Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Operating Revenues	[1]	$ 498,008	$ 450,533	$ 1,431,001	$ 1,359,960
Programming and direct operating expenses		262,961	297,537	675,542	791,614
Selling, general and administrative		142,747	126,507	400,581	439,350
Depreciation and amortization		55,176	55,941	165,600	166,762
Gain on sales of spectrum		0	0	(133,197)	0
Total operating expenses		460,884	479,985	1,108,526	1,397,726
Operating Profit (Loss)	[1],[2]	37,124	(29,452)	322,475	(37,766)
Income on equity investments, net		32,381	21,058	124,086	98,856
Interest and dividend income		3,239	827	7,473	1,880
Interest expense		(42,842)	(40,389)	(125,463)	(119,332)
Pension and other postretirement periodic benefit credit, net		7,035	5,703	21,104	17,111
Loss on extinguishments and modification of debt		0	(1,435)	0	(20,487)
(Loss) gain on investment transactions, net		(5,001)	5,667	(1,113)	10,617
Write-downs of investment		0	0	0	(180,800)
Other non-operating items, net		(282)	(753)	(1,769)	(1,407)
Intercompany income (charges)		0	0	0	0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes		31,654	(38,774)	346,793	(231,328)
Income tax (benefit) expense		(22,422)	(20,087)	67,096	(81,606)
Equity (deficit) in earnings of consolidated subsidiaries, net of taxes		0	0	0	0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations		54,076	(18,687)	279,697	(149,722)
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, net of taxes		0	0	0	15,039
Net Income (Loss)		54,076	(18,687)	279,697	(134,683)
Net loss from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests		23	0	33	0
Net Income (Loss) attributable to Tribune Media Company		54,099	(18,687)	279,730	(134,683)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)		57,988	(18,062)	290,680	(124,148)
Eliminations
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Operating Revenues		0	0	0	0
Programming and direct operating expenses		0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative		0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization		0	0	0	0
Gain on sales of spectrum				0
Total operating expenses		0	0	0	0
Operating Profit (Loss)		0	0	0	0
Income on equity investments, net		0	0	0	0
Interest and dividend income		0	0	0	0
Interest expense		0	0	0	0
Pension and other postretirement periodic benefit credit, net		0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishments and modification of debt			0		0
(Loss) gain on investment transactions, net		0	0	0	0
Write-downs of investment					0
Other non-operating items, net		0	0	0	0
Intercompany income (charges)		0	0	0	0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes		0	0	0	0
Income tax (benefit) expense		0	0	0	0
Equity (deficit) in earnings of consolidated subsidiaries, net of taxes		(85,812)	(11,717)	(381,619)	48,164
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations		(85,812)	(11,717)	(381,619)	48,164
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, net of taxes		0	0	0	1,097
Net Income (Loss)		(85,812)		(381,619)
Net loss from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		0
Net Income (Loss) attributable to Tribune Media Company		(85,812)	(11,717)	(381,619)	49,261
Comprehensive Income (Loss)		(87,233)	(12,300)	(382,773)	30,383
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Operating Revenues		0	0	0	0
Programming and direct operating expenses		0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative		29,577	25,955	72,011	100,188
Depreciation and amortization		1,924	2,902	6,397	8,788
Gain on sales of spectrum				0
Total operating expenses		31,501	28,857	78,408	108,976
Operating Profit (Loss)		(31,501)	(28,857)	(78,408)	(108,976)
Income on equity investments, net		0	(482)	0	(1,521)
Interest and dividend income		3,239	813	7,473	1,829
Interest expense		(42,842)	(40,313)	(125,463)	(118,929)
Pension and other postretirement periodic benefit credit, net		7,035	5,703	21,104	17,111
Loss on extinguishments and modification of debt			(1,384)		(20,436)
(Loss) gain on investment transactions, net		0	(143)	0	4,807
Write-downs of investment					0
Other non-operating items, net		(282)	(753)	(1,769)	(1,407)
Intercompany income (charges)		12,413	19,221	37,238	66,907
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes		(51,938)	(46,195)	(139,825)	(160,615)
