Condensed Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015		Mar. 29, 2015	Dec. 28, 2014
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 324,636	$ 262,644		$ 1,171,830	$ 1,455,183
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	17,579	17,595
Accounts receivable, net	433,883	466,628
Broadcast rights	158,319	160,240
Income taxes receivable	29,153	42,838
Prepaid expenses	42,822	63,337
Other	26,392	8,663
Total current assets	1,032,784	1,021,945
Property, plant and equipment	700,313	818,658
Accumulated depreciation	(164,548)	(160,801)
Net properties	535,765	657,857
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Broadcast rights	186,580	203,422
Goodwill	3,563,657	3,561,812
Other intangible assets, net	2,192,431	2,240,199
Assets held for sale	313,235	206,422	[1]
Investments	1,641,291	1,692,700
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	107,779	124,506	[2]
Total other assets	8,004,973	8,029,061	[2]
Total Assets	9,573,522	9,708,863	[1],[2]
Accounts payable	67,698	60,394
Debt due within one year	19,894	19,862	[2]
Income taxes payable	4,198	3,458
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	206,283	236,676
Deferred revenue	40,704	44,721
Interest payable	13,901	33,828
Other	117,374	141,861
Total current liabilities	470,052	540,800	[2]
Long-term debt	3,404,562	3,409,489	[2],[3]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	985,966	984,032
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	349,788	385,107
Contract intangible liability, net	9,436	13,772
Intercompany payables	0	0
Other	538,880	543,941
Total non-current liabilities	5,288,632	5,336,341	[2]
Total Liabilities	5,758,684	5,877,141	[2]
Common Stock	100	100
Treasury Stock	(412,892)	(400,153)
Additional paid-in-capital	4,600,743	4,619,618
Retained earnings (deficit)	(311,258)	(322,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(67,379)	(71,016)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	3,809,314	3,826,198
Noncontrolling interest	5,524	5,524
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)	3,814,838	3,831,722
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	9,573,522	9,708,863	[2]
Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0		0	0
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Broadcast rights	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepaid expenses	0	0
Other	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property, plant and equipment	0	0
Accumulated depreciation	0	0
Net properties	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(10,464,581)	(10,479,353)
Broadcast rights	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	0	0
Intercompany receivables	(6,564,717)	(6,158,611)
Intercompany loan receivable	(27,000)	(27,000)
Other assets	(180,449)	(187,302)
Total other assets	(6,772,166)	(6,372,913)
Total Assets	(17,236,747)	(16,852,266)
Accounts payable	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Interest payable	0	0
Other	0	0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany loan payable	(27,000)	(27,000)
Deferred income taxes	(180,449)	(187,302)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	(6,564,717)	(6,158,611)
Other	0	0
Total non-current liabilities	(6,772,166)	(6,372,913)
Total Liabilities	(6,772,166)	(6,372,913)
Common Stock	0	0
Treasury Stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	(9,776,002)	(9,817,885)
Retained earnings (deficit)	(701,422)	(678,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	12,843	16,883
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	(10,464,581)	(10,479,353)
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)	(10,464,581)	(10,479,353)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	(17,236,747)	(16,852,266)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	300,466	235,508		1,151,412	1,433,388
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	17,579	17,595
Accounts receivable, net	871	672
Broadcast rights	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepaid expenses	13,688	16,747
Other	22,276	4,494
Total current assets	354,880	275,016
Property, plant and equipment	50,300	47,909
Accumulated depreciation	(13,176)	(10,607)
Net properties	37,124	37,302
Investments in subsidiaries	10,359,278	10,374,921
Broadcast rights	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	16,984	18,276
Intercompany receivables	1,603,188	1,560,781
Intercompany loan receivable	27,000	27,000
Other assets	182,572	189,517	[2]
Total other assets	1,829,744	1,795,574	[2]
Total Assets	12,581,026	12,482,813	[2]
Accounts payable	31,616	29,587
Debt due within one year	15,902	15,874	[2]
Income taxes payable	0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Interest payable	13,899	33,826
Other	35,809	44,615
Total current liabilities	97,226	123,902	[2]
Long-term debt	3,390,792	3,394,753	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	4,804,029	4,652,289
Other	479,665	485,671
Total non-current liabilities	8,674,486	8,532,713	[2]
Total Liabilities	8,771,712	8,656,615	[2]
