Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Jun. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		$ 380,567	$ 577,658	$ 366,640	$ 262,644
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		397,571	429,112
Broadcast rights		105,054	157,817
Income taxes receivable		15,515	9,056
Current assets of discontinued operations		0	62,605
Prepaid expenses		22,130	35,862
Other		7,724	6,624
Total current assets		946,127	1,296,300
Property, plant and equipment		644,422	711,068
Accumulated depreciation		(210,800)	(187,148)
Net properties		433,622	523,920
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		144,998	153,457
Goodwill		3,228,585	3,227,930
Other intangible assets, net		1,735,938	1,819,134
Non-current assets of discontinued operations		0	608,153
Assets held for sale	[1]	54,282	17,176
Investments		1,423,182	1,674,883
Intercompany receivables		0	0
Intercompany loan receivable			0
Other assets		78,541	80,098
Total other assets		6,665,526	7,580,831
Total Assets (1)	[2]	8,045,275	9,401,051
Accounts payable		46,305	60,553
Debt due within one year		17,878	19,924
Income taxes payable		52,307	21,166
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		207,895	241,255
Deferred revenue		11,633	13,690
Interest payable		30,042	30,305
Current liabilities of discontinued operations		0	54,284
Other		109,146	109,676
Total current liabilities		475,206	550,853
Long-term debt		3,010,784	3,391,627
Intercompany loan payable			0
Deferred income taxes		836,354	984,248
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		275,088	314,840
Intercompany payables		0	0
Other		524,763	518,486
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations		0	95,314
Total non-current liabilities		4,646,989	5,304,515
Total Liabilities (1)	[2]	5,122,195	5,855,368
Common stock		101	100
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,207)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,044,480	4,561,760
Retained (deficit) earnings		(424,355)	(308,105)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(71,872)	(81,782)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		2,916,160	3,539,766
Noncontrolling interest		6,920	5,917
Total shareholders’ equity		2,923,080	3,545,683
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		8,045,275	9,401,051
Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		0	0	0	0
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0
Accounts receivable, net		0	0
Broadcast rights		0	0
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Current assets of discontinued operations			0
Prepaid expenses		0	0
Other		0	0
Total current assets		0	0
Property, plant and equipment		0	0
Accumulated depreciation		0	0
Net properties		0	0
Investments in subsidiaries		(10,029,435)	(10,609,030)
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			0
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		0	0
Intercompany receivables		(8,675,794)	(8,232,637)
Intercompany loan receivable			(27,000)
Other assets		(123,469)	(49,279)
Total other assets		(8,799,263)	(8,308,916)
Total Assets (1)		(18,828,698)	(18,917,946)
Accounts payable		0	0
Debt due within one year		0	0
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		0	0
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Other		0	0
Total current liabilities		0	0
Long-term debt		0	0
Intercompany loan payable			(27,000)
Deferred income taxes		(123,469)	(49,279)
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		(8,675,794)	(8,232,637)
Other		0	0
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Total non-current liabilities		(8,799,263)	(8,308,916)
Total Liabilities (1)		(8,799,263)	(8,308,916)
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		(9,239,085)	(9,775,997)
Retained (deficit) earnings		(793,149)	(854,127)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		2,799	21,094
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		(10,029,435)	(10,609,030)
Noncontrolling interest		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		(10,029,435)	(10,609,030)
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		(18,828,698)	(18,917,946)
Parent (Tribune Media Company) | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		377,576	574,638	345,111	235,508
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		17,566	17,566
Accounts receivable, net		1,278	198
Broadcast rights		0	0
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Current assets of discontinued operations			0
Prepaid expenses		9,858	11,640
Other		5,905	4,894
Total current assets		412,183	608,936
Property, plant and equipment		56,034	55,529
Accumulated depreciation		(27,351)	(21,635)
Net properties		28,683	33,894
Investments in subsidiaries		9,974,957	10,502,544
Broadcast rights		0	0
Goodwill		0	0
Other intangible assets, net		0	0
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			0
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		12,882	19,079
Intercompany receivables		2,365,290	2,326,261
Intercompany loan receivable			27,000
Other assets		127,191	51,479
Total other assets		2,505,363	2,423,819
Total Assets (1)		12,921,186	13,569,193
Accounts payable		23,078	29,827
Debt due within one year		13,869	15,921
Income taxes payable		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Deferred revenue		0	0
Interest payable		30,040	30,301
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Other		49,708	38,867
Total current liabilities		116,695	114,916
Long-term debt		3,002,023	3,380,860
Intercompany loan payable			0
