22,900,000	18,700,000									259,820,065	259,820,065
Shares lent to counterparty (in shares)										15,700,000
Principal amount of debt													764,500,000	446,900,000
Shares needed to borrow from custody account to hedge exposure															205,000,000
Derivative floor price (in yen/dollars per share)																$ 17.68	¥ 2,118.50
Derivative cap price (in yen/dollars per share)																$ 23.26	¥ 2,787.50
Market price of common stock (in yen/dollars per share)																$ 10.36	¥ 1,242.00
Sumitomo Collar number of equal semi-annual installment maturity dates beginning with initial maturity date of May 22, 2016																5	5
Sumitomo Collar fair value																351,100,000
Percentage of Sumitomo shares pledged as collateral on the Sumitomo Collar Loan																100.00%	100.00%
Stated interest rate of debt																1.883%	1.883%
Principal amount outstanding	44,612,200,000				5,755,900,000													757,600,000	93,660,000,000
Percentage of notional amount settled																				93.80%
Proceeds from settlement of derivative instrument																				$ 534,800,000