Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue (note 14)	$ 4,566.5	$ 4,602.2	$ 9,083.4	$ 9,135.9
Operating costs and expenses:
Operating (other than depreciation and amortization) (including share-based compensation) (note 10)	1,664.5	1,719.2	3,350.4	3,418.0
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) (including share-based compensation) (note 10)	773.6	792.5	1,578.7	1,555.0
Depreciation and amortization	1,477.8	1,393.4	2,929.2	2,770.5
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net (note 11)	25.7	27.6	42.7	141.2
Operating costs and expenses, Total	3,941.6	3,932.7	7,901.0	7,884.7
Operating income	624.9	669.5	1,182.4	1,251.2
Non-operating income (expense):
Interest expense	(600.8)	(641.8)	(1,216.7)	(1,295.3)
Realized and unrealized losses on derivative instruments, net (note 4)	(679.7)	(328.6)	(61.2)	(705.2)
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses), net	340.4	(36.4)	(695.2)	(57.2)
Realized and unrealized gains due to changes in fair values of certain investments, net (note 5)	110.8	157.4	262.2	97.2
Losses on debt modification and extinguishment, net (note 7)	(73.8)	(53.0)	(348.3)	(73.9)
Other income (expense), net	(1.7)	(1.7)	(2.7)	11.6
Non-operating income (expense), Total	(904.8)	(904.1)	(2,061.9)	(2,022.8)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes	(279.9)	(234.6)	(879.5)	(771.6)
Income tax benefit (expense) (note 8)	(130.0)	0.6	(52.1)	117.6
Loss from continuing operations	(409.9)	(234.0)	(931.6)	(654.0)
Discontinued operation (note 1):
Earnings from discontinued operation, net of taxes	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8
Gain (adjustment to gain) on disposal of discontinued operation, net of taxes	0.0	(7.2)	0.0	332.7
Income (loss) on discontinued operation, Total	0.0	(7.2)	0.0	333.5
Net loss	(409.9)	(241.2)	(931.6)	(320.5)
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(54.8)	(8.7)	(70.6)	(8.2)
Net loss attributable to Liberty Global shareholders	$ (464.7)	$ (249.9)	$ (1,002.2)	$ (328.7)
Basic and diluted loss attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share (note 12):
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ (0.53)	$ (0.31)	$ (1.13)	$ (0.84)
Discontinued operation (in dollars per share)	0.00	(0.01)	0.00	0.42
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share (in dollars per share)	$ (0.53)	$ (0.32)	$ (1.13)	$ (0.42)
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding – basic and diluted (in shares)	880,850,801	784,980,724	884,040,481	786,351,696