Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 602,739	$ 577,658	$ 643,698	$ 262,644
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		390,472	429,112
Broadcast rights		148,976	157,817
Income taxes receivable		14,994	9,056
Current assets of discontinued operations		0	62,605
Prepaid expenses		22,617	35,862
Other		8,677	6,624
Total current assets		1,206,041	1,296,300
Property, plant and equipment		654,872	711,068
Accumulated depreciation		(224,306)	(187,148)
Net properties		430,566	523,920
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		144,303	153,457
Goodwill		3,228,869	3,227,930
Other intangible assets, net		1,655,467	1,819,134
Non-current assets of discontinued operations		0	608,153
Assets held for sale	[1]	93,188	17,176
Investments		1,273,857	1,674,883
Intercompany receivables		0	0
Intercompany loan receivable			0
Other assets		141,790	80,098
Total other assets		6,537,474	7,580,831
Total Assets (1)	[2]	8,174,081	9,401,051
Accounts payable		42,215	60,553
Debt due within one year		0	19,924
Income taxes payable		71,741	21,166
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		273,176	241,255
Deferred revenue		12,565	13,690
Interest payable		14,095	30,305
Current liabilities of discontinued operations		0	54,284
Other		273,016	109,676
Total current liabilities		686,808	550,853
Long-term debt		2,917,454	3,391,627
Intercompany loan payable			0
Deferred income taxes		759,167	984,248
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		326,654	314,840
Intercompany payables		0	0
Other		594,621	518,486
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations		0	95,314
Total non-current liabilities		4,597,896	5,304,515
Total Liabilities (1)	[2]	5,284,704	5,855,368
Common stock		101	100
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,207)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,028,524	4,561,760
Retained (deficit) earnings		(443,042)	(308,105)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(71,247)	(81,782)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		2,882,142	3,539,766
Noncontrolling interest		7,235	5,917
Total shareholders’ equity		2,889,377	3,545,683
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		8,174,081	9,401,051
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
Current assets of discontinued operations			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		(10,045,296)	(10,609,030)
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			0
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		0	0
Intercompany receivables		(9,224,633)	(8,232,637)
Intercompany loan receivable			(27,000)
Other assets		(121,319)	(49,279)
Total other assets		(9,345,952)	(8,308,916)
Total Assets (1)		(19,391,248)	(18,917,946)
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
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Other		0	0
Total current liabilities		0	0
Long-term debt		0	0
Intercompany loan payable			(27,000)
Deferred income taxes		(121,319)	(49,279)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		(9,224,633)	(8,232,637)
Other		0	0
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Total non-current liabilities		(9,345,952)	(8,308,916)
Total Liabilities (1)		(9,345,952)	(8,308,916)
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		(9,242,645)	(9,775,997)
Retained (deficit) earnings		(804,867)	(854,127)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		2,216	21,094
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		(10,045,296)	(10,609,030)
Noncontrolling interest		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		(10,045,296)	(10,609,030)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		(19,391,248)	(18,917,946)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		598,258	574,638	620,376	235,508
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		291	198
Broadcast rights		0	0
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Current assets of discontinued operations			0
Prepaid expenses		10,950	11,640
Other		6,761	4,894
Total current assets		633,826	608,936
Property, plant and equipment		58,856	55,529
Accumulated depreciation		(30,252)	(21,635)
Net properties		28,604	33,894
Investments in subsidiaries		9,989,160	10,502,544
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			0
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		11,540	19,079
Intercompany receivables		2,443,253	2,326,261
Intercompany loan receivable			27,000
Other assets		124,739	51,479
Total other assets		2,579,532	2,423,819
Total Assets (1)		13,231,122	13,569,193
Accounts payable		22,537	29,827
Debt due within one year		0	15,921
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		14,095	30,301
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Other		49,059	38,867
Total current liabilities		85,691	114,916
Long-term debt		2,917,454	3,380,860
Intercompany loan payable			0
Deferred income taxes		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		6,892,059	6,065,424
Other		453,776	468,227
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Total non-current liabilities		10,263,289	9,914,511
Total Liabilities (1)		10,348,980	10,029,427
Common stock		101	100
