Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Use of Estimates	Use of Estimates-The preparation of the Company’s financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
Leases	Leases-The Company has operating leases primarily for office space, equipment, transponders and studio facilities and finance leases for satellite transponders and office equipment. The Company determines that a contract contains a lease if it obtains substantially all of the economic benefits of, and the right to direct the use of, an asset identified in the contract. For leases with terms greater than 12 months, the Company records a right-of-use asset and a lease liability representing the present value of future lease payments. The discount rate used to measure the lease asset and liability is determined at the beginning of the lease term using the rate implicit in the lease, if readily determinable, or the Company’s collateralized incremental borrowing rate. For those contracts that include fixed rental payments for both the use of the asset (“lease costs”) as well as for other occupancy or service costs relating to the asset (“non-lease costs”), the Company includes both the lease costs and non-lease costs in the measurement of the lease asset and liability. The Company also owns buildings and production facilities where it leases space to lessees. The Company’s leases have remaining terms ranging from one to 16 years and often contain renewal options to extend the lease for periods of generally up to five years. For leases that contain renewal options, the Company includes the renewal period in the lease term if it is reasonably certain that the option will be exercised. Lease expenses and income are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, with the exception of variable lease costs, which are expensed as incurred, and leases of assets used in the production of programming, which are capitalized and amortized over the projected useful life of the related programming.
Net Earnings per Common Share	Net Earnings per Common Share-Basic net earnings per share (“EPS”) is based upon net earnings divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS reflects the effect of the assumed exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) only in the periods in which such effect would have been dilutive.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements and Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted	Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements Leases During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) guidance on the accounting for leases, which supersedes previous lease guidance. Under this guidance, for all leases with terms in excess of one year, the Company recognizes on its balance sheet a lease liability and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The new guidance retains a distinction between finance leases and operating leases and the classification criteria is substantially similar to previous guidance. Additionally, the recognition, measurement, and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee have not significantly changed. The Company applied the modified retrospective method of adoption and therefore, results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2019 are presented under the new guidance while prior periods have not been adjusted. As a result of this guidance, the Company recognized right-of-use assets of $952 million and lease liabilities of $1.02 billion for its operating leases on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at March 31, 2019. This guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Operations. See Note 12 for additional information. Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted FASB guidance that permits an entity to reclassify certain income tax effects of federal tax legislation enacted in December 2017 (the “Tax Reform Act”) on items within accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) to retained earnings. As a result of the Tax Reform Act, in 2017, the Company remeasured its deferred income tax assets and liabilities to reflect the reduction in the federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%. The remeasurement was recognized in net earnings and as a result, the income tax effects of the Tax Reform Act on items within AOCI remained at historical rates (“stranded tax effects”). During the first quarter of 2019, as a result of the adoption of this guidance, the Company elected to reclassify the stranded tax effects of $176 million relating to its pension and postretirement obligations from AOCI to accumulated deficit. This guidance also requires entities to disclose their accounting policy for releasing stranded tax effects, unrelated to the Tax Reform Act, from AOCI. For pension and postretirement benefit plans, the Company releases stranded tax effects from AOCI when the pension and postretirement plans are terminated. Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted FASB amended guidance for hedge accounting, which expands the eligibility of hedging strategies that qualify for hedge accounting, modifies the recognition and presentation of hedges in the financial statements, and changes how companies assess hedge effectiveness. In addition, this guidance amends and expands disclosure requirements. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted Improvements to Accounting for Costs of Films and License Agreements for Program Materials In March 2019, the FASB issued guidance on the accounting for costs of films and episodic television series, which aligns the accounting for capitalizing production costs of episodic television series with the guidance for films. As a result, the capitalization of costs incurred to produce episodic television series will no longer be limited to the amount of revenue contracted in the initial market until persuasive evidence of a secondary market exists. In addition, this guidance requires the Company to test for impairment of television series on a title-by-title basis or together with other series as part of a group, based on the predominant monetization strategy of the series. This guidance also removes the requirement to classify all capitalized costs for produced television series as noncurrent on the balance sheet and adds new disclosure requirements relating to costs for produced television series. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, which is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. Collaborative Arrangements: Clarifying the Interaction with the New Revenue Standard In November 2018, the FASB issued guidance to clarify that certain transactions between parties to collaborative arrangements should be accounted for in accordance with FASB revenue guidance when the counterparty is a customer. This guidance also prohibits the presentation of collaborative arrangements as revenues from contracts with customers if the counterparty is not a customer. This guidance, which is required to be applied retrospectively and is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, is not expected to have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement that is a Service Contract In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance on the accounting for implementation costs of a cloud computing arrangement that is considered to be a service contract. This guidance requires companies to follow the guidance for capitalizing costs associated with internal-use software to determine which costs to capitalize in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract. The guidance also specifies the financial statement presentation for capitalized implementation costs and the related amortization, as well as required financial statement disclosures. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, which is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted. Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans In August 2018, the FASB issued amended guidance that eliminates, adds and clarifies certain disclosure requirements for defined benefit pension or other postretirement plans. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, which is required to be applied retrospectively and is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurements In August 2018, the FASB issued amended guidance that eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. This guidance, which is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, is not expected to have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Use of Estimates-The preparation of the Company’s financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Leases

Leases-The Company has operating leases primarily for office space, equipment, transponders and studio facilities and finance leases for satellite transponders and office equipment. The Company determines that a contract contains a lease if it obtains substantially all of the economic benefits of, and the right to direct the use of, an asset identified in the contract. For leases with terms greater than 12 months, the Company records a right-of-use asset and a lease liability representing the present value of future lease payments. The discount rate used to measure the lease asset and liability is determined at the beginning of the lease term using the rate implicit in the lease, if readily determinable, or the Company’s collateralized incremental borrowing rate. For those contracts that include fixed rental payments for both the use of the asset (“lease costs”) as well as for other occupancy or service costs relating to the asset (“non-lease costs”), the Company includes both the lease costs and non-lease costs in the measurement of the lease asset and liability. The Company also owns buildings and production facilities where it leases space to lessees.