Common Stock	100	100
Treasury Stock	(412,892)	(400,153)
Additional paid-in-capital	4,600,743	4,619,618
Retained earnings (deficit)	(311,258)	(322,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(67,379)	(71,016)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	3,809,314	3,826,198
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)	3,809,314	3,826,198
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	12,581,026	12,482,813	[2]
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	10,161	13,054		10,894	12,204
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	421,145	452,722
Broadcast rights	156,587	157,538
Income taxes receivable	28,974	42,816
Prepaid expenses	26,709	44,817
Other	3,811	3,818
Total current assets	647,387	714,765
Property, plant and equipment	540,845	662,094
Accumulated depreciation	(145,183)	(144,089)
Net properties	395,662	518,005
Investments in subsidiaries	105,303	104,432
Broadcast rights	186,548	203,376
Goodwill	3,508,718	3,508,718
Other intangible assets, net	2,045,695	2,091,010
Assets held for sale	313,235	206,422
Investments	1,608,912	1,659,029
Intercompany receivables	4,510,471	4,265,957
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	99,673	117,124
Total other assets	12,273,252	12,051,636
Total Assets	13,421,604	13,388,838
Accounts payable	32,780	24,153
Debt due within one year	0	0
Income taxes payable	2,730	2,700
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	204,276	233,660
Deferred revenue	37,154	39,654
Interest payable	0	0
Other	75,273	91,384
Total current liabilities	352,213	391,551
Long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany loan payable	27,000	27,000
Deferred income taxes	992,605	994,083
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	349,750	385,052
Contract intangible liability, net	9,436	13,772
Intercompany payables	1,528,799	1,397,981
Other	55,540	55,779
Total non-current liabilities	2,963,130	2,873,667
Total Liabilities	3,315,343	3,265,218
Common Stock	0	0
Treasury Stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	9,488,052	9,529,071
Retained earnings (deficit)	624,410	600,853
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(6,201)	(6,304)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	10,106,261	10,123,620
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)	10,106,261	10,123,620
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	13,421,604	13,388,838
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	14,009	14,082		$ 9,524	$ 9,591
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	11,867	13,234
Broadcast rights	1,732	2,702
Income taxes receivable	179	22
Prepaid expenses	2,425	1,773
Other	305	351
Total current assets	30,517	32,164
Property, plant and equipment	109,168	108,655
Accumulated depreciation	(6,189)	(6,105)
Net properties	102,979	102,550
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Broadcast rights	32	46
Goodwill	54,939	53,094
Other intangible assets, net	146,736	149,189
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	15,395	15,395
Intercompany receivables	451,058	331,873
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	5,983	5,167	[2]
Total other assets	674,143	554,764	[2]
Total Assets	807,639	689,478	[2]
Accounts payable	3,302	6,654
Debt due within one year	3,992	3,988	[2]
Income taxes payable	1,468	758
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	2,007	3,016
Deferred revenue	3,550	5,067
Interest payable	2	2
Other	6,292	5,862
Total current liabilities	20,613	25,347	[2]
Long-term debt	13,770	14,736	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	173,810	177,251
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	38	55
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	231,889	108,341
Other	3,675	2,491
Total non-current liabilities	423,182	302,874	[2]
Total Liabilities	443,795	328,221	[2]
Common Stock	0	0
Treasury Stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	287,950	288,814
Retained earnings (deficit)	77,012	77,498
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(6,642)	(10,579)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	358,320	355,733
Noncontrolling interest	5,524	5,524
Total shareholders’ equity (deficit)	363,844	361,257
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	$ 807,639	$ 689,478	[2]

[1] (1) December 31, 2015 balances have been reclassified to present debt issuance costs as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of an associated debt liability in accordance with ASU 2015-03. See Note 1 for further information.

[2] (1) December 31, 2015 balances have been reclassified to present debt issuance costs as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of an associated debt liability in accordance with ASU 2015-03.

[3] (1) December 31, 2015 balances have been reclassified to present debt issuance costs as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of an associated debt liability in accordance with ASU 2015-03. See Note 1 for further information.