Debt (Details)					3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Feb. 01, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 27, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 24, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)		Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	[1]	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 27, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 22, 2017	Jun. 23, 2015 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term Debt					$ 2,919,185,000								$ 2,926,083,000	$ 2,919,185,000
Payments of Debt Issuance Costs													0	1,689,000		$ 736,000
Repayments of long-term debt													0	703,527,000		27,842,000
Loss on extinguishments and modification of debt					0	[1]	$ (1,435,000)	[1]	$ 0		$ (19,052,000)	[1]	0	(20,487,000)	[1]	0
Federal Communications Commission Regulation, Proceeds Received From Auction														191,000,000
Dreamcatcher Stations
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt							12,600,000
Federal Communications Commission Regulation, Proceeds Received From Auction														26,000,000
Designated as Hedging Instrument | Interest Rate Swap | Cash Flow Hedging
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Derivative, Notional Amount		$ 500,000,000
Senior Secured Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Issuance of term loan				$ 4,073,000,000
Incremental facility cap				$ 1,000,000,000
Incremental facility leverage ratio				4.5
Standby letters of credit outstanding					21,000,000								20,000,000	21,000,000
Senior Notes 5.875% due 2022
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Period of Outstanding Principal Amount Prior to Maturity		91 days
Senior Notes 5.875% due 2022 | Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Issuance of term loan			$ 1,100,000,000
Long-term Debt					1,087,351,000								1,090,139,000	1,087,351,000
Debt instrument unamortized discount					12,649,000								9,861,000	12,649,000
Debt Instrument, Long-term Debt Amount to Extend Maturity		$ 600,000,000
Debt instrument interest rate, percent			5.875%
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price Terms July 15, 2018 to July 14, 2019, Percent of Principal Amount			102.938%
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price Terms, July 15, 2019 to July 14, 2020, Percent of Principal Amount			101.469%
Debt Instrument, Redemption Price Terms On or After July 15, 2020, Percent of Principal Amount			100.00%
Debt Instrument, Potential Repurchase Offer Price, Percent of Principal Amount			101.00%
Debt Instrument, Potential Purchase Offer Price, Percent of Principal Amount			100.00%
Debt Instrument, Consent Vote Percentage																		93.23%
Term Loan Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Issuance of term loan				$ 3,773,000,000
Long-term Debt																			$ 3,479,000,000
Payments of Debt Restructuring Costs														12,000,000
Debt instrument, unamortized discount and debt issuance costs					24,000,000								20,000,000	24,000,000
Term Loan Facility | Amended Secured Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument unamortized discount		6,000,000
Unamortized transaction costs		25,000,000
Repayments of long-term debt							102,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maximum borrowing capacity under credit facility		420,000,000		$ 300,000,000												$ 300,000,000	$ 338,000,000
Unamortized transaction costs		$ 2,000,000
Overdue amounts additional interest, percent				2.00%
Debt covenant, maximum leverage ratio for period two		5.25
Long-term Line of Credit					0								0	0
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Base Rate Floor		0.00%
Spread on variable rate, percent		3.00%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Federal Funds Effective Swap Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent		0.50%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Adjusted LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent		1.00%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent		2.00%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Commitment fee one, percent
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitment fee, percent				0.25%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Commitment fee two, percent
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitment fee, percent				0.375%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Commitment fee three, percent
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commitment fee, percent				0.50%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Minimum | Adjusted LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent				2.75%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Minimum | Alternative Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent				1.75%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Maximum | Adjusted LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent				3.00%
Revolving Credit Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Maximum | Alternative Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent				2.00%
Term B Loans Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Issuance of term loan		$ 600,000,000
Long-term Debt					$ 187,725,000								$ 188,357,000	$ 187,725,000
Debt instrument interest rate, percent					3.84%								3.84%	3.84%
Repayments of long-term debt							10,000,000
Debt instrument, unamortized discount and debt issuance costs					$ 1,900,000								$ 1,268,000	$ 1,900,000
Term B Loans Facility | Amended Secured Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term Debt			$ 2,379,000,000
Debt, advances by new lenders to the existing debt facility in debt modification			1,802,000,000
Early Repayment of Senior Debt			$ 1,100,000,000
Overdue amounts additional interest, percent			2.00%
Debt Instrument, Premium Payable on Voluntary Prepayments, Percent			1.00%
Debt payment terms, percent of excess cash flow, leverage ratio above threshold			50.00%
Debt payment terms, percent of excess cash flow, leverage ratio threshold			4.00
Debt payment terms, percent of excess cash flow, leverage ratio below threshold			0.00%
Debt Instrument, Prepayment Terms, Minimum Liquidity Threshold			$ 500,000,000
Repayments of long-term debt	$ 400,000,000
Write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs and discounts														7,000,000
Debt Instrument, Unamortized Discount Write-off on Extinguishment														2,000,000
Term B Loans Facility | Amended Secured Credit Facility | LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Base Rate Floor			0.75%
Spread on variable rate, percent			3.00%
Term B Loans Facility | Amended Secured Credit Facility | Federal Funds Effective Swap Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent			0.50%
Term B Loans Facility | Amended Secured Credit Facility | Adjusted LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent			1.00%
Term B Loans Facility | Amended Secured Credit Facility | Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent			2.00%
Letter of Credit | Senior Secured Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Fronting fee, percent				0.125%
Term C Loan Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term Debt		1,761,000,000			$ 1,644,109,000								$ 1,647,587,000	$ 1,644,109,000
Debt instrument unamortized discount		$ 4,000,000
Payments of Debt Issuance Costs											$ 13,000,000
Debt instrument interest rate, percent					3.85%								3.85%	3.85%
Debt Instrument, Percent to Trigger Required Testing		35.00%
Payment of debt issuance costs, deferred		$ 1,000,000
Repayments of long-term debt							$ 91,000,000
Debt instrument, unamortized discount and debt issuance costs					$ 21,783,000								$ 18,305,000	$ 21,783,000
Term C Loan Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Base Rate Floor		0.75%
Spread on variable rate, percent		3.00%
Term C Loan Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Federal Funds Effective Swap Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent		0.50%
Term C Loan Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Adjusted LIBOR
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent		1.00%
Term C Loan Facility | Senior Secured Credit Agreement | Base Rate
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Spread on variable rate, percent		2.00%

[1] See Note 3 to the Company’s consolidated financial statements for information pertaining to non-operating items recorded in 2018 and 2017.