Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 816,170	$ 554,886	$ 558,783	$ 481,389
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	857,143	835,977
Current portion of program rights, net	426,624	440,739
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	230,360	131,809
Total current assets	2,330,297	1,963,411
Property and equipment, net	283,752	246,262
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	1,038,060	1,214,051
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets	170,056
Intangible assets, net	524,531	578,907
Goodwill	701,980	798,037	695,158
Deferred tax assets, net	51,545	19,272
Other assets	496,465	458,623
Total assets	5,596,686	5,278,563
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	94,306	107,066
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	251,214	264,918
Current portion of program rights obligations	304,692	343,589
Deferred revenue	63,921	55,424
Current portion of long-term debt	56,250	21,334
Current portion of lease obligations	33,959	5,090
Total current liabilities	804,342	797,421
Program rights obligations	239,813	373,249
Long-term debt, net	3,039,979	3,088,221
Capital lease obligations	211,047	21,427
Deferred tax liability, net	136,911	145,443
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	163,638	208,036
Total liabilities	4,595,730	4,633,797
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	309,451	299,558	218,604
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	665,781	316,680
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	25,724	28,528
Total stockholders' equity	691,505	345,208	163,945	$ (1,644)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	5,596,686	5,278,563
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	(670)	(218)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(48,662)	(57,219)
Total current assets	(49,332)	(57,437)
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in affiliates	(5,522,628)	(5,311,086)
Program rights, net	(1,219)	(1,613)
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	(28)	(190)
Operating lease right-of-use assets	0
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Deferred tax assets, net	0	0
Other assets	1,626	0
Total assets	(5,571,581)	(5,370,326)
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	0	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	(48,662)	(59,050)
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	(263)	0
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of lease obligations	0	0
Total current liabilities	(48,925)	(59,050)
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	(28)	(190)
Total liabilities	(48,953)	(59,240)
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	(5,522,628)	(5,311,086)
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	(5,522,628)	(5,311,086)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	(5,571,581)	(5,370,326)
Parent Company [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	169	121	320
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	0	16
Current portion of program rights, net	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	30,359	6,543
Total current assets	30,528	6,680
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Investment in affiliates	3,910,121	3,656,003
Program rights, net	0	0
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets	94,263
Intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Deferred tax assets, net	(66)	0
Other assets	46,330	0
Total assets	4,081,176	3,662,683
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	49	0
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	29,770	35,189
Current portion of program rights obligations	0	0
Deferred revenue	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt	56,250	18,750
Current portion of lease obligations	14,012	0
Total current liabilities	100,081	53,939
Program rights obligations	0	0
Long-term debt, net	3,039,979	3,088,221
Capital lease obligations	115,243	0
Deferred tax liability, net	134,899	140,474
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	25,193	63,369
Total liabilities	3,415,395	3,346,003
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	665,781	316,680
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	665,781	316,680
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	4,081,176	3,662,683
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	574,771	368,151	391,248
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	588,715	600,121
Current portion of program rights, net	270,909	292,002
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	257,022	158,936
Total current assets	1,691,417	1,419,210
Property and equipment, net	217,971	175,040
Investment in affiliates	1,612,507	1,655,083
Program rights, net	800,294	969,802
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	0	0
Operating lease right-of-use assets	19,000
Intangible assets, net	151,538	161,417
Goodwill	63,954	65,282
Deferred tax assets, net	0	0
Other assets	179,601	165,717
Total assets	4,736,282	4,611,551
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	31,103	34,630
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	152,680	173,836
Current portion of program rights obligations	241,673	259,414
Deferred revenue	37,775	34,608
Current portion of long-term debt	0	0
Current portion of lease obligations	6,796	2,941
Total current liabilities	470,027	505,429
Program rights obligations	223,775	349,814
Long-term debt, net	0	0
Capital lease obligations	18,131	1,420
Deferred tax liability, net	0	0
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	119,418	98,885
Total liabilities	831,351	955,548
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	(5,190)	0
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	3,910,121	3,656,003
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	0	0
Total stockholders' equity	3,910,121	3,656,003
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	4,736,282	4,611,551
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	241,230	186,614	$ 167,215
Accounts receivable, trade (including amounts due from related parties, net, less allowance for doubtful accounts)	268,428	235,840
Current portion of program rights, net	156,385	148,955
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(8,359)	23,549
Total current assets	657,684	594,958
Property and equipment, net	65,781	71,222
Investment in affiliates	0	0
Program rights, net	238,985	245,862
Long-term intercompany notes receivable	28	190
Operating lease right-of-use assets	56,793
Intangible assets, net	372,993	417,490
Goodwill	638,026	732,755
Deferred tax assets, net	51,611	19,272
Other assets	268,908	292,906
Total assets	2,350,809	2,374,655
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	63,154	72,436
Accrued liabilities and intercompany payable	117,426	114,943
Current portion of program rights obligations	63,019	84,175
Deferred revenue	26,409	20,816
Current portion of long-term debt	0	2,584
Current portion of lease obligations	13,151	2,149
Total current liabilities	283,159	297,103
Program rights obligations	16,038	23,435
Long-term debt, net	0	0
Capital lease obligations	77,673	20,007
Deferred tax liability, net	2,012	4,969
Other liabilities and intercompany notes payable	19,055	45,972
Total liabilities	397,937	391,486
Commitments and contingencies
Redeemable noncontrolling interests	314,641	299,558
Stockholders' equity:
AMC Networks stockholders' equity	1,612,507	1,655,083
Non-redeemable noncontrolling interests	25,724	28,528
Total stockholders' equity	1,638,231	1,683,611
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 2,350,809	$ 2,374,655