Equity Plans	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]
Equity And Long-Term Incentive Plans	Equity Plans On March 12, 2013, AMC Networks granted 365,509 restricted share units to certain executive officers and employees under the AMC Networks Inc. 2011 Employee Stock Plan that vest on the third anniversary of the grant date. The vesting criteria for 80,355 of those restricted share units include the achievement of certain performance targets by the Company. During the three months ended March 31, 2013, 495,558 shares of AMC Networks Class A common stock previously issued to employees of Cablevision and the Company vested. In connection with the employees’ satisfaction of the statutory minimum tax withholding obligations for the applicable income and other employment taxes, 201,622 of these shares, with an aggregate value of $11,950, were surrendered to the Company. These acquired shares, as well as 6,240 forfeited unvested restricted shares, have been classified as treasury stock. Share-based compensation expense included in selling, general and administrative expense, for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 was $4,337 and $3,583, respectively. As of March 31, 2013, there was $41,811 of total unrecognized share-based compensation cost related to Company employees who held unvested AMC Networks restricted shares/units. The unrecognized compensation cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining period of approximately 2.3 years.

Equity Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Equity Plans

On March 12, 2013, AMC Networks granted 365,509 restricted share units to certain executive officers and employees under the AMC Networks Inc. 2011 Employee Stock Plan that vest on the third anniversary of the grant date. The vesting criteria for 80,355 of those restricted share units include the achievement of certain performance targets by the Company.

During the three months ended March 31, 2013, 495,558 shares of AMC Networks Class A common stock previously issued to employees of Cablevision and the Company vested. In connection with the employees’ satisfaction of the statutory minimum tax withholding obligations for the applicable income and other employment taxes, 201,622 of these shares, with an aggregate value of $11,950, were surrendered to the Company. These acquired shares, as well as 6,240 forfeited unvested restricted shares, have been classified as treasury stock.

Share-based compensation expense included in selling, general and administrative expense, for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 was $4,337 and $3,583, respectively.

As of March 31, 2013, there was $41,811 of total unrecognized share-based compensation cost related to Company employees who held unvested AMC Networks restricted shares/units. The unrecognized compensation cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average remaining period of approximately 2.3 years.