ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS OF ASSETS - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				36 Months Ended
	Sep. 01, 2017 USD ($) station market	Jul. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2017 USD ($) station	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) station market	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) station market	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) station	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) station market	May 31, 2017 station market $ / shares shares
Acquisitions
Cash paid										$ 15,500	$ 704,500
Working capital adjustment											$ 2,300
Number of television stations owned | station						191		191			191
Number of markets | market						89		89			89
Increase to goodwill								$ 307	$ 40
Amortization period, weighted average useful life								14 years
Number of businesses acquired | station										1
Acquisition costs related to legal and other professioanl services								$ 1,100	1,400	$ 500
Broadcast incentive auction proceeds		$ 310,800
Gain (loss) recognized on sale						$ 225,300		225,300
Deferred spectrum auction proceeds						84,341		84,341	0		$ 84,341
Number of stations assigned new channels | station				98
Total legislation funds to reimburse stations				$ 1,750,000
Bonten
Acquisitions
Cash paid	$ 240,000
Working capital adjustment	$ 1,100
Number of television stations owned | station	14,000
Number of markets | market	8,000
Number of stations to which sales services were provided | station	4,000
Increase to property and equipment						4,300
Increase to definite-lived intangible assets						4,000
Decrease to indefinite-lived intangible assets						(7,900)
Increase to other long term liabilities						(8,700)
Increase to goodwill						$ 8,700
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired	$ 161,900
Goodwill, expected tax deductible amount	5,600
Other Acquisitions
Acquisitions
Cash paid								27,000
Working capital adjustment								2,700
Tennis Channel
Acquisitions
Cash paid					$ 350,000
Working capital adjustment					4,100
Other Acquisitions In 2016
Acquisitions
Cash paid									72,000
Working capital adjustment									100
Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												42,000,000
Number of markets | market												33,000,000
Acquisition costs related to legal and other professioanl services								$ 20,500
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Disposals in 2016
Acquisitions
Value of consideration given, non-cash									23,800
Gain on sale of broadcast assets									$ 4,400
Disposal Group, Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations | Alarm Funding Associates
Acquisitions
Sales agreement price			$ 200,000
Working capital and transaction costs from sale			5,000
Gain recognized on sale of broadcast assets			53,000
Gain (loss) on disposal, attributable to non-controlling interest			$ 12,300
Network affiliations | Bonten
Acquisitions
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired	53,300
Other intangible assets | Bonten
Acquisitions
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired	$ 108,600
Network Affiliations and Other Intangible Assets | Bonten
Acquisitions
Amortization period, weighted average useful life	14 years
Customer relationships | Tennis Channel
Acquisitions
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired					$ 272,700
Amortization period, weighted average useful life					15 years
Tribune Media Company, Stockholders | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Share price, consideration transferred (in dollars per share) | $ / shares												$ 35.00
Class A Common Stock | Tribune Media Company, Stockholders | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Share conversion rate, consideration transferred (in shares) | shares												0.23
FOX | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												14
CW | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												12
CBS | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												6
ABC | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												3
NBC | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												2
MyNetworkTV | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												3
Independent Station | Tribune Media Company
Acquisitions
Number of television stations owned | station												2
Scenario, Forecast
Acquisitions
Total capital expenditure							$ 69,000