Variable Interest Entities (Details)		1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
		May 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) station	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents			$ 57,822,000	$ 41,091,000	$ 37,802,000	$ 43,920,000
Trade accounts receivable (less allowance for doubtful accounts 2016 - $213; 2015 - $94)			311,826,000	298,474,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			15,515,000	15,083,000
Total current assets			385,163,000	354,648,000
Property and equipment, net			445,591,000	470,537,000
Other assets, net			30,455,000	38,070,000
Definite lived intangible assets, net			788,000,000	871,129,000
Broadcast licenses			1,097,100,000	1,097,100,000
Goodwill			1,451,036,000	1,544,624,000
Total assets	[1]		4,197,345,000	4,376,108,000
Current liabilities:
Trade accounts payable			18,074,000	35,800,000
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities			105,920,000	95,500,000
Current installments of long-term debt			3,547,000	3,804,000
Total current liabilities			153,422,000	157,428,000
Long-term debt, net			2,147,336,000	2,199,110,000
Other liabilities			26,140,000	34,920,000
Total liabilities	[2]		2,826,063,000	2,903,691,000
Trade accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts			4,966,000	4,634,000
Company Owned Option To Acquire Assets Or Equity [Member]
Current liabilities:
Carrying amount of ineligible options			$ 0
JSA and SSA entities [Member]
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Number of stations | station			8
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents			$ 5,726,000	3,693,000
Trade accounts receivable (less allowance for doubtful accounts 2016 - $213; 2015 - $94)			9,129,000	9,798,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			666,000	796,000
Total current assets			15,521,000	14,287,000
Property and equipment, net			1,899,000	1,904,000
Other assets, net			781,000	3,094,000
Definite lived intangible assets, net			29,949,000	32,244,000
Broadcast licenses			71,300,000	71,300,000
Goodwill			21,859,000	21,859,000
Total assets			141,309,000	144,688,000
Current liabilities:
Trade accounts payable			24,000	16,000
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities			1,948,000	2,221,000
Current installments of long-term debt			3,547,000	3,804,000
Total current liabilities			5,519,000	6,041,000
Long-term debt, net			21,426,000	24,062,000
Other liabilities			4,311,000	8,310,000
Total liabilities			31,256,000	38,413,000
Trade accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts			$ 213,000	$ 94,000
Threshold on media ownership rules (more than) (percentage)		15.00%

[1] Consolidated assets as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, include total assets of variable interest entities (VIEs) of $141 million and $145 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. See Note 1 and Note 3.

[2] Consolidated liabilities as of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, include total liabilities of VIEs of $31 million and $38 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the Company, except for certain of the debt, which the Company guarantees. See Note 1 and Note 3.