Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Comprehensive Income) (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 Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
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
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment									(6,272)	(41,716)	76,023
Unrealized loss on interest rate swaps									(1,609)	(356)	(35)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss									0	(370)	0
Unrealized gain on available for sale securities									0	0	5,398
Other comprehensive income (loss), before income taxes									(7,881)	(42,442)	81,386
Income tax benefit (expense)									364	45	(1,974)
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes									(7,517)	(42,397)	79,412
Comprehensive income									400,199	421,570	569,049
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(27,078)	(16,044)	(21,430)
Comprehensive income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									373,121	405,526	$ 547,619
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(574,073)	(767,346)
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment									6,272	41,716
Unrealized loss on interest rate swaps									0	0
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss									0	0
Unrealized gain on available for sale securities										0
Other comprehensive income (loss), before income taxes									6,272	41,716
Income tax benefit (expense)									0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes									6,272	41,716
Comprehensive income									(567,801)	(725,630)
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									(567,801)	(725,630)
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net income including noncontrolling interests									380,485	446,187
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment									(6,272)	(41,716)
Unrealized loss on interest rate swaps									(1,609)	(356)
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss									0	(370)
Unrealized gain on available for sale securities										0
Other comprehensive income (loss), before income taxes									(7,881)	(42,442)
Income tax benefit (expense)									364	45
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes									(7,517)	(42,397)
Comprehensive income									372,968	403,790
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									372,968	403,790
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net income including noncontrolling interests									623,278	734,472
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment									0	0
Unrealized loss on interest rate swaps									0	0
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss									0	0
Unrealized gain on available for sale securities										0
Other comprehensive income (loss), before income taxes									0	0
Income tax benefit (expense)									0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes									0	0
Comprehensive income									623,278	734,472
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests									0	0
Comprehensive income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									623,278	734,472
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net income including noncontrolling interests									(21,974)	50,654
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation adjustment									(6,272)	(41,716)
Unrealized loss on interest rate swaps									0	0
Amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss									0	0
Unrealized gain on available for sale securities										0
Other comprehensive income (loss), before income taxes									(6,272)	(41,716)
Income tax benefit (expense)									0	0
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of income taxes									(6,272)	(41,716)
Comprehensive income									(28,246)	8,938
Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests									(27,078)	(16,044)
Comprehensive income attributable to AMC Networks' stockholders									$ (55,324)	$ (7,106)