Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Income Statement) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net	$ 729,597	$ 634,646	$ 684,832	$ 706,579	$ 678,950	$ 632,165	$ 601,138	$ 668,682	$ 2,755,654	$ 2,580,935	$ 2,175,641
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									1,279,984	1,137,133	983,575
Selling, general and administrative									636,028	636,580	560,950
Restructuring expense									29,503	14,998	15,715
Depreciation and amortization									84,778	83,031	69,048
Impairment charges									67,805	0	0
Total operating expenses	625,869	517,509	506,800	447,920	518,606	472,897	442,304	437,935	2,098,098	1,871,742	1,629,288
Operating income	103,728	117,137	178,032	258,659	160,344	159,268	158,834	230,747	657,556	709,193	546,353
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(118,568)	(125,708)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt									(50,639)	0	0
Miscellaneous, net									(33,524)	(691)	(20,496)
Total other income (expense)									(202,731)	(126,399)	(149,325)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									454,825	582,794	397,028
Income tax (expense) benefit									(164,862)	(201,090)	(129,155)
Net income including noncontrolling interests	19,043	67,469	83,387	120,064	90,686	76,900	87,442	126,676	289,963	381,704	264,425
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(19,453)	(14,916)	(3,628)
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders	$ 14,498	$ 65,393	$ 77,175	$ 113,444	$ 90,089	$ 72,770	$ 83,009	$ 120,920	270,510	366,788	$ 260,797
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									(10,563)	(854)
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									(2,611)	(756)
Selling, general and administrative									(7,719)	(160)
Restructuring expense									0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0
Impairment charges									0
Total operating expenses									(10,330)	(916)
Operating income									(233)	62
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									0	0
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									(487,931)	(700,429)
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0
Miscellaneous, net									233	(62)
Total other income (expense)									(487,698)	(700,491)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									(487,931)	(700,429)
Income tax (expense) benefit									0	0
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(487,931)	(700,429)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests										0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									(487,931)	(700,429)
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
Impairment charges									0
Total operating expenses									0	0
Operating income									0	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(119,192)	(81,405)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									591,395	715,807
Loss on extinguishment of debt									(50,639)
Miscellaneous, net									(273)	(87,368)
Total other income (expense)									421,291	547,034
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									421,291	547,034
Income tax (expense) benefit									(150,781)	(180,246)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									270,510	366,788
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									270,510	366,788
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									2,142,325	2,041,244
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									947,707	850,882
Selling, general and administrative									460,150	471,455
Restructuring expense									24,950	7,772
Depreciation and amortization									40,230	37,176
Impairment charges									0
Total operating expenses									1,473,037	1,367,285
Operating income									669,288	673,959
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									38,137	(14,456)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									(103,464)	(15,378)
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0
Miscellaneous, net									(2,892)	80,865
Total other income (expense)									(68,219)	51,031
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									601,069	724,990
Income tax (expense) benefit									(9,674)	(9,183)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									591,395	715,807
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									591,395	715,807
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									623,892	540,545
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									334,888	287,007
Selling, general and administrative									183,597	165,285
Restructuring expense									4,553	7,226
Depreciation and amortization									44,548	45,855
Impairment charges									67,805
Total operating expenses									635,391	505,373
Operating income									(11,499)	35,172
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(37,513)	(29,847)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									0	0
Loss on extinguishment of debt									0
Miscellaneous, net									(30,592)	5,874
Total other income (expense)									(68,105)	(23,973)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									(79,604)	11,199
Income tax (expense) benefit									(4,407)	(11,661)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(84,011)	(462)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(19,453)	(14,916)
Net income attributable to AMC Networks’ stockholders									$ (103,464)	$ (15,378)