RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended									3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2013 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2014 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2013 Entities owned by the controlling shareholders Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham	Jun. 30, 2014 Cunningham	Sep. 30, 2013 Cunningham	Mar. 31, 2013 Cunningham	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham	Sep. 30, 2013 Cunningham	Oct. 31, 2013 Cunningham	Nov. 05, 2009 Cunningham	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham Barrington stations	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham Barrington stations	Nov. 30, 2013 Cunningham Barrington stations	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham LMA	Sep. 30, 2013 Cunningham LMA	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham LMA station item	Sep. 30, 2013 Cunningham LMA	Aug. 01, 2014 Cunningham LMA	Jul. 31, 2014 Cunningham LMA	Oct. 01, 2012 Cunningham LMA	Jul. 01, 2012 Cunningham LMA	Jan. 01, 2010 Cunningham LMA item	Sep. 30, 2014 Cunningham Minimum LMA	Dec. 31, 2012 Cunningham Maximum	Sep. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Leased assets or facilities	Sep. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Sep. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Vehicles and related vehicle services	Sep. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Sep. 30, 2014 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Sep. 30, 2013 Atlantic Automotive Maximum Advertising time	Sep. 30, 2014 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD restaurant item	Sep. 30, 2014 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD restaurant item	Sep. 30, 2013 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD	Sep. 30, 2014 David Smith Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD restaurant item	Sep. 30, 2013 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Baltimore, MD	Sep. 30, 2014 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD	Sep. 30, 2013 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD	Sep. 30, 2013 David Smith Maximum Leased assets or facilities Real estate ventures in Towson, MD	Sep. 30, 2013 Thomas & Libowitz Legal services	Sep. 30, 2013 Thomas & Libowitz Legal services	Sep. 30, 2014 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft	Sep. 30, 2014 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft	Sep. 30, 2013 Controlling shareholders Charter Aircraft
Related person transactions
Amount paid					$ 1,300,000	$ 1,300,000	$ 4,100,000	$ 3,800,000									$ 400,000	$ 1,400,000		$ 1,200,000	$ 2,300,000	$ 7,200,000	$ 6,800,000												$ 0	$ 200,000	$ 0	$ 1,100,000													$ 300,000	$ 1,300,000
Price of assets acquired/sold																78,500,000			22,000,000					14,000,000
Aircraft expense																																																					500,000	300,000	1,000,000	600,000
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																						6
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 aggregate purchase price									53,600,000				53,600,000
Operating costs reimbursement (as a percent)									100.00%				100.00%
Total revenues	494,956,000	338,644,000	1,362,740,000	935,416,000					26,000,000		24,500,000		82,400,000	75,700,000			900,000	2,800,000
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																	2,100,000	5,500,000																					100,000	100,000	200,000	100,000	100,000	400,000	200,000	200,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000
Annual rent																															$ 300,000	$ 300,000	$ 800,000	$ 700,000
Number of restaurants owned by a related party																																											3	3		1
Number of real estate ventures																																											1	1		1