Journal Broadcast Merger and Newspaper Spin-off (Discontinued Operations) (Details) employee in Thousands		12 Months Ended
	Apr. 01, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 30, 2014 employee
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Transition services agreement receivable, net		$ 2,000,000
Spinoff
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash dividend	$ 60,000,000
E. W. Scripps Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of employees | employee			4
2015 Journal acquisition
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash dividend	60,000,000
Proceeds from services provided to merger partner		3,300,000
Payments for services provided by merger partner		1,200,000
2015 Journal acquisition | Spinoff
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Impairment of long-lived assets, held-and-used		$ 0
Impairment of long-lived assets, held-for-sale	$ 30,000,000
2015 Journal acquisition | Television Operations
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of market capture			18.00%