RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended								3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2013 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2014 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2013 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham	Jun. 30, 2013 Cunningham	Mar. 31, 2013 Cunningham	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham	Jun. 30, 2013 Cunningham	Oct. 31, 2013 Cunningham	Nov. 05, 2009 Cunningham	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham Barrington stations	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham Barrington stations	Nov. 30, 2013 Cunningham Barrington stations	Jul. 31, 2014 Cunningham Allbritton Subsequent Event	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham LMA	Jun. 30, 2013 Cunningham LMA	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham LMA item station	Jun. 30, 2013 Cunningham LMA	Oct. 01, 2012 Cunningham LMA	Jul. 01, 2012 Cunningham LMA	Jan. 01, 2010 Cunningham LMA item	Jul. 31, 2014 Cunningham LMA Subsequent Event	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham Minimum LMA	Dec. 31, 2012 Cunningham Maximum	Jun. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Jun. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Jun. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Jun. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Jun. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Jun. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Jun. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Jun. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Jun. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Jun. 30, 2014 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD restaurant item	Jun. 30, 2014 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD restaurant item	Jun. 30, 2013 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD	Jun. 30, 2014 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD restaurant item	Jun. 30, 2013 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD	Jun. 30, 2013 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD	Jun. 30, 2013 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD	Jun. 30, 2014 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD	Jun. 30, 2013 Thomas & Libowitz Legal services	Jun. 30, 2013 Thomas & Libowitz Legal services	Jun. 30, 2014 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft	Jun. 30, 2013 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft	Jun. 30, 2014 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft	Jun. 30, 2013 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft
Related person transactions
Amount paid					$ 1,300,000	$ 1,400,000	$ 2,800,000	$ 2,500,000												$ 2,800,000	$ 2,600,000	$ 7,300,000	$ 4,500,000											$ 0	$ 400,000	$ 0	$ 800,000													$ 500,000	$ 1,000,000
Price of assets acquired/sold															78,500,000			22,000,000	14,000,000
Gain or loss on sale of station																		0	0
Aircraft expense																																																				300,000	200,000	600,000	300,000
Capital leases payable maturity
Amount obligated to be paid																										29,100,000
Price for which nonvoting stock was purchased									2,000,000		1,700,000
Right to acquire capital stock or assets of individual subsidiaries (as a percent)									100.00%			100.00%
Number of stations to which programming, sales and managerial services were provided by the entity																						7
Number of additional renewal terms																						3
Agreement renewal period																	8 years					5 years
Number of quarterly installments																										10
Amount of quarterly installments																										2,750,000
One quarterly installment amount																										1,600,000
Additional payments																								2,750,000	1,200,000
Aggregate purchase / sale price															78,500,000			22,000,000	14,000,000
Amount of purchase price reduction from quarterly installments																													29,100,000
Annual increase in aggregate purchase price (as a percent)									6.00%			6.00%
Percentage of net broadcast revenue used to determine annual LMA fees required to be paid																												3.00%
Amount used to determine annual LMA fees required to be paid																											4,700,000	5,000,000
Remaining purchase price									57,100,000			57,100,000
Operating costs reimbursement (as a percent)									100.00%			100.00%
Total revenues	455,136,000	314,154,000	867,784,000	596,772,000					29,200,000	26,500,000		56,400,000	51,200,000			1,100,000	1,900,000
Amount to purchase license assets of KDBC-TV El Paso, Texas														21,200,000
Amount of working capital adjustment required to be paid to purchase license assets of KDBC-TV														200,000
Amount received																1,900,000	3,400,000																					100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	200,000	0	100,000	0	100,000	100,000	100,000
Annual rent																														$ 300,000	$ 200,000	$ 500,000	$ 400,000
Number of restaurants owned by a related party																																										3	3		1
Number of real estate ventures																																										1	1		1