The Company’s leases have remaining terms ranging from one to 16 years and often contain renewal options to extend the lease for periods of generally up to five years. For leases that contain renewal options, the Company includes the renewal period in the lease term if it is reasonably certain that the option will be exercised. Lease expenses and income are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, with the exception of variable lease costs, which are expensed as incurred, and leases of assets used in the production of programming, which are capitalized and amortized over the projected useful life of the related programming.

Net Earnings per Common Share

Net Earnings per Common Share-Basic net earnings per share (“EPS”) is based upon net earnings divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted EPS reflects the effect of the assumed exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) only in the periods in which such effect would have been dilutive.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements and Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Leases

During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) guidance on the accounting for leases, which supersedes previous lease guidance. Under this guidance, for all leases with terms in excess of one year, the Company recognizes on its balance sheet a lease liability and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The new guidance retains a distinction between finance leases and operating leases and the classification criteria is substantially similar to previous guidance. Additionally, the recognition, measurement, and presentation of expenses and cash flows arising from a lease by a lessee have not significantly changed. The Company applied the modified retrospective method of adoption and therefore, results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2019 are presented under the new guidance while prior periods have not been adjusted. As a result of this guidance, the Company recognized right-of-use assets of $952 million and lease liabilities of $1.02 billion for its operating leases on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at March 31, 2019. This guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s Consolidated Statement of Operations. See Note 12 for additional information.

Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted FASB guidance that permits an entity to reclassify certain income tax effects of federal tax legislation enacted in December 2017 (the “Tax Reform Act”) on items within accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) to retained earnings. As a result of the Tax Reform Act, in 2017, the Company remeasured its deferred income tax assets and liabilities to reflect the reduction in the federal income tax rate from 35% to 21%. The remeasurement was recognized in net earnings and as a result, the income tax effects of the Tax Reform Act on items within AOCI remained at historical rates (“stranded tax effects”). During the first quarter of 2019, as a result of the adoption of this guidance, the Company elected to reclassify the stranded tax effects of $176 million relating to its pension and postretirement obligations from AOCI to accumulated deficit. This guidance also requires entities to disclose their accounting policy for releasing stranded tax effects, unrelated to the Tax Reform Act, from AOCI. For pension and postretirement benefit plans, the Company releases stranded tax effects from AOCI when the pension and postretirement plans are terminated.

Targeted Improvements to Accounting for Hedging Activities

During the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted FASB amended guidance for hedge accounting, which expands the eligibility of hedging strategies that qualify for hedge accounting, modifies the recognition and presentation of hedges in the financial statements, and changes how companies assess hedge effectiveness. In addition, this guidance amends and expands disclosure requirements. The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Improvements to Accounting for Costs of Films and License Agreements for Program Materials

In March 2019, the FASB issued guidance on the accounting for costs of films and episodic television series, which aligns the accounting for capitalizing production costs of episodic television series with the guidance for films. As a result, the capitalization of costs incurred to produce episodic television series will no longer be limited to the amount of revenue contracted in the initial market until persuasive evidence of a secondary market exists. In addition, this guidance requires the Company to test for impairment of television series on a title-by-title basis or together with other series as part of a group, based on the predominant monetization strategy of the series. This guidance also removes the requirement to classify all capitalized costs for produced television series as noncurrent on the balance sheet and adds new disclosure requirements relating to costs for produced television series. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, which is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted.

Collaborative Arrangements: Clarifying the Interaction with the New Revenue Standard

In November 2018, the FASB issued guidance to clarify that certain transactions between parties to collaborative arrangements should be accounted for in accordance with FASB revenue guidance when the counterparty is a customer. This guidance also prohibits the presentation of collaborative arrangements as revenues from contracts with customers if the counterparty is not a customer. This guidance, which is required to be applied retrospectively and is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, is not expected to have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement that is a Service Contract

In August 2018, the FASB issued guidance on the accounting for implementation costs of a cloud computing arrangement that is considered to be a service contract. This guidance requires companies to follow the guidance for capitalizing costs associated with internal-use software to determine which costs to capitalize in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract. The guidance also specifies the financial statement presentation for capitalized implementation costs and the related amortization, as well as required financial statement disclosures. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, which is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted.

Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Defined Benefit Plans

In August 2018, the FASB issued amended guidance that eliminates, adds and clarifies certain disclosure requirements for defined benefit pension or other postretirement plans. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance, which is required to be applied retrospectively and is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted.

Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurements

In August 2018, the FASB issued amended guidance that eliminates, adds and modifies certain disclosure requirements for fair value measurements. This guidance, which is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted, is not expected to have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.