Nominal or face amount used to calculate payments on the derivative asset.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
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- Definition

Fixed interest rate related to the interest rate derivative.

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No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of realized and unrealized gain (loss) of derivative instruments not designated or qualifying as hedging instruments.

+ References

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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No definition available.

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The number of derivative instruments of a particular group held by the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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This item represents the net total realized and unrealized gain (loss) included in earnings for the period as a result of selling or holding marketable securities categorized as trading, available-for-sale, or held-to-maturity, including the unrealized holding gain (loss) of held-to-maturity securities transferred to the trading security category and the cumulative unrealized gain (loss) which was included in other comprehensive income (a separate component of shareholders' equity) for available-for-sale securities transferred to trading securities during the period. Additionally, this item would include any gains (losses) realized during the period from the sale of investments accounted for under the cost method of accounting and losses recognized for other than temporary impairments (OTTI) of the subject investments.

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DERIVATIVE CONTRACTS AND COLLATERALIZED INDEBTEDNESS - Narrative (Details)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) instrument
Derivative [Line Items]
Gain (loss) on investments and sale of affiliate interests, net	$ 58,420,000	$ 310,996,000
Interest Rate Swap, Conversion, Term Loan Facility [Member] [Domain] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative notional amount			$ 2,970,000,000
Interest Rate Swap, Conversion, Incremental Term Loan Facility [Member] [Domain] [Domain] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative notional amount			$ 1,496,250
Derivative, fixed interest rate			0.226%
Interest Rate Swap, Conversion, Term Loan Facility Cequel [Member] [Domain] [Domain] \| Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative notional amount			$ 1,255,513,000
Derivative, fixed interest rate			0.225%
Interest Rate Swap
Derivative [Line Items]
Amount of gain (loss) recognized	12,929,000	44,851,000
Interest Rate Swap \| Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Derivative [Line Items]
Number of derivative instruments held \| instrument				2
Interest Rate Swap, Conversion, Tranche One \| Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative notional amount				$ 750,000,000
Derivative, fixed interest rate				1.6655%
Interest Rate Swap, Conversion, Tranche Two \| Not Designated as Hedging Instruments
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative notional amount				$ 750,000,000
Derivative, fixed interest rate				1.68%
Prepaid forward contracts
Derivative [Line Items]
Amount of gain (loss) recognized	$ 42,159,000	$ 210,511,000