Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 887,751	$ 673,685	$ 602,739
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		16,607	17,566	17,566	$ 17,566
Accounts receivable, net		393,174	420,095
Broadcast rights		105,447	129,174
Income taxes receivable		57,197	18,274
Prepaid expenses		27,936	20,158
Other		11,957	14,039
Total current assets		1,500,069	1,292,991
Property, plant and equipment		667,920	673,682
Accumulated depreciation		(260,301)	(233,387)
Net properties		407,619	440,295
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		113,162	133,683
Goodwill		3,228,716	3,228,988
Other intangible assets, net		1,487,534	1,613,665
Assets held for sale	[1]	28,955	38,900
Investments		1,231,873	1,281,791
Intercompany receivables		0	0
Other assets		163,565	139,015
Total other assets		6,253,805	6,436,042
Total Assets (1)	[2]	8,161,493	8,169,328
Accounts payable		41,955	48,319
Income taxes payable		8,452	36,252
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		264,609	253,244
Deferred revenue		13,993	11,942
Interest payable		14,473	30,525
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds		0	172,102
Other		103,894	101,883
Total current liabilities		447,376	654,267
Long-term debt		2,924,340	2,919,185
Deferred income taxes		581,079	508,174
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		259,671	300,420
Intercompany payables		0	0
Other		490,469	570,102
Total non-current liabilities		4,255,559	4,297,881
Total Liabilities (1)	[2]	4,702,935	4,952,148
Common stock		102	101
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,194)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,023,769	4,011,530
Retained earnings (deficit)		98,795	(114,240)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(37,111)	(48,061)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		3,453,361	3,217,136
Noncontrolling interests		5,197	44
Total shareholders’ equity		3,458,558	3,217,180
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		8,161,493	8,169,328
Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		0	0	0
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	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		(10,839,046)	(10,453,558)
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		0	0
Intercompany receivables		(10,567,838)	(9,458,712)
Other assets		(43,289)	(62,477)
Total other assets		(10,611,127)	(9,521,189)
Total Assets (1)		(21,450,173)	(19,974,747)
Accounts payable		0	0
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		0	0
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			0
Other		0	0
Total current liabilities		0	0
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		(43,289)	(62,477)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		(10,567,838)	(9,458,712)
Other		0	0
Total non-current liabilities		(10,611,127)	(9,521,189)
Total Liabilities (1)		(10,611,127)	(9,521,189)
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		(9,245,721)	(9,243,007)
Retained earnings (deficit)		(1,594,127)	(1,212,507)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		802	1,956
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		(10,839,046)	(10,453,558)
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		(10,839,046)	(10,453,558)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		(21,450,173)	(19,974,747)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		881,201	670,302	598,258
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		16,607	17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		180	143
Broadcast rights		0	0
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Prepaid expenses		13,132	8,647
Other		5,310	12,487
Total current assets		916,430	709,145
Property, plant and equipment		45,289	58,622
Accumulated depreciation		(30,085)	(29,505)
Net properties		15,204	29,117
Investments in subsidiaries		10,763,794	10,378,948
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		850	850
Intercompany receivables		2,850,022	2,520,570
Other assets		63,239	65,743
Total other assets		2,914,111	2,587,163
Total Assets (1)		14,609,539	13,704,373
Accounts payable		20,679	24,529
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		14,473	30,525
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			0
Other		41,546	44,817
Total current liabilities		76,698	99,871
Long-term debt		2,924,340	2,919,185
Deferred income taxes		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		7,810,885	7,044,972
Other		344,255	423,209
Total non-current liabilities		11,079,480	10,387,366
Total Liabilities (1)		11,156,178	10,487,237
Common stock		102	101
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,194)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,023,769	4,011,530
Retained earnings (deficit)		98,795	(114,240)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(37,111)	(48,061)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		3,453,361	3,217,136
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		3,453,361	3,217,136
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		14,609,539	13,704,373
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		3,394	1,501	1,806
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net		391,929	418,950
Broadcast rights		102,832	126,668
Income taxes receivable		57,197	18,274
Prepaid expenses		14,426	11,245
Other		1,196	1,552
Total current assets		570,974	578,190
Property, plant and equipment		593,503	557,394
Accumulated depreciation		(228,543)	(196,644)
Net properties		364,960	360,750
Investments in subsidiaries		75,252	74,610
Broadcast rights		112,720	133,567
Goodwill		3,220,300	3,220,300
Other intangible assets, net		1,417,344	1,534,761
Assets held for sale		0	38,900
Investments		1,210,546	1,258,851
Intercompany receivables		7,308,247	6,527,083
Other assets		142,616	135,373
Total other assets		13,411,773	12,848,835
Total Assets (1)		14,422,959	13,862,385
Accounts payable		19,842	22,487
Income taxes payable		8,452	36,252
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		261,761	250,553
Deferred revenue		13,127	11,074
Interest payable		0	0
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			172,102
Other		56,690	57,063
Total current liabilities		359,872	549,531
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		564,730	485,608
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		259,204	300,269
Intercompany payables		2,476,063	2,148,695
Other		121,834	121,870
Total non-current liabilities		3,421,831	3,056,442
Total Liabilities (1)		3,781,703	3,605,973
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		9,041,422	9,040,065
Retained earnings (deficit)		1,600,819	1,219,023
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(985)	(2,676)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		10,641,256	10,256,412
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		10,641,256	10,256,412
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		14,422,959	13,862,385
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		3,156	1,882	2,675
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net		1,065	1,002
Broadcast rights		2,615	2,506
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Prepaid expenses		378	266
Other		5,451	0
Total current assets		12,665	5,656
Property, plant and equipment		29,128	57,666
Accumulated depreciation		(1,673)	(7,238)
Net properties		27,455	50,428
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		442	116
Goodwill		8,416	8,688
Other intangible assets, net		70,190	78,904
Assets held for sale		28,955	0
Investments		20,477	22,090
Intercompany receivables		409,569	411,059
Other assets		999	376
Total other assets		539,048	521,233
Total Assets (1)		579,168	577,317
Accounts payable		1,434	1,303
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		2,848	2,691
Deferred revenue		866	868
Interest payable		0	0
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			0
Other		5,658	3
Total current liabilities		10,806	4,865
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		59,638	85,043
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		467	151
Intercompany payables		280,890	265,045
Other		24,380	25,023
Total non-current liabilities		365,375	375,262
Total Liabilities (1)		376,181	380,127
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		204,299	202,942
Retained earnings (deficit)		(6,692)	(6,516)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		183	720
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		197,790	197,146
Noncontrolling interests		5,197	44
Total shareholders’ equity		202,987	197,190
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$ 579,168	$ 577,317

[1] (3)See Note 3 for information regarding assets held for sale.

[2] (1) The Company’s consolidated total assets as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 include total assets of variable interest entities (“VIEs”) of $75 million and $81 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. The Company’s consolidated total liabilities as of both September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $29 million, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the Company (see Note 1).