Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Income Statement) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net	$ 678,950	$ 632,165	$ 601,138	$ 668,682	$ 609,444	$ 519,550	$ 522,093	$ 524,554	$ 2,580,935	$ 2,175,641	$ 1,591,858
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									1,137,133	983,575	662,233
Selling, general and administrative									636,580	560,950	425,735
Restructuring expense									14,998	15,715	0
Depreciation and amortization									83,031	69,048	54,667
Total operating expenses	518,606	472,897	442,304	437,935	450,428	409,321	392,618	376,921	1,871,742	1,629,288	1,009,691
Operating income	160,344	159,268	158,834	230,747	159,016	110,229	129,475	147,633	709,193	546,353	582,167
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(125,708)	(128,829)
Share of affiliates' income									0	0
Miscellaneous, net									(691)	(20,496)	6,969
Total other income (expense)									(126,399)	(149,325)	(113,166)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									582,794	397,028	469,001
Income tax (expense) benefit									(201,090)	(129,155)	(178,841)
Income from continuing operations					81,637	54,069	60,180	71,987	381,704	267,873	290,160
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes					0	(966)	(1,732)	(750)	0	(3,448)	0
Net income including noncontrolling interests	90,686	76,900	87,442	126,676	81,637	53,103	58,448	71,237	381,704	264,425	290,160
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(14,916)	(3,628)	578
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders	$ 90,089	$ 72,770	$ 83,009	$ 120,920	$ 77,615	$ 53,160	$ 58,655	$ 71,367	366,788	260,797	$ 290,738
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									(854)	0
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									(756)	(54)
Selling, general and administrative									(160)	22
Restructuring expense									0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0
Total operating expenses									(916)	(32)
Operating income									62	32
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									0	0
Share of affiliates' income									(700,429)	(552,433)
Miscellaneous, net									(62)	(32)
Total other income (expense)									(700,491)	(552,465)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									(700,429)	(552,433)
Income tax (expense) benefit									0	0
Income from continuing operations									(700,429)	(552,433)
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes										0
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(700,429)	(552,433)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									(700,429)	(552,433)
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									0	0
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									0	0
Selling, general and administrative									0	0
Restructuring expense									0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0
Total operating expenses									0	0
Operating income									0	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(81,405)	(79,150)
Share of affiliates' income									715,807	552,836
Miscellaneous, net									(87,368)	(84,539)
Total other income (expense)									547,034	389,147
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									547,034	389,147
Income tax (expense) benefit									(180,246)	(128,350)
Income from continuing operations									366,788	260,797
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes										0
Net income including noncontrolling interests									366,788	260,797
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									366,788	260,797
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									2,041,244	1,780,806
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									850,882	768,040
Selling, general and administrative									471,455	451,891
Restructuring expense									7,772	6,527
Depreciation and amortization									37,176	34,482
Total operating expenses									1,367,285	1,260,940
Operating income									673,959	519,866
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(14,456)	(43,608)
Share of affiliates' income									(15,378)	(403)
Miscellaneous, net									80,865	74,176
Total other income (expense)									51,031	30,165
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									724,990	550,031
Income tax (expense) benefit									(9,183)	2,805
Income from continuing operations									715,807	552,836
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes										0
Net income including noncontrolling interests									715,807	552,836
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									715,807	552,836
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									540,545	394,835
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									287,007	215,589
Selling, general and administrative									165,285	109,037
Restructuring expense									7,226	9,188
Depreciation and amortization									45,855	34,566
Total operating expenses									505,373	368,380
Operating income									35,172	26,455
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(29,847)	(6,071)
Share of affiliates' income									0	0
Miscellaneous, net									5,874	(10,101)
Total other income (expense)									(23,973)	(16,172)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									11,199	10,283
Income tax (expense) benefit									(11,661)	(3,610)
Income from continuing operations									(462)	6,673
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes										(3,448)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(462)	3,225
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(14,916)	(3,628)
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									$ (15,378)	$ (403)