Acquisitions and Dispositions (Schedules) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020
Discontinued operations, disposed of by sale
Liabilities:
Revenue		$ 2,054.6
Operating income		1,176.3
Earnings before income taxes		1,004.2
Income tax expense		(273.9)
Net earnings attributable to Liberty Global shareholders		$ 730.3
Basic and diluted earnings from discontinued operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share		$ 1.00
Discontinued operations
Assets:
Current assets			$ 4,324.2
Property and equipment, net			7,786.4
Goodwill			7,489.3
Other assets, net			3,671.4
Total assets			23,271.3
Liabilities:
Current portion of debt and finance lease obligations			2,369.9
Other accrued and current liabilities			1,916.3
Long-term debt and finance lease obligations			16,364.7
Other long-term liabilities			1,179.1
Total liabilities			$ 21,830.0
Vodafone Disposal Group | Discontinued operations, disposed of by sale
Liabilities:
Revenue	$ 290.3	$ 2,017.9
Operating income	156.1	1,165.6
Earnings before income taxes	127.4	994.7
Income tax expense	(35.2)	(273.9)
Net earnings attributable to Liberty Global shareholders	$ 92.2	720.8
Basic and diluted earnings from discontinued operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share	$ 0.13
UPC DTH | Discontinued operations, disposed of by sale
Liabilities:
Revenue		36.7
Operating income		10.7
Earnings before income taxes		9.5
Income tax expense		0.0
Net earnings attributable to Liberty Global shareholders		$ 9.5