Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 1,294,249	$ 1,063,041	$ 795,438
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		16,607	16,607	16,607
Accounts receivable, net		405,007	416,938
Broadcast rights		87,645	98,269
Income taxes receivable		17,625	23,922
Prepaid expenses		26,112	19,444
Other		7,559	7,509
Total current assets		1,854,804	1,645,730
Property, plant and equipment		636,908	687,377
Accumulated depreciation		(277,919)	(266,078)
Net properties		358,989	421,299
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		82,132	95,876
Operating lease right-of-use assets		151,485	0
Goodwill		3,228,436	3,228,601
Other intangible assets, net		1,405,559	1,442,456
Assets held for sale	[1]	60,177	0
Investments		1,136,553	1,264,437
Intercompany receivables		0	0
Other		141,999	152,992
Total other assets		6,206,341	6,184,362
Total Assets (1)	[2]	8,420,134	8,251,391
Accounts payable		43,605	44,897
Income taxes payable		101,856	9,973
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		220,255	232,687
Deferred revenue		12,679	12,508
Interest payable		14,509	30,086
Operating lease liabilities		24,230	0
Other		85,703	121,642
Total current liabilities		502,837	451,793
Long-term debt		2,927,791	2,926,083
Deferred income taxes		515,764	573,924
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		201,525	233,275
Operating lease liabilities		143,798	0
Intercompany payables		0	0
Other obligations		502,654	543,219
Total non-current liabilities		4,291,532	4,276,501
Total Liabilities (1)	[2]	4,794,369	4,728,294
Common stock		102	102
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,194)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,035,660	4,031,233
Retained earnings (deficit)		327,401	223,734
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(110,579)	(104,967)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		3,620,390	3,517,908
Noncontrolling interests		5,375	5,189
Total shareholders’ equity		3,625,765	3,523,097	3,345,135	$ 3,217,180
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		8,420,134	8,251,391
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		(11,116,055)	(10,959,195)
Broadcast rights		0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets		0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Assets held for sale		0
Investments		0	0
Intercompany receivables		(11,536,053)	(11,006,702)
Other		(65,839)	(61,210)
Total other assets		(11,601,892)	(11,067,912)
Total Assets (1)		(22,717,947)	(22,027,107)
Accounts payable		0	0
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		0	0
Operating lease liabilities		0
Other		0	0
Total current liabilities		0	0
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		(65,839)	(61,210)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Operating lease liabilities		0
Intercompany payables		(11,536,053)	(11,006,702)
Other obligations		0	0
Total non-current liabilities		(11,601,892)	(11,067,912)
Total Liabilities (1)		(11,601,892)	(11,067,912)
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		(9,221,800)	(9,221,800)
Retained earnings (deficit)		(1,895,876)	(1,738,688)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		1,621	1,293
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		(11,116,055)	(10,959,195)
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		(11,116,055)	(10,959,195)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		(22,717,947)	(22,027,107)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		1,289,528	1,058,961	791,604
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		16,607	16,607	16,607
Accounts receivable, net		663	323
Broadcast rights		0	0
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Prepaid expenses		13,436	6,992
Other		5,804	6,201
Total current assets		1,326,038	1,089,084
Property, plant and equipment		45,728	45,684
Accumulated depreciation		(33,663)	(31,920)
Net properties		12,065	13,764
Investments in subsidiaries		11,056,727	10,899,707
Broadcast rights		0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets		8,157
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Assets held for sale		0
Investments		850	850
Intercompany receivables		3,092,697	2,987,672
Other		62,883	69,856
Total other assets		3,164,587	3,058,378
Total Assets (1)		15,559,417	15,060,933
Accounts payable		21,969	23,051
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		14,509	30,086
Operating lease liabilities		1,740
Other		38,798	44,702
Total current liabilities		77,016	97,839
Long-term debt		2,927,791	2,926,083
Deferred income taxes		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Operating lease liabilities		8,593
Intercompany payables		8,534,851	8,121,544
Other obligations		390,776	397,559
Total non-current liabilities		11,862,011	11,445,186