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,207)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,028,524	4,561,760
Retained (deficit) earnings		(443,042)	(308,105)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(71,247)	(81,782)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		2,882,142	3,539,766
Noncontrolling interest		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		2,882,142	3,539,766
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		13,231,122	13,569,193
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		1,806	720	10,645	13,054
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0
Accounts receivable, net		390,181	428,254
Broadcast rights		145,582	155,266
Income taxes receivable		14,994	9,056
Current assets of discontinued operations			37,300
Prepaid expenses		11,458	24,074
Other		1,916	1,729
Total current assets		565,937	656,399
Property, plant and equipment		484,122	547,601
Accumulated depreciation		(187,101)	(159,472)
Net properties		297,021	388,129
Investments in subsidiaries		56,136	106,486
Broadcast rights		144,152	153,374
Goodwill		3,220,300	3,220,300
Other intangible assets, net		1,573,824	1,729,829
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			514,200
Assets held for sale		93,188	17,176
Investments		1,245,227	1,637,909
Intercompany receivables		6,419,210	5,547,542
Intercompany loan receivable			0
Other assets		137,998	75,191
Total other assets		12,833,899	12,895,521
Total Assets (1)		13,752,993	14,046,535
Accounts payable		18,511	29,703
Debt due within one year		0	0
Income taxes payable		71,741	21,130
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		269,632	238,497
Deferred revenue		12,072	13,593
Interest payable		0	0
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			44,763
Other		223,532	70,589
Total current liabilities		595,488	418,275
Long-term debt		0	0
Intercompany loan payable			27,000
Deferred income taxes		736,506	871,923
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		326,455	314,755
Intercompany payables		2,067,198	1,912,259
Other		120,533	50,239
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			86,517
Total non-current liabilities		3,250,692	3,262,693
Total Liabilities (1)		3,846,180	3,680,968
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		9,039,884	9,486,179
Retained (deficit) earnings		869,641	888,088
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(2,712)	(8,700)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		9,906,813	10,365,567
Noncontrolling interest		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		9,906,813	10,365,567
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		13,752,993	14,046,535
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		2,675	2,300	$ 12,677	$ 14,082
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0
Accounts receivable, net		0	660
Broadcast rights		3,394	2,551
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Current assets of discontinued operations			25,305
Prepaid expenses		209	148
Other		0	1
Total current assets		6,278	30,965
Property, plant and equipment		111,894	107,938
Accumulated depreciation		(6,953)	(6,041)
Net properties		104,941	101,897
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		151	83
Goodwill		8,569	7,630
Other intangible assets, net		81,643	89,305
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			93,953
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		17,090	17,895
Intercompany receivables		362,170	358,834
Intercompany loan receivable			0
Other assets		372	2,707
Total other assets		469,995	570,407
Total Assets (1)		581,214	703,269
Accounts payable		1,167	1,023
Debt due within one year		0	4,003
Income taxes payable		0	36
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		3,544	2,758
Deferred revenue		493	97
Interest payable		0	4
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			9,521
Other		425	220
Total current liabilities		5,629	17,662
Long-term debt		0	10,767
Intercompany loan payable			0
Deferred income taxes		143,980	161,604
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		199	85
Intercompany payables		265,376	254,954
Other		20,312	20
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			8,797
Total non-current liabilities		429,867	436,227
Total Liabilities (1)		435,496	453,889
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		202,761	289,818
Retained (deficit) earnings		(64,774)	(33,961)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		496	(12,394)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		138,483	243,463
Noncontrolling interest		7,235	5,917
Total shareholders’ equity		145,718	249,380
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$ 581,214	$ 703,269

[1] (4)See Note 4 for information regarding assets held for sale.

[2] (1) The Company’s consolidated total assets as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 include total assets of variable interest entities (“VIEs”) of $101 million and $97 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. The Company’s consolidated total liabilities as of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $25 million and $3 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the Company (see Note 1).