Income tax (benefit) expense		(20,046)	(15,668)	(37,221)	(56,260)
Equity (deficit) in earnings of consolidated subsidiaries, net of taxes		85,991	11,840	382,334	(45,367)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations		54,099	(18,687)	279,730	(149,722)
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, net of taxes		0	0	0	15,039
Net Income (Loss)		54,099		279,730
Net loss from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		0
Net Income (Loss) attributable to Tribune Media Company		54,099	(18,687)	279,730	(134,683)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)		57,988	(18,062)	290,680	(124,148)
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Operating Revenues		495,180	448,248	1,422,620	1,352,933
Programming and direct operating expenses		262,352	296,987	673,567	785,816
Selling, general and administrative		112,388	99,673	326,324	336,566
Depreciation and amortization		50,410	49,902	150,291	148,591
Gain on sales of spectrum				(133,197)
Total operating expenses		425,150	446,562	1,016,985	1,270,973
Operating Profit (Loss)		70,030	1,686	405,635	81,960
Income on equity investments, net		32,381	21,540	124,086	100,377
Interest and dividend income		0	14	0	51
Interest expense		0	0	0	0
Pension and other postretirement periodic benefit credit, net		0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishments and modification of debt			0		0
(Loss) gain on investment transactions, net		(5,001)	5,810	(1,113)	5,810
Write-downs of investment					(180,800)
Other non-operating items, net		0	0	0	0
Intercompany income (charges)		(12,378)	(19,179)	(37,133)	(66,756)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes		85,032	9,871	491,475	(59,358)
Income tax (benefit) expense		1,357	(3,562)	108,965	(21,035)
Equity (deficit) in earnings of consolidated subsidiaries, net of taxes		(179)	(123)	(715)	(2,797)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations		83,496	13,310	381,795	(41,120)
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, net of taxes		0	0	0	(1,904)
Net Income (Loss)		83,496		381,795
Net loss from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		0
Net Income (Loss) attributable to Tribune Media Company		83,496	13,310	381,795	(43,024)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)		85,019	13,374	383,486	(37,036)
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Statement of Income Captions [Line Items]
Operating Revenues		2,828	2,285	8,381	7,027
Programming and direct operating expenses		609	550	1,975	5,798
Selling, general and administrative		782	879	2,246	2,596
Depreciation and amortization		2,842	3,137	8,912	9,383
Gain on sales of spectrum				0
Total operating expenses		4,233	4,566	13,133	17,777
Operating Profit (Loss)		(1,405)	(2,281)	(4,752)	(10,750)
Income on equity investments, net		0	0	0	0
Interest and dividend income		0	0	0	0
Interest expense		0	(76)	0	(403)
Pension and other postretirement periodic benefit credit, net		0	0	0	0
Loss on extinguishments and modification of debt			(51)		(51)
(Loss) gain on investment transactions, net		0	0	0	0
Write-downs of investment					0
Other non-operating items, net		0	0	0	0
Intercompany income (charges)		(35)	(42)	(105)	(151)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations Before Income Taxes		(1,440)	(2,450)	(4,857)	(11,355)
Income tax (benefit) expense		(3,733)	(857)	(4,648)	(4,311)
Equity (deficit) in earnings of consolidated subsidiaries, net of taxes		0	0	0	0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations		2,293	(1,593)	(209)	(7,044)
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, net of taxes		0	0	0	807
Net Income (Loss)		2,293		(209)
Net loss from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests		23		33
Net Income (Loss) attributable to Tribune Media Company		2,316	(1,593)	(176)	(6,237)
Comprehensive Income (Loss)		$ 2,214	$ (1,074)	$ (713)	$ 6,653

[1] (1)See Note 2 for the disclosures of operating revenues and operating loss included in discontinued operations for the historical periods.

[2] (2)Operating profit (loss) for each segment excludes income and loss on equity investments, interest and dividend income, interest expense, pension and other postretirement period benefit cost (credit), non-operating items, reorganization costs and income taxes.