COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details) $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 29, 2016	Jul. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2017 USD ($) station	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) station	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) station	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 06, 2016 station
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Period subject to ongoing compliance monitoring by the FCC	36 months
Net revenue | $				$ 670,891	$ 693,835	$ 2,000,115	$ 1,939,258
FCC national ownership cap, percentage of domestic households reached								39.00%
Number of television stations owned and operated				192		192
Broadcast incentive auction, proceeds | $		$ 310,800
Number of stations assigned new channels			98
Broadcast incentive auction, total legislation funds to reimburse stations | $			$ 1,750,000
FCC Consent Decree Settlement
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Number of television stations owned and operated								34
Percentage of domestic households reached, UHF discount applied								25.00%
LMA
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Number of separately owned television stations having programming agreement						2
Number of stations that programs substantial portions of broadcast day and sells advertising time						1
Joint Sales Agreements
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Net revenue | $				$ 15,900	$ 16,000	$ 45,100	$ 42,500