Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 558,783	$ 481,389	$ 316,321	$ 201,367
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	775,891	701,163
Current portion of program rights, net	453,450	441,130
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	91,726	72,661
Total current assets	1,879,850	1,696,343
Property and equipment, net	183,514	166,636
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	1,319,279	1,108,586
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Deferred carriage fees, net	29,924	43,886
Intangible assets, net	457,242	485,809
Goodwill	695,158	657,708	736,275
Deferred tax assets, net	20,081	8,598
Other assets	447,937	313,029
Total assets	5,032,985	4,480,595
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	102,197	88,677
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	263,076	284,429
Current portion of program rights obligations	327,549	300,845
Deferred revenue	46,433	53,643
Current portion of long-term debt	0	222,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations	4,847	4,584
Total current liabilities	744,102	954,178
Program rights obligations	534,980	398,175
Long-term debt, net	3,099,257	2,597,263
Capital lease obligations	26,277	35,282
Deferred tax liability, net	109,698	145,791
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	136,122	132,219
Total liabilities	4,650,436	4,262,908
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	218,604	219,331	211,691
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	134,944	(30,082)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	29,001	28,438
Total stockholders' equity (deficiency)	163,945	(1,644)	(8,638)	$ (351,909)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficiency)	5,032,985	4,480,595
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	0	0
Current portion of program rights, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(104,389)	(95,423)
Total current assets	(104,389)	(95,423)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in affiliates	(4,377,625)	(3,813,946)
Program rights, net	0	0
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	(490,375)	(432,916)
Deferred carriage fees, net	0	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Deferred tax assets, net	0	0
Other assets		0
Total assets	(4,972,389)	(4,342,285)
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	(104,389)	(95,423)
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	0	0
Total current liabilities	(104,389)	(95,423)
Program rights obligations	0	0
Long-term debt, net	0	0
Capital lease obligations	0	0
Deferred tax liability, net	0	0
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	(490,375)	(432,916)
Total liabilities	(594,764)	(528,339)
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	(4,377,625)	(3,813,946)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficiency)	(4,377,625)	(3,813,946)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficiency)	(4,972,389)	(4,342,285)
Parent Company [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	320	565	434
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	0	0
Current portion of program rights, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	3,760	948
Total current assets	4,080	1,513
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in affiliates	3,443,013	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 assets, net	0	0
Other assets	0	1,471
Total assets	3,447,093	3,032,906
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	350	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	51,692	71,680
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt		222,000
Current portion of capital lease obligations	0	0
Total current liabilities	52,042	293,680
Program rights obligations	0	0
Long-term debt, net	3,099,257	2,597,263
Capital lease obligations	0	0
Deferred tax liability, net	114,717	145,364
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	46,133	26,681
Total liabilities	3,312,149	3,062,988
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	134,944	(30,082)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficiency)	134,944	(30,082)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficiency)	3,447,093	3,032,906
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	391,248	320,950	148,260
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	581,270	538,259
Current portion of program rights, net	304,149	307,050
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	183,815	151,175
Total current assets	1,460,482	1,317,434
Property and equipment, net	136,032	104,272
Investment in affiliates	934,612	784,024
Program rights, net	1,128,021	947,657
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	489,939	432,099
Deferred carriage fees, net	29,346	42,656
Intangible assets, net	170,554	180,297
Goodwill	66,609	69,154
Deferred tax assets, net	0	0
Other assets	142,115	116,608
Total assets	4,557,710	3,994,201
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	50,282	40,033
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	179,003	182,667
Current portion of program rights obligations	262,004	226,474
Deferred revenue	27,530	42,782
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	2,939	2,645
Total current liabilities	521,758	494,601
Program rights obligations	511,996	365,262
Long-term debt, net	0	0
Capital lease obligations	3,745	6,647
Deferred tax liability, net	0	0
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	77,198	97,769
Total liabilities	1,114,697	964,279
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	3,443,013	3,029,922
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity (deficiency)	3,443,013	3,029,922
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficiency)	4,557,710	3,994,201
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	167,215	159,874	$ 167,627
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	194,621	162,904
Current portion of program rights, net	149,301	134,080
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	8,540	15,961
Total current assets	519,677	472,819
Property and equipment, net	47,482	62,364
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	191,258	160,929
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	436	817
Deferred carriage fees, net	578	1,230
Intangible assets, net	286,688	305,512
Goodwill	628,549	588,554
Deferred tax assets, net	20,081	8,598
Other assets	305,822	194,950
Total assets	2,000,571	1,795,773
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	51,565	48,644
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	136,770	125,505
Current portion of program rights obligations	65,545	74,371
Deferred revenue	18,903	10,861
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Current portion of capital lease obligations	1,908	1,939
Total current liabilities	274,691	261,320
Program rights obligations	22,984	32,913
Long-term debt, net	0	0
Capital lease obligations	22,532	28,635
Deferred tax liability, net	(5,019)	427
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	503,166	440,685
Total liabilities	818,354	763,980
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	218,604	219,331
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	934,612	784,024
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	29,001	28,438
Total stockholders' equity (deficiency)	963,613	812,462
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficiency)	$ 2,000,571	$ 1,795,773