ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS Btv Group (Details) (USD $) Share data in Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2010 Btv Group [Member]		Dec. 31, 2010 Btv Group [Member]		Apr. 19, 2010 Btv Group [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Btv Group [Member] General and Administrative Expense [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Btv Group [Member] Trademarks [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Btv Group [Member] Broadcast Licenses [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Btv Group [Member] Broadcast Licenses [Member]		Dec. 31, 2011 Btv Group [Member] Customer Relationships [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Btv Group [Member] Customer Relationships [Member]		Apr. 19, 2010 Btv Media [Member]	Apr. 19, 2010 RCJ [Member]	Apr. 19, 2010 TV Europe BV [Member]	Apr. 19, 2010 Triada [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Broadcast Segment [Member] Btv Group [Member] BULGARIA [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition, percentage of voting interersts acquired															100.00%	74.00%	100.00%	100.00%	94.00%
Cost of acquired entity, purchase price					$ 409,900,000
Acquisition related costs						4,400,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Assets Acquired (Liabilities Assumed), Net [Abstract]
Cash and cash equivalents	485,000		485,000
Restricted cash	3,560,000		3,560,000
Other intangible assets subject to amortization										178,158,000	[1]		37,322,000	[2]
Trademark							74,066,000	[3]
Program rights	6,383,000		6,383,000
Property, plant and equipment	8,579,000		8,579,000
Other assets, net	14,851,000	[4]	14,851,000	[4]
Deferred tax assets, net	(29,100,000)		(29,100,000)
Goodwill	115,641,000	[5]	115,641,000	[5]
Total purchase price	409,945,000		409,945,000
Estimated life									24 years			15 years
Acquired receivables	21,000,000		21,000,000
Contractual cash flows from the receivable contracts held by the acquired entity			21,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation [Abstract]
Revenues			759,287,000
Net income			98,945,000
Net Income attibutable to CME Ltd.			102,347,000
Net income attributable to CME Ltd. - basic and diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)			$ 1.60
Weighted average common shares - basic and diluted earnings per share (in shares)			64,029
Pro forma information, revenue of acquiree since acquisition date, actual	$ 58,300,000

[1] License agreements were amortized on a straight-line basis over an estimated life of 24 years as at December 31, 2011. We changed our estimate of the remaining useful life as of January 1, 2012 (see Note 4 "Goodwill and Intangible Assets").

[2] Customer relationships are being amortized on a straight-line basis over an estimated life of 15 years.

[3] The trademark is deemed to have an indefinite life.

[4] Amount includes US$ 21.0 million of acquired receivables which represent the best estimate of the US$ 21.0 million contractual cash flows expected to be collected as of the acquisition date.

[5] No goodwill is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.