Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements (Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 643,470	$ 316,321	$ 241,060	$ 201,367
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	726,508	674,611
Amounts due from related parties, net	441	4,062
Current portion of program rights, net	390,162	453,157
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	87,373	72,989
Deferred tax asset, net	30,101	16,198
Total current assets	1,878,055	1,537,338
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	171,092	163,860
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	1,123,874	1,027,394
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Deferred carriage fees, net	51,689	50,069
Intangible assets, net	532,263	549,180
Goodwill	708,071	736,275
Other assets	200,359	200,799
Total assets	4,665,403	4,264,915
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	89,055	71,148
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	235,422	254,086
Current portion of program rights obligations	291,243	289,897
Deferred revenue	93,275	64,229
Current portion of long-term debt	230,551	148,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations	4,405	3,561
Total current liabilities	943,951	830,921
Program rights obligations	385,445	440,591
Long-term debt	2,703,031	2,519,808
Capital lease obligations	38,189	29,779
Deferred tax liability, net	160,597	137,233
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	104,272	103,530
Total liabilities	4,335,485	4,061,862
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	213,856	211,691
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	85,225	(39,277)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	30,837	30,639
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	116,062	(8,638)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	4,665,403	4,264,915
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	0	0
Amounts due from related parties, net	0	0
Current portion of program rights, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(89,941)	(55,947)
Deferred tax asset, net	0	0
Total current assets	(89,941)	(55,947)
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	0	0
Investment in affiliates	(3,992,867)	(3,643,007)
Program rights, net	0	0
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	(413,501)	(400,839)
Deferred carriage fees, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,496,309)	(4,099,793)
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	(89,941)	(55,947)
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	0	0
Total current liabilities	(89,941)	(55,947)
Program rights obligations	0	0
Long-term debt	0	0
Capital lease obligations	0	0
Deferred tax liability, net	0	0
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	(413,501)	(400,839)
Total liabilities	(503,442)	(456,786)
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	(3,992,867)	(3,643,007)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	(3,992,867)	(3,643,007)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	(4,496,309)	(4,099,793)
Parent Company [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	50,947	434	894	1,581
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	0	0
Amounts due from related parties, net	0	0
Current portion of program rights, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	576	4,158
Deferred tax asset, net	24,651	14,039
Total current assets	76,174	18,631
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	0	0
Investment in affiliates	3,174,152	2,797,938
Program rights, net	0	0
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Deferred carriage fees, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Other assets	0	1,449
Total assets	3,250,326	2,818,018
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	92	6
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	43,325	30,857
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	230,551	148,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations	0	0
Total current liabilities	273,968	178,863
Program rights obligations	0	0
Long-term debt	2,703,031	2,519,808
Capital lease obligations	0	0
Deferred tax liability, net	151,846	126,415
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	36,256	32,209
Total liabilities	3,165,101	2,857,295
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	85,225	(39,277)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	85,225	(39,277)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	3,250,326	2,818,018
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	434,974	148,260	122,665	83,676
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	550,996	538,657
Amounts due from related parties, net	441	3,818
Current portion of program rights, net	273,909	352,664
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	163,799	112,456
Deferred tax asset, net	0	0
Total current assets	1,424,119	1,155,855
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	88,991	93,007
Investment in affiliates	818,715	845,069
Program rights, net	983,371	889,756
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	412,948	400,163
Deferred carriage fees, net	49,382	47,437
Intangible assets, net	185,169	190,041
Goodwill	70,438	71,700
Other assets	90,802	100,620
Total assets	4,123,935	3,793,648
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	59,657	44,152
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	148,578	181,377
Current portion of program rights obligations	226,588	225,375
Deferred revenue	77,504	54,921
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	2,532	2,393
Total current liabilities	514,859	508,218
Program rights obligations	366,822	415,419
Long-term debt	0	0
Capital lease obligations	8,028	9,268
Deferred tax liability, net	0	0
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	60,074	62,805
Total liabilities	949,783	995,710
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	3,174,152	2,797,938
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	3,174,152	2,797,938
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	4,123,935	3,793,648
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	157,549	167,627	$ 117,501	$ 116,110
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	175,512	135,954
Amounts due from related parties, net	0	244
Current portion of program rights, net	116,253	100,493
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	12,939	12,322
Deferred tax asset, net	5,450	2,159
Total current assets	467,703	418,799
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	82,101	70,853
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	140,503	137,638
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	553	676
Deferred carriage fees, net	2,307	2,632
Intangible assets, net	347,094	359,139
Goodwill	637,633	664,575
Other assets	109,557	98,730
Total assets	1,787,451	1,753,042
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	29,306	26,990
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	133,460	97,799
Current portion of program rights obligations	64,655	64,522
Deferred revenue	15,771	9,308
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	1,873	1,168
Total current liabilities	245,065	199,787
Program rights obligations	18,623	25,172
Long-term debt	0	0
Capital lease obligations	30,161	20,511
Deferred tax liability, net	8,751	10,818
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	421,443	409,355
Total liabilities	724,043	665,643
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	213,856	211,691
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	818,715	845,069
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	30,837	30,639
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	849,552	875,708
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	$ 1,787,451	$ 1,753,042