Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015		Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 28, 2014
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 643,698	$ 262,644		$ 350,320	$ 1,455,183
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	17,566	17,595
Accounts receivable, net	425,264	466,628
Broadcast rights	186,906	160,240
Income taxes receivable	2,764	42,838
Prepaid expenses	53,645	63,337
Other	9,293	8,663
Total current assets	1,339,136	1,021,945
Property, plant and equipment	752,838	818,658
Accumulated depreciation	(202,563)	(160,801)
Net properties	550,275	657,857
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Broadcast rights	174,112	203,422
Goodwill	3,563,522	3,561,812
Other intangible assets, net	2,092,925	2,240,199
Assets held for sale	17,878	206,422	[1]
Investments	1,667,411	1,692,700
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	92,417	124,506	[2]
Total other assets	7,608,265	8,029,061
Total Assets	9,497,676	9,708,863	[1]
Accounts payable	65,418	60,394
Debt due within one year	19,914	19,862	[2]
Income taxes payable	64,269	3,458
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	253,259	236,676
Deferred revenue	45,032	44,721
Interest payable	13,899	33,828
Other	117,282	141,861
Total current liabilities	579,073	540,800
Long-term debt	3,395,845	3,409,489	[2],[3]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	1,026,745	984,032
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	348,096	385,107
Contract intangible liability, net	25	13,772
Intercompany payables	0	0
Other	516,897	543,941
Total non-current liabilities	5,287,608	5,336,341
Total Liabilities	5,866,681	5,877,141
Common stock	100	100
Treasury stock	(557,688)	(400,153)
Additional paid-in-capital	4,573,854	4,619,618
Retained (deficit) earnings	(327,056)	(322,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(63,884)	(71,016)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity	3,625,326	3,826,198
Noncontrolling interest	5,669	5,524
Total shareholders’ equity	3,630,995	3,831,722
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	9,497,676	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	0	0
Accumulated depreciation	0	0
Net properties	0	0
Investments in subsidiaries	(10,572,501)	(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	(7,955,522)	(6,158,611)
Intercompany loan receivable	(27,000)	(27,000)
Other assets	(105,102)	(187,302)	[2]
Total other assets	(8,087,624)	(6,372,913)
Total Assets	(18,660,125)	(16,852,266)
Accounts payable	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0	[2]
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	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	(27,000)	(27,000)
Deferred income taxes	(105,102)	(187,302)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	(7,955,522)	(6,158,611)
Other	0	0
Total non-current liabilities	(8,087,624)	(6,372,913)
Total Liabilities	(8,087,624)	(6,372,913)
Common stock	0	0
Treasury stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	(9,775,997)	(9,817,885)
Retained (deficit) earnings	(811,570)	(678,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	15,066	16,883
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity	(10,572,501)	(10,479,353)
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	(10,572,501)	(10,479,353)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	(18,660,125)	(16,852,266)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	620,376	235,508		325,554	1,433,388
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	17,566	17,595
Accounts receivable, net	116	672
Broadcast rights	0	0
Income taxes receivable	0	0
Prepaid expenses	15,471	16,747
Other	5,950	4,494
Total current assets	659,479	275,016
Property, plant and equipment	53,682	47,909
Accumulated depreciation	(18,695)	(10,607)
Net properties	34,987	37,302
Investments in subsidiaries	10,470,498	10,374,921
Broadcast rights	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	20,051	18,276
Intercompany receivables	2,152,363	1,560,781
Intercompany loan receivable	27,000	27,000
Other assets	107,334	189,517	[2]
Total other assets	2,306,748	1,795,574
Total Assets	13,471,712	12,482,813
Accounts payable	34,638	29,587
Debt due within one year	15,915	15,874	[2]
Income taxes payable	0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Interest payable	13,897	33,826
Other	42,053	44,615
Total current liabilities	106,503	123,902
