Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements - Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 1,063,041	$ 673,685	$ 577,658
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		16,607	17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		416,938	420,095
Broadcast rights		98,269	129,174
Income taxes receivable		23,922	18,274
Prepaid expenses		19,444	20,158
Other		7,509	14,039
Total current assets		1,645,730	1,292,991
Property, plant and equipment		687,377	673,682
Accumulated depreciation		(266,078)	(233,387)
Net properties		421,299	440,295
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		95,876	133,683
Goodwill		3,228,601	3,228,988	3,227,930
Other intangible assets, net		1,442,456	1,613,665
Assets held for sale	[1]	0	38,900
Investments		1,264,437	1,281,791
Intercompany receivables		0	0
Other		152,992	139,015
Total other assets		6,184,362	6,436,042
Total Assets	[2]	8,251,391	8,169,328
Accounts payable		44,897	48,319
Income taxes payable		9,973	36,252
Contract payable for broadcast rights		232,687	253,244
Deferred revenue		12,508	11,942
Interest payable		30,086	30,525
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds		0	172,102
Other		121,642	101,883
Total current liabilities		451,793	654,267
Long-term debt		2,926,083	2,919,185
Deferred income taxes		573,924	508,174
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		233,275	300,420
Intercompany payables		0	0
Other		543,219	570,102
Total non-current liabilities		4,276,501	4,297,881
Total Liabilities	[2]	4,728,294	4,952,148
Common Stock		102	101
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,194)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,031,233	4,011,530
Retained earnings (deficit)		223,734	(114,240)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(104,967)	(48,061)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)		3,517,908	3,217,136
Noncontrolling interests		5,189	44
Total shareholders’ equity		3,523,097	3,217,180	3,545,683	$ 3,831,722
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		8,251,391	8,169,328
Consolidation, 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		(10,959,195)	(10,453,558)
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Assets held for sale			0
Investments		0	0
Intercompany receivables		(11,006,702)	(9,458,712)
Other		(61,210)	(62,477)
Total other assets		(11,067,912)	(9,521,189)
Total Assets		(22,027,107)	(19,974,747)
Accounts payable		0	0
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contract 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		(61,210)	(62,477)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		(11,006,702)	(9,458,712)
Other		0	0
Total non-current liabilities		(11,067,912)	(9,521,189)
Total Liabilities		(11,067,912)	(9,521,189)
Common Stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		(9,221,800)	(9,243,007)
Retained earnings (deficit)		(1,738,688)	(1,212,507)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		1,293	1,956
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)		(10,959,195)	(10,453,558)
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		(10,959,195)	(10,453,558)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		(22,027,107)	(19,974,747)
Parent Company | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		1,058,961	670,302	574,638
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		16,607	17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		323	143
Broadcast rights		0	0
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Prepaid expenses		6,992	8,647
Other		6,201	12,487
Total current assets		1,089,084	709,145
Property, plant and equipment		45,684	58,622
Accumulated depreciation		(31,920)	(29,505)
Net properties		13,764	29,117
Investments in subsidiaries		10,899,707	10,378,948
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Assets held for sale			0
Investments		850	850
Intercompany receivables		2,987,672	2,520,570
Other		69,856	65,743
Total other assets		3,058,378	2,587,163
Total Assets		15,060,933	13,704,373
Accounts payable		23,051	24,529
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contract payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		30,086	30,525
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			0
Other		44,702	44,817
Total current liabilities		97,839	99,871
Long-term debt		2,926,083	2,919,185
Deferred income taxes		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		8,121,544	7,044,972
Other		397,559	423,209
Total non-current liabilities		11,445,186	10,387,366
Total Liabilities		11,543,025	10,487,237
Common Stock		102	101
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,194)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,031,233	4,011,530
Retained earnings (deficit)		223,734	(114,240)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(104,967)	(48,061)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)		3,517,908	3,217,136
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		3,517,908	3,217,136
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		15,060,933	13,704,373
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		904	1,501	720
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net		415,836	417,847
Broadcast rights		96,308	126,668
Income taxes receivable		23,922	18,274
Prepaid expenses		12,139	11,245
Other		1,305	1,552
Total current assets		550,414	577,087
Property, plant and equipment		612,282	557,394
Accumulated depreciation		(232,469)	(196,644)
Net properties		379,813	360,750
Investments in subsidiaries		59,488	74,610
Broadcast rights		95,482	133,567
Goodwill		3,220,300	3,220,300
Other intangible assets, net		1,375,180	1,534,761
Assets held for sale			38,900
Investments		1,233,522	1,239,392
Intercompany receivables		6,571,444	5,557,638
Other		141,117	135,316
Total other assets		12,637,045	11,859,874
Total Assets		13,626,760	12,872,321
Accounts payable		20,357	22,487
Income taxes payable		9,973	36,252
Contract payable for broadcast rights		230,501	250,553
Deferred revenue		11,639	11,074
Interest payable		0	0
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			172,102
Other		76,694	57,063
Total current liabilities		349,164	549,531
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		570,933	496,895
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		232,850	300,269
Intercompany payables		2,176,908	1,735,112
Other		121,497	121,870
Total non-current liabilities		3,102,188	2,654,146
Total Liabilities		3,451,352	3,203,677
Common Stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		8,307,898	8,318,503
Retained earnings (deficit)		1,868,740	1,351,079
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(1,230)	(938)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)		10,175,408	9,668,644
Noncontrolling interests		0
Total shareholders’ equity		10,175,408	9,668,644
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		13,626,760	12,872,321
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		3,176	1,882	2,300
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net		779	2,105
Broadcast rights		1,961	2,506
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Prepaid expenses		313	266
Other		3	0
Total current assets		6,232	6,759
Property, plant and equipment		29,411	57,666
Accumulated depreciation		(1,689)	(7,238)
Net properties		27,722	50,428
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		394	116
Goodwill		8,301	8,688
Other intangible assets, net		67,276	78,904
Assets held for sale			0
Investments		30,065	41,549
Intercompany receivables		1,447,586	1,380,504
Other		3,229	433
Total other assets		1,556,851	1,510,194
Total Assets		1,590,805	1,567,381
Accounts payable		1,489	1,303
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contract payable for broadcast rights		2,186	2,691
Deferred revenue		869	868
Interest payable		0	0
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds			0
Other		246	3
Total current liabilities		4,790	4,865
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		64,201	73,756
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		425	151
Intercompany payables		708,250	678,628
Other		24,163	25,023
Total non-current liabilities		797,039	777,558
Total Liabilities		801,829	782,423
Common Stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		913,902	924,504
Retained earnings (deficit)		(130,052)	(138,572)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(63)	(1,018)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity (deficit)		783,787	784,914
Noncontrolling interests		5,189	44
Total shareholders’ equity		788,976	784,958
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$ 1,590,805	$ 1,567,381

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

[2] The Company’s consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 include total assets of variable interest entities (“VIEs”) of $73 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 December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $28 million and $29 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the Company (see Note 1).