Condensed Consolidating Financial Statements (Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 403,648	$ 481,389	$ 702,800	$ 316,321
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	716,904	700,655
Amounts due from related parties, net	536	508
Current portion of program rights, net	461,005	441,130
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	71,894	72,661
Total current assets	1,653,987	1,696,343
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	169,223	166,636
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	1,077,358	1,108,586
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Deferred carriage fees, net	40,403	43,886
Intangible assets, net	478,760	485,809
Goodwill	662,076	657,708
Deferred tax asset, net	8,906	8,598
Other assets	379,341	313,029
Total assets	4,470,054	4,480,595
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	97,477	88,677
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	300,200	284,429
Current portion of program rights obligations	276,083	300,845
Deferred revenue	46,902	53,643
Current portion of long-term debt	240,500	222,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations	4,449	4,584
Total current liabilities	965,611	954,178
Program rights obligations	397,995	398,175
Long-term debt	2,525,544	2,597,263
Capital lease obligations	34,161	35,282
Deferred tax liability, net	151,149	145,791
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	121,280	132,219
Total liabilities	4,195,740	4,262,908
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	214,998	219,331
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	31,452	(30,082)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	27,864	28,438
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	59,316	(1,644)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	4,470,054	4,480,595
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	(122,539)	(95,423)
Total current assets	(122,539)	(95,423)
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	0	0
Investment in affiliates	(3,925,731)	(3,813,946)
Program rights, net	0	0
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	(431,818)	(432,916)
Deferred carriage fees, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Deferred tax asset, net	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(4,480,088)	(4,342,285)
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	(122,539)	(95,423)
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	(122,539)	(95,423)
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	(431,818)	(432,916)
Total liabilities	(554,357)	(528,339)
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	(3,925,731)	(3,813,946)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	(3,925,731)	(3,813,946)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	(4,480,088)	(4,342,285)
Parent Company [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	523	565	279,468	434
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	16	948
Total current assets	539	1,513
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	0	0
Investment in affiliates	3,120,330	3,029,922
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
Deferred tax asset, net	0	0
Other assets	1,790	1,471
Total assets	3,122,659	3,032,906
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	135	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	143,519	71,680
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	240,500	222,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations	0	0
Total current liabilities	384,154	293,680
Program rights obligations	0	0
Long-term debt	2,525,544	2,597,263
Capital lease obligations	0	0
Deferred tax liability, net	153,594	145,364
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	27,915	26,681
Total liabilities	3,091,207	3,062,988
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	31,452	(30,082)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	31,452	(30,082)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	3,122,659	3,032,906
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	262,256	320,950	257,259	148,260
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	559,982	537,751
Amounts due from related parties, net	536	508
Current portion of program rights, net	322,957	307,050
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	177,967	151,175
Total current assets	1,323,698	1,317,434
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	108,318	104,272
Investment in affiliates	805,401	784,024
Program rights, net	913,013	947,657
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	431,140	432,099
Deferred carriage fees, net	39,336	42,656
Intangible assets, net	177,861	180,297
Goodwill	68,518	69,154
Deferred tax asset, net	0	0
Other assets	133,612	116,608
Total assets	4,000,897	3,994,201
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	55,547	40,033
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	125,579	182,667
Current portion of program rights obligations	205,501	226,474
Deferred revenue	35,935	42,782
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	2,713	2,645
Total current liabilities	425,275	494,601
Program rights obligations	366,515	365,262
Long-term debt	0	0
Capital lease obligations	5,949	6,647
Deferred tax liability, net	0	0
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	82,828	97,769
Total liabilities	880,567	964,279
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	3,120,330	3,029,922
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	3,120,330	3,029,922
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	4,000,897	3,994,201
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	140,869	159,874	$ 166,073	$ 167,627
Accounts receivable, trade (less allowance for doubtful accounts)	156,922	162,904
Amounts due from related parties, net	0	0
Current portion of program rights, net	138,048	134,080
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	16,450	15,961
Total current assets	452,289	472,819
Property and equipment, net of accumulated depreciation	60,905	62,364
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	164,345	160,929
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	678	817
Deferred carriage fees, net	1,067	1,230
Intangible assets, net	300,899	305,512
Goodwill	593,558	588,554
Deferred tax asset, net	8,906	8,598
Other assets	243,939	194,950
Total assets	1,826,586	1,795,773
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	41,795	48,644
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	153,641	125,505
Current portion of program rights obligations	70,582	74,371
Deferred revenue	10,967	10,861
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	1,736	1,939
Total current liabilities	278,721	261,320
Program rights obligations	31,480	32,913
Long-term debt	0	0
Capital lease obligations	28,212	28,635
Deferred tax liability, net	(2,445)	427
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	442,355	440,685
Total liabilities	778,323	763,980
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	214,998	219,331
Stockholders' equity (deficiency):
AMC Networks stockholders’ equity	805,401	784,024
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	27,864	28,438
Total stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	833,265	812,462
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity (deficiency)	$ 1,826,586	$ 1,795,773