Long-term debt	3,384,076	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	5,894,575	4,652,289
Other	461,232	485,671
Total non-current liabilities	9,739,883	8,532,713
Total Liabilities	9,846,386	8,656,615
Common stock	100	100
Treasury stock	(557,688)	(400,153)
Additional paid-in-capital	4,573,854	4,619,618
Retained (deficit) earnings	(327,056)	(322,351)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(63,884)	(71,016)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity	3,625,326	3,826,198
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	3,625,326	3,826,198
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	13,471,712	12,482,813
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	10,645	13,054		12,987	12,204
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	416,709	452,722
Broadcast rights	183,435	157,538
Income taxes receivable	2,593	42,816
Prepaid expenses	34,163	44,817
Other	3,088	3,818
Total current assets	650,633	714,765
Property, plant and equipment	585,815	662,094
Accumulated depreciation	(176,384)	(144,089)
Net properties	409,431	518,005
Investments in subsidiaries	102,003	104,432
Broadcast rights	174,010	203,376
Goodwill	3,508,718	3,508,718
Other intangible assets, net	1,955,221	2,091,010
Assets held for sale	17,878	206,422
Investments	1,629,465	1,659,029
Intercompany receivables	5,445,408	4,265,957
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	83,650	117,124	[2]
Total other assets	12,814,350	12,051,636
Total Assets	13,976,417	13,388,838
Accounts payable	27,043	24,153
Debt due within one year	0	0	[2]
Income taxes payable	64,269	2,700
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	249,585	233,660
Deferred revenue	40,453	39,654
Interest payable	0	0
Other	71,015	91,384
Total current liabilities	452,365	391,551
Long-term debt	0	0	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	27,000	27,000
Deferred income taxes	959,553	994,083
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	347,992	385,052
Contract intangible liability, net	25	13,772
Intercompany payables	1,809,972	1,397,981
Other	54,057	55,779
Total non-current liabilities	3,198,599	2,873,667
Total Liabilities	3,650,964	3,265,218
Common stock	0	0
Treasury stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	9,486,179	9,529,071
Retained (deficit) earnings	847,621	600,853
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(8,347)	(6,304)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity	10,325,453	10,123,620
Noncontrolling interest	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	10,325,453	10,123,620
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	13,976,417	13,388,838
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	12,677	14,082		$ 11,779	$ 9,591
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	8,439	13,234
Broadcast rights	3,471	2,702
Income taxes receivable	171	22
Prepaid expenses	4,011	1,773
Other	255	351
Total current assets	29,024	32,164
Property, plant and equipment	113,341	108,655
Accumulated depreciation	(7,484)	(6,105)
Net properties	105,857	102,550
Investments in subsidiaries	0	0
Broadcast rights	102	46
Goodwill	54,804	53,094
Other intangible assets, net	137,704	149,189
Assets held for sale	0	0
Investments	17,895	15,395
Intercompany receivables	357,751	331,873
Intercompany loan receivable	0	0
Other assets	6,535	5,167	[2]
Total other assets	574,791	554,764
Total Assets	709,672	689,478
Accounts payable	3,737	6,654
Debt due within one year	3,999	3,988	[2]
Income taxes payable	0	758
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	3,674	3,016
Deferred revenue	4,579	5,067
Interest payable	2	2
Other	4,214	5,862
Total current liabilities	20,205	25,347
Long-term debt	11,769	14,736	[2]
Intercompany loan payable	0	0
Deferred income taxes	172,294	177,251
Contracts payable for broadcast rights	104	55
Contract intangible liability, net	0	0
Intercompany payables	250,975	108,341
Other	1,608	2,491
Total non-current liabilities	436,750	302,874
Total Liabilities	456,955	328,221
Common stock	0	0
Treasury stock	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	289,818	288,814
Retained (deficit) earnings	(36,051)	77,498
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	(6,719)	(10,579)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity	247,048	355,733
Noncontrolling interest	5,669	5,524
Total shareholders’ equity	252,717	361,257
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity	$ 709,672	$ 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.