Deferred income taxes		0	0
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		0	0
Intercompany payables		6,425,382	6,065,424
Other		460,926	468,227
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			0
Total non-current liabilities		9,888,331	9,914,511
Total Liabilities (1)		10,005,026	10,029,427
Common stock		101	100
Treasury stock		(632,194)	(632,207)
Additional paid-in-capital		4,044,480	4,561,760
Retained (deficit) earnings		(424,355)	(308,105)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(71,872)	(81,782)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		2,916,160	3,539,766
Noncontrolling interest		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		2,916,160	3,539,766
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		12,921,186	13,569,193
Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		906	720	9,959	13,054
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0
Accounts receivable, net		395,996	428,254
Broadcast rights		104,309	155,266
Income taxes receivable		15,515	9,056
Current assets of discontinued operations			37,300
Prepaid expenses		12,042	24,074
Other		1,819	1,729
Total current assets		530,587	656,399
Property, plant and equipment		477,874	547,601
Accumulated depreciation		(176,799)	(159,472)
Net properties		301,075	388,129
Investments in subsidiaries		54,478	106,486
Broadcast rights		144,951	153,374
Goodwill		3,220,300	3,220,300
Other intangible assets, net		1,651,701	1,729,829
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			514,200
Assets held for sale		54,282	17,176
Investments		1,393,210	1,637,909
Intercompany receivables		5,952,848	5,547,542
Intercompany loan receivable			0
Other assets		74,404	75,191
Total other assets		12,491,696	12,895,521
Total Assets (1)		13,377,836	14,046,535
Accounts payable		21,009	29,703
Debt due within one year		0	0
Income taxes payable		52,310	21,130
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		206,955	238,497
Deferred revenue		11,582	13,593
Interest payable		0	0
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			44,763
Other		59,185	70,589
Total current liabilities		351,041	418,275
Long-term debt		0	0
Intercompany loan payable			27,000
Deferred income taxes		804,565	871,923
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		275,039	314,755
Intercompany payables		1,991,715	1,912,259
Other		63,817	50,239
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			86,517
Total non-current liabilities		3,135,136	3,262,693
Total Liabilities (1)		3,486,177	3,680,968
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		9,038,104	9,486,179
Retained (deficit) earnings		856,331	888,088
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(2,776)	(8,700)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		9,891,659	10,365,567
Noncontrolling interest		0	0
Total shareholders’ equity		9,891,659	10,365,567
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		13,377,836	14,046,535
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries | Reportable Legal Entities
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		2,085	2,300	$ 11,570	$ 14,082
Restricted cash and cash equivalents		0	0
Accounts receivable, net		297	660
Broadcast rights		745	2,551
Income taxes receivable		0	0
Current assets of discontinued operations			25,305
Prepaid expenses		230	148
Other		0	1
Total current assets		3,357	30,965
Property, plant and equipment		110,514	107,938
Accumulated depreciation		(6,650)	(6,041)
Net properties		103,864	101,897
Investments in subsidiaries		0	0
Broadcast rights		47	83
Goodwill		8,285	7,630
Other intangible assets, net		84,237	89,305
Non-current assets of discontinued operations			93,953
Assets held for sale		0	0
Investments		17,090	17,895
Intercompany receivables		357,656	358,834
Intercompany loan receivable			0
Other assets		415	2,707
Total other assets		467,730	570,407
Total Assets (1)		574,951	703,269
Accounts payable		2,218	1,023
Debt due within one year		4,009	4,003
Income taxes payable		(3)	36
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		940	2,758
Deferred revenue		51	97
Interest payable		2	4
Current liabilities of discontinued operations			9,521
Other		253	220
Total current liabilities		7,470	17,662
Long-term debt		8,761	10,767
Intercompany loan payable			0
Deferred income taxes		155,258	161,604
Contracts payable for broadcast rights		49	85
Intercompany payables		258,697	254,954
Other		20	20
Non-current liabilities of discontinued operations			8,797
Total non-current liabilities		422,785	436,227
Total Liabilities (1)		430,255	453,889
Common stock		0	0
Treasury stock		0	0
Additional paid-in-capital		200,981	289,818
Retained (deficit) earnings		(63,182)	(33,961)
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income		(23)	(12,394)
Total Tribune Media Company shareholders’ equity		137,776	243,463
Noncontrolling interest		6,920	5,917
Total shareholders’ equity		144,696	249,380
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$ 574,951	$ 703,269

[1] (4)See Note 3 for information regarding real estate assets held for sale.

[2] (1) The Company’s consolidated total assets as of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 include total assets of variable interest entities (“VIEs”) of $92 million and $97 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. The Company’s consolidated total liabilities as of June 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $2 million and $3 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to the Company (see Note 1).