Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Income Statement) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net	$ 785,204	$ 718,597	$ 772,299	$ 784,221	$ 772,846	$ 696,875	$ 761,385	$ 740,823	$ 3,060,321	$ 2,971,929	$ 2,805,691
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									1,506,985	1,445,949	1,341,076
Selling, general and administrative									679,444	657,457	613,342
Depreciation and amortization									101,098	91,281	94,638
Impairment and related charges									106,603	4,486	28,148
Restructuring and other related charges									40,914	45,847	6,128
Total operating expenses	743,485	550,159	602,042	539,358	635,722	532,276	569,854	507,168	2,435,044	2,245,020	2,083,332
Operating income	41,719	168,438	170,257	244,863	137,124	164,599	191,531	233,655	625,277	726,909	722,359
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(133,091)	(135,813)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									0	0
Miscellaneous, net									(6,000)	29,177	40,320
Total other income (expense)									(139,091)	(106,636)	(81,981)
Income from operations before income taxes									486,186	620,273	640,378
Income tax (expense) benefit									(78,470)	(156,306)	(150,741)
Net income including noncontrolling interests	348	123,226	133,985	150,157	76,439	116,660	110,332	160,536	407,716	463,967	489,637
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(27,230)	(17,780)	(18,321)
Net income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders	$ (8,577)	$ 116,923	$ 128,743	$ 143,397	$ 71,879	$ 111,257	$ 106,181	$ 156,870	380,486	446,187	$ 471,316
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									(16,425)	(15,289)
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									(5,255)	(4,074)
Selling, general and administrative									(10,740)	(10,031)
Depreciation and amortization									0	0
Impairment and related charges									0
Restructuring and other related charges									0	0
Total operating expenses									(15,995)	(14,105)
Operating income									(430)	(1,184)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									0	0
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									(574,073)	(767,346)
Miscellaneous, net									430	1,184
Total other income (expense)									(573,643)	(766,162)
Income from operations before income taxes									(574,073)	(767,346)
Income tax (expense) benefit									0	0
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(574,073)	(767,346)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									(574,073)	(767,346)
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									19	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0
Impairment and related charges									0	0
Restructuring and other related charges									0	0
Total operating expenses									19	0
Operating income									(19)	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									(154,718)	(151,751)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									623,278	734,472
Miscellaneous, net									(525)	(151)
Total other income (expense)									468,035	582,570
Income from operations before income taxes									468,016	582,570
Income tax (expense) benefit									(87,531)	(136,383)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									380,485	446,187
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									380,485	446,187
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									2,122,212	2,166,686
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									939,507	956,272
Selling, general and administrative									429,732	450,880
Depreciation and amortization									49,794	45,204
Impairment and related charges									0	0
Restructuring and other related charges									35,507	29,277
Total operating expenses									1,454,540	1,481,633
Operating income									667,672	685,053
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									14,078	28,460
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									(49,205)	32,874
Miscellaneous, net									749	(1,876)
Total other income (expense)									(34,378)	59,458
Income from operations before income taxes									633,294	744,511
Income tax (expense) benefit									(10,016)	(10,039)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									623,278	734,472
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Net income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									623,278	734,472
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues, net									954,534	820,532
Operating expenses
Technical and operating (excluding depreciation and amortization)									572,733	493,751
Selling, general and administrative									260,433	216,608
Depreciation and amortization									51,304	46,077
Impairment and related charges									106,603	4,486
Restructuring and other related charges									5,407	16,570
Total operating expenses									996,480	777,492
Operating income									(41,946)	43,040
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net									7,549	(12,522)
Share of affiliates' income (loss)									0	0
Miscellaneous, net									(6,654)	30,020
Total other income (expense)									895	17,498
Income from operations before income taxes									(41,051)	60,538
Income tax (expense) benefit									19,077	(9,884)
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(21,974)	50,654
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(27,230)	(17,780)
Net income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									$ (49,204)	$ 32,874