Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue (notes 3, 4, 5 and 17)	$ 2,954.5	$ 2,840.9	$ 8,553.2	$ 8,559.3
Operating costs and expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization, shown separately below):
Programming and other direct costs of services	820.3	801.8	2,390.4	2,388.5
Other operating (note 13)	471.7	399.7	1,292.9	1,236.9
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) (note 13)	557.7	501.7	1,565.3	1,576.5
Depreciation and amortization	458.5	892.9	1,787.7	2,754.3
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net (note 14)	(15.8)	36.0	47.4	140.1
Operating costs and expenses	2,292.4	2,632.1	7,083.7	8,096.3
Operating income	662.1	208.8	1,469.5	463.0
Non-operating income (expense):
Interest expense	(279.8)	(340.1)	(874.8)	(1,071.0)
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net (note 6)	(717.8)	582.1	199.8	652.2
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses), net	(755.7)	54.2	(842.0)	165.8
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net (notes 5, 7 and 9)	(21.5)	56.4	(399.0)	(90.5)
Losses on debt extinguishment, net (note 9)	(0.3)	(48.5)	(220.4)	(97.3)
Share of results of affiliates, net (note 5)	(27.1)	(32.8)	(99.1)	(173.0)
Other income, net	5.3	36.3	67.2	75.3
Non-operating income (expense)	(1,796.9)	307.6	(2,168.3)	(538.5)
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	(1,134.8)	516.4	(698.8)	(75.5)
Income tax benefit (note 11)	161.2	70.8	239.1	16.2
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations	(973.6)	587.2	(459.7)	(59.3)
Earnings from discontinued operations, net of taxes	0.0	92.2	0.0	730.3
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations, net of taxes	0.0	12,205.7	0.0	12,312.3
Discontinued operations (note 4):	0.0	12,297.9	0.0	13,042.6
Net earnings (loss)	(973.6)	12,885.1	(459.7)	12,983.3
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(49.5)	(37.2)	(137.8)	(75.4)
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Liberty Global shareholders	$ (1,023.1)	$ 12,847.9	$ (597.5)	$ 12,907.9
Basic and diluted earnings (loss) from continuing operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share (note 15) (in dollars per share)	$ (1.73)	$ 0.77	$ (0.98)	$ (0.18)