Total Liabilities (1)		11,939,027	11,543,025
Common stock		102	102
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,194)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,035,660	4,031,233
Retained earnings (deficit)		327,401	223,734
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(110,579)	(104,967)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		3,620,390	3,517,908
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		3,620,390	3,517,908
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		15,559,417	15,060,933
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		1,596	904	1,133
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0	0
Accounts receivable, net		403,777	415,836
Broadcast rights		86,323	96,308
Income taxes receivable		17,625	23,922
Prepaid expenses		12,313	12,139
Other		1,229	1,305
Total current assets		522,863	550,414
Property, plant and equipment		561,686	612,282
Accumulated depreciation		(242,534)	(232,469)
Net properties		319,152	379,813
Investments in subsidiaries		59,328	59,488
Broadcast rights		81,783	95,482
Operating lease right-of-use assets		143,184
Goodwill		3,220,300	3,220,300
Other intangible assets, net		1,341,225	1,375,180
Assets held for sale		60,177
Investments		1,126,887	1,233,522
Intercompany receivables		6,968,783	6,571,444
Other		137,228	141,117
Total other assets		13,079,567	12,637,045
Total Assets (1)		13,980,910	13,626,760
Accounts payable		20,274	20,357
Income taxes payable		101,856	9,973
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		218,727	230,501
Deferred revenue		11,784	11,639
Interest payable		0	0
Operating lease liabilities		22,455
Other		46,026	76,694
Total current liabilities		421,122	349,164
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		581,603	570,933
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		201,143	232,850
Operating lease liabilities		135,096
Intercompany payables		2,285,191	2,176,908
Other obligations		87,930	121,497
Total non-current liabilities		3,290,963	3,102,188
Total Liabilities (1)		3,712,085	3,451,352
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		8,307,898	8,307,898
Retained earnings (deficit)		1,962,172	1,868,740
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(1,245)	(1,230)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		10,268,825	10,175,408
Noncontrolling interests		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		10,268,825	10,175,408
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		13,980,910	13,626,760
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		3,125	3,176	2,701
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0	$ 0
Accounts receivable, net		567	779
Broadcast rights		1,322	1,961
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Prepaid expenses		363	313
Other		526	3
Total current assets		5,903	6,232
Property, plant and equipment		29,494	29,411
Accumulated depreciation		(1,722)	(1,689)
Net properties		27,772	27,722
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		349	394
Operating lease right-of-use assets		144
Goodwill		8,136	8,301
Other intangible assets, net		64,334	67,276
Assets held for sale		0
Investments		8,816	30,065
Intercompany receivables		1,474,573	1,447,586
Other		7,727	3,229
Total other assets		1,564,079	1,556,851
Total Assets (1)		1,597,754	1,590,805
Accounts payable		1,362	1,489
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		1,528	2,186
Deferred revenue		895	869
Interest payable		0	0
Operating lease liabilities		35
Other		879	246
Total current liabilities		4,699	4,790
Long-term debt		0	0
Deferred income taxes		0	64,201
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		382	425
Operating lease liabilities		109
Intercompany payables		716,011	708,250
Other obligations		23,948	24,163
Total non-current liabilities		740,450	797,039
Total Liabilities (1)		745,149	801,829
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		913,902	913,902
Retained earnings (deficit)		(66,296)	(130,052)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(376)	(63)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		847,230	783,787
Noncontrolling interests		5,375	5,189
Total shareholders’ equity		852,605	788,976
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$ 1,597,754	$ 1,590,805

[1] (2)See Note 2 for information regarding assets held for sale.

[2] (1) The Company’s consolidated total assets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 include total assets of variable interest entities (“VIEs”) of $69 million and $73 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. The Company’s consolidated total liabilities as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $27 million and $28 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the Company (see Note 1).