Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015		Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 28, 2014
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 366,640	$ 262,644		$ 403,511	$ 1,455,183
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	17,579	17,595
Accounts receivable, net	447,964	466,628
Broadcast rights	140,278	160,240
Income taxes receivable	21,985	42,838
Prepaid expenses	35,489	63,337
Other	9,383	8,663
Total current assets	1,039,318	1,021,945
Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross	698,019	818,658
Accumulated depreciation	(182,996)	(160,801)
Net properties	515,023	657,857
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Broadcast rights	163,289	203,422
Goodwill	3,562,586	3,561,812
Other intangible assets, net	2,141,638	2,240,199
Assets held for sale	295,542	206,422	[1]
Investments	1,652,954	1,692,700
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	96,318	124,506	[2]
Total other assets	7,912,327	8,029,061
Total Assets	9,466,668	9,708,863	[1]
Accounts payable	61,603	60,394
Debt due within one year	19,904	19,862	[2]
Income taxes payable	8,711	3,458
Income tax reserves	125,400	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	193,851	236,676
Deferred revenue	39,297	44,721
Interest payable	30,057	33,828
Other	114,403	141,861
Total current liabilities	593,226	540,800
Long-term debt	3,400,106	3,409,489	[2],[3]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	1,043,818	984,032
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	318,575	385,107
Contract intangible liability, net	5,100	13,772
Intercompany payables	0	0
Other	521,913	543,941
Total non-current liabilities	5,289,512	5,336,341
Total Liabilities	5,882,738	5,877,141
Common Stock	157	100
Treasury stock	(469,380)	(400,153)
Additional paid-in-capital	4,586,905	4,619,618
Retained earnings (deficit)	(472,821)	(322,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(66,568)	(71,016)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	3,578,293	3,826,198
Noncontrolling interest	5,637	5,524
Total shareholders’ equity	3,583,930	3,831,722
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	9,466,668	9,708,863
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, Gross	0	0
Accumulated depreciation	0	0
Net properties	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(10,399,992)	(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	(7,138,331)	(6,158,611)
Intercompany loan receivable	(27,000)	(27,000)
Other assets	(104,289)	(187,302)	[2]
Total other assets	(7,269,620)	(6,372,913)
Total Assets	(17,669,612)	(16,852,266)
Accounts payable	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0	[2]
Income taxes payable	0	0
Income tax reserves	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	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	(27,000)	(27,000)
Deferred income taxes	(104,289)	(187,302)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	(7,138,331)	(6,158,611)
Other	0	0
Total non-current liabilities	(7,269,620)	(6,372,913)
Total Liabilities	(7,269,620)	(6,372,913)
Common Stock	0	0
Treasury stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	(9,775,997)	(9,817,885)
Retained earnings (deficit)	(641,011)	(678,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	17,016	16,883
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	(10,399,992)	(10,479,353)
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	(10,399,992)	(10,479,353)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	(17,669,612)	(16,852,266)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	345,111	235,508		389,729	1,433,388
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	17,579	17,595
Accounts receivable, net	289	672
Broadcast rights	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepaid expenses	14,279	16,747
Other	5,851	4,494
Total current assets	383,109	275,016
Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross	52,968	47,909
Accumulated depreciation	(15,944)	(10,607)
Net properties	37,024	37,302
Investments in subsidiaries	10,296,365	10,374,921
Broadcast rights	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	19,474	18,276
Intercompany receivables	1,917,846	1,560,781
Intercompany loan receivable	27,000	27,000
Other assets	106,343	189,517	[2]
Total other assets	2,070,663	1,795,574
Total Assets	12,787,161	12,482,813
Accounts payable	31,531	29,587
Debt due within one year	15,909	15,874	[2]
Income taxes payable	0	0
Income tax reserves	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Interest payable	30,055	33,826
Other	39,002	44,615
Total current liabilities	116,497	123,902
Long-term debt	3,387,336	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	5,237,502	4,652,289
Other	467,533	485,671
Total non-current liabilities	9,092,371	8,532,713
Total Liabilities	9,208,868	8,656,615
Common Stock	157	100
Treasury stock	(469,380)	(400,153)
Additional paid-in-capital	4,586,905	4,619,618
Retained earnings (deficit)	(472,821)	(322,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(66,568)	(71,016)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	3,578,293	3,826,198
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	3,578,293	3,826,198
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	12,787,161	12,482,813
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	9,959	13,054		3,870	12,204
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	436,121	452,722
Broadcast rights	139,444	157,538
Income taxes receivable	21,824	42,816
Prepaid expenses	16,483	44,817
Other	3,033	3,818
Total current assets	626,864	714,765
Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross	534,158	662,094
Accumulated depreciation	(160,268)	(144,089)
Net properties	373,890	518,005
Investments in subsidiaries	103,627	104,432
Broadcast rights	163,271	203,376
Goodwill	3,508,718	3,508,718
Other intangible assets, net	2,000,420	2,091,010
Assets held for sale	295,542	206,422
Investments	1,615,585	1,659,029
Intercompany receivables	4,764,886	4,265,957
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	88,410	117,124	[2]
Total other assets	12,436,832	12,051,636
Total Assets	13,541,213	13,388,838
Accounts payable	26,648	24,153
Debt due within one year	0	0	[2]
Income taxes payable	7,617	2,700
Income tax reserves	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	192,780	233,660
Deferred revenue	35,336	39,654
Interest payable	0	0
Other	67,751	91,384
Total current liabilities	330,132	391,551
Long-term debt	0	0	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	27,000	27,000
Deferred income taxes	995,568	994,083
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	318,555	385,052
Contract intangible liability, net	5,100	13,772
Intercompany payables	1,661,323	1,397,981
Other	52,507	55,779
Total non-current liabilities	3,060,053	2,873,667
Total Liabilities	3,390,185	3,265,218
Common Stock	0	0
Treasury stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	9,486,179	9,529,071
Retained earnings (deficit)	672,851	600,853
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(8,002)	(6,304)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	10,151,028	10,123,620
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	10,151,028	10,123,620
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	13,541,213	13,388,838
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	11,570	14,082		$ 9,912	$ 9,591
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	11,554	13,234
Broadcast rights	834	2,702
Income taxes receivable	161	22
Prepaid expenses	4,727	1,773
Other	499	351
Total current assets	29,345	32,164
Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross	110,893	108,655
Accumulated depreciation	(6,784)	(6,105)
Net properties	104,109	102,550
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Broadcast rights	18	46
Goodwill	53,868	53,094
Other intangible assets, net	141,218	149,189
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	17,895	15,395
Intercompany receivables	455,599	331,873
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	5,854	5,167	[2]
Total other assets	674,452	554,764
Total Assets	807,906	689,478
Accounts payable	3,424	6,654
Debt due within one year	3,995	3,988	[2]
Income taxes payable	1,094	758
Income tax reserves	125,400
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	1,071	3,016
Deferred revenue	3,961	5,067
Interest payable	2	2
Other	7,650	5,862
Total current liabilities	146,597	25,347
Long-term debt	12,770	14,736	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	152,539	177,251
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	20	55
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	239,506	108,341
Other	1,873	2,491
Total non-current liabilities	406,708	302,874
Total Liabilities	553,305	328,221
Common Stock	0	0
Treasury stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	289,818	288,814
Retained earnings (deficit)	(31,840)	77,498
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(9,014)	(10,579)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)	248,964	355,733
Noncontrolling interest	5,637	5,524
Total shareholders’ equity	254,601	361,257
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	$ 807,906	$ 689,478

[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.