Amount, before unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt. Includes, but is not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, commercial loans, mortgage loans, convertible debt, subordinated debt and other types of debt.

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Fair value portion of debt instrument payable, including, but not limited to, notes payable and loans payable.

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Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

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Amount, after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

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Amount, after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs, of long-term debt, classified as current. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

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Amount after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs of long-term debt classified as noncurrent and excluding amounts to be repaid within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

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Debt (Schedule of Principal Values, Fair Values, and Carrying Values of Debt) (Details) - USD ($)								9 Months Ended
	Sep. 13, 2019	Mar. 09, 2018	Apr. 17, 2017	Jul. 07, 2016	Oct. 14, 2015	Oct. 15, 2014	Apr. 18, 2013	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal Balance								$ 9,930,000,000	$ 10,028,000,000
Fair Value								10,076,546,000	9,736,246,000
Carrying Value								9,845,502,000	9,938,553,000
Less: current maturities of long-term debt								(24,000,000)	(941,728,000)
Total long-term debt, net of current maturities								$ 9,821,502,000	8,996,825,000
Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date								Apr. 11, 2023
Principal Balance									325,000,000
Fair Value									325,000,000
Carrying Value									325,000,000
2014 Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date								Jul. 15, 2022
Principal Balance								$ 750,000,000	750,000,000
Fair Value								757,500,000	735,000,000
Carrying Value								$ 742,993,000	741,273,000
2016 Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date								Sep. 01, 2024
Principal Balance								$ 1,100,000,000	1,100,000,000
Fair Value								1,141,250,000	1,034,000,000
Carrying Value								$ 1,085,591,000	1,083,689,000
2017 Senior Notes [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date								Oct. 01, 2022
Principal Balance								$ 750,000,000	750,000,000
Fair Value								763,125,000	712,500,000
Carrying Value								$ 744,392,000	743,099,000
2013-2C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date							Apr. 09, 2048	Apr. 11, 2023
Principal Balance								$ 575,000,000	575,000,000
Fair Value								589,410,000	569,164,000
Carrying Value								$ 570,574,000	569,715,000
2014-1C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date						Oct. 11, 2044		Oct. 08, 2019
Principal Balance									920,000,000
Fair Value									914,241,000
Carrying Value									917,728,000
2014-2C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date						Oct. 08, 2049		Oct. 08, 2024
Principal Balance								$ 620,000,000	620,000,000
Fair Value								650,175,000	609,665,000
Carrying Value								$ 614,979,000	614,315,000
2015-1C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date					Oct. 10, 2045			Oct. 08, 2020
Principal Balance								$ 500,000,000	500,000,000
Fair Value								502,500,000	496,640,000
Carrying Value								$ 497,493,000	495,737,000
2016-1C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date				Jul. 10, 2046				Jul. 09, 2021
Principal Balance								$ 700,000,000	700,000,000
Fair Value								705,236,000	691,432,000
Carrying Value								$ 696,445,000	694,994,000
2017-1C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date			Apr. 09, 2047					Apr. 11, 2022
Principal Balance								$ 760,000,000	760,000,000
Fair Value								766,300,000	744,496,000
Carrying Value								$ 754,546,000	753,028,000
2018-1C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date		Mar. 09, 2048						Mar. 09, 2023
Principal Balance								$ 640,000,000	640,000,000
Fair Value								662,586,000	641,478,000
Carrying Value								$ 633,928,000	632,725,000
2018 Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date								Apr. 11, 2025
Principal Balance								$ 2,370,000,000	2,388,000,000
Fair Value								2,372,963,000	2,262,630,000
Carrying Value								$ 2,351,421,000	$ 2,367,250,000
2019-1C Tower Securities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, maturity date	Jan. 12, 2050							Jan. 12, 2025
Principal Balance								$ 1,165,000,000
Fair Value								1,165,501,000
Carrying Value								$ 1,153,140,000