CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 11,980.1	$ 11,541.5	$ 11,957.9
Operating costs and expenses (exclusive of depreciation and amortization, shown separately below):
Programming and other direct costs of services	3,437.0	3,238.7	3,246.1
Other operating (note 15)	1,777.2	1,641.3	1,717.2
Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) (note 15)	2,218.3	2,107.8	2,049.1
Depreciation and amortization (note 10)	2,331.3	3,652.2	3,858.2
Impairment, restructuring and other operating items, net (notes 5, 16 and 17)	98.6	156.0	248.2
Operating costs and expenses	9,862.4	10,796.0	11,118.8
Operating income	2,117.7	745.5	839.1
Non-operating income (expense):
Interest expense	(1,188.5)	(1,385.9)	(1,478.7)
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net (note 8)	(879.3)	(192.0)	1,125.8
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses), net	(1,416.3)	(94.8)	90.4
Realized and unrealized gains (losses) due to changes in fair values of certain investments and debt, net (notes 7, 9 and 11)	45.2	72.0	(384.5)
Losses on debt extinguishment, net	(233.2)	(216.7)	(65.0)
Share of results of affiliates, net (note 7)	(245.3)	(198.5)	(8.7)
Other income, net	76.1	114.4	43.4
Non-operating income (expense)	(3,841.3)	(1,901.5)	(677.3)
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	(1,723.6)	(1,156.0)	161.8
Income tax benefit (expense) (note 13)	256.9	(253.0)	(1,573.3)
Loss from continuing operations	(1,466.7)	(1,409.0)	(1,411.5)
Discontinued operations (note 6):
Earnings from discontinued operations, net of taxes	0.0	730.3	1,163.4
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations, net of taxes	0.0	12,316.9	1,098.1
Net earnings	0.0	13,047.2	2,261.5
Net earnings (loss)	(1,466.7)	11,638.2	850.0
Net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(161.3)	(116.8)	(124.7)
Net earnings (loss) attributable to Liberty Global shareholders	$ (1,628.0)	$ 11,521.4	$ 725.3
Basic and diluted loss from continuing operations attributable to Liberty Global shareholders per share (note 3) (in dollars per share)	$ (2.70)	$ (2.16)	$ (1.97)
Weighted average shares outstanding - basic and diluted (in shares)	602,083,910	705,794,546	778,675,957