Reportable Segments (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Reportable Segments Details [Abstract]
Interest expense									$ (402,000,000)	$ (435,000,000)	$ (527,000,000)
Interest income									6,000,000	6,000,000	5,000,000
Net gain (loss) on early extinguishment of debt									(32,000,000)	0	(81,000,000)
Other items, net									6,000,000	(11,000,000)	9,000,000
Earnings (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes and equity in earnings (loss) of investee companies									2,561,000,000	2,179,000,000	1,335,000,000
(Provision) benefit for income taxes									(892,000,000)	(751,000,000)	(478,000,000)
Equity in loss of investee companies, net of tax									(35,000,000)	(37,000,000)	(35,000,000)
Net earnings (loss) from continuing operations	403,000,000	385,000,000	452,000,000	394,000,000	351,000,000	386,000,000	422,000,000	232,000,000	1,634,000,000	1,391,000,000	822,000,000
Net loss from discontinued operations, net of tax (Note 3)									(60,000,000)	(86,000,000)	(98,000,000)
Net earnings (loss)	393,000,000	391,000,000	427,000,000	363,000,000	370,000,000	338,000,000	395,000,000	202,000,000	1,574,000,000	1,305,000,000	724,000,000
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	3,698,000,000	3,266,000,000	3,329,000,000	3,796,000,000	3,612,000,000	3,221,000,000	3,428,000,000	3,376,000,000	14,089,000,000	13,637,000,000	13,466,000,000
Total intercompany revenues									237,000,000	203,000,000	198,000,000
Segment OIBDA	866,000,000	904,000,000	911,000,000	807,000,000	814,000,000	861,000,000	886,000,000	596,000,000	3,488,000,000	3,157,000,000	2,488,000,000
Total operating income (loss)	726,000,000	788,000,000	792,000,000	677,000,000	647,000,000	741,000,000	761,000,000	470,000,000	2,983,000,000	2,619,000,000	1,929,000,000
Total depreciation and amortization	121,000,000	116,000,000	119,000,000	119,000,000	124,000,000	120,000,000	125,000,000	126,000,000	475,000,000	495,000,000	500,000,000
Restructuring charges	19,000,000	0	0	0	43,000,000	0	0	0	19,000,000	43,000,000	59,000,000
Impairment charges	0	0	0	11,000,000					11,000,000	0	0
Total stock-based compensation									153,000,000	139,000,000	136,000,000
Total capital expenditures									254,000,000	245,000,000	254,000,000
Total assets	26,466,000,000				26,220,000,000				26,466,000,000	26,220,000,000
Revenues by Type:
Advertising									8,459,000,000	8,399,000,000	8,559,000,000
Content licensing and distribution revenues									3,468,000,000	3,236,000,000	3,049,000,000
Affiliate and subscription fees									1,921,000,000	1,762,000,000	1,620,000,000
Other Revenues									241,000,000	240,000,000	238,000,000
Revenues by Geographic Area
Revenues from external customers, United States									12,358,000,000	12,055,000,000	11,984,000,000
Revenues from external customers, International									1,731,000,000	1,582,000,000	1,482,000,000
Long-lived Assets:
Long-lived Assets, United States	19,850,000,000				19,840,000,000				19,850,000,000	19,840,000,000
Long-lived assets, International	722,000,000				695,000,000				722,000,000	695,000,000
Total Long-lived assets	20,572,000,000				20,535,000,000				20,572,000,000	20,535,000,000
Entertainment Segment [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	1,989,000,000	1,680,000,000	1,707,000,000	2,318,000,000	1,995,000,000	1,632,000,000	1,836,000,000	1,994,000,000	7,694,000,000	7,457,000,000	7,391,000,000
Total intercompany revenues									203,000,000	160,000,000	157,000,000
Segment OIBDA	328,000,000	384,000,000	426,000,000	411,000,000	318,000,000	405,000,000	440,000,000	268,000,000	1,549,000,000	1,431,000,000	894,000,000
Total operating income (loss)	280,000,000	346,000,000	385,000,000	370,000,000	235,000,000	366,000,000	400,000,000	230,000,000	1,381,000,000	1,231,000,000	708,000,000
Total depreciation and amortization									161,000,000	160,000,000	163,000,000
Restructuring charges									7,000,000	40,000,000
Total stock-based compensation									49,000,000	45,000,000	43,000,000
Total capital expenditures									92,000,000	94,000,000	90,000,000
Total assets	9,023,000,000				8,471,000,000				9,023,000,000	8,471,000,000
Cable Networks Segment [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	438,000,000	436,000,000	446,000,000	452,000,000	395,000,000	420,000,000	413,000,000	393,000,000	1,772,000,000	1,621,000,000	1,475,000,000
Total intercompany revenues									0	1,000,000	0
Segment OIBDA	185,000,000	227,000,000	190,000,000	209,000,000	175,000,000	203,000,000	176,000,000	153,000,000	811,000,000	707,000,000	569,000,000
Total operating income (loss)	176,000,000	221,000,000	184,000,000	204,000,000	169,000,000	197,000,000	171,000,000	147,000,000	785,000,000	684,000,000	543,000,000
Total depreciation and amortization									26,000,000	23,000,000	23,000,000
Restructuring charges									0	0
Total stock-based compensation									6,000,000	4,000,000	5,000,000
Total capital expenditures									18,000,000	15,000,000	19,000,000
Total assets	1,750,000,000				1,679,000,000				1,750,000,000	1,679,000,000
Publishing Segment [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	215,000,000	210,000,000	189,000,000	176,000,000	229,000,000	220,000,000	183,000,000	155,000,000	790,000,000	787,000,000	791,000,000
Segment OIBDA	31,000,000	39,000,000	9,000,000	10,000,000	28,000,000	38,000,000	19,000,000	7,000,000	89,000,000	92,000,000	72,000,000
Total operating income (loss)	27,000,000	38,000,000	7,000,000	8,000,000	25,000,000	36,000,000	17,000,000	5,000,000	80,000,000	83,000,000	61,000,000
Total depreciation and amortization									6,000,000	7,000,000	7,000,000
Restructuring charges									3,000,000	2,000,000
Total stock-based compensation									3,000,000	3,000,000	3,000,000
Total capital expenditures									5,000,000	7,000,000	6,000,000
Total assets	1,033,000,000				1,091,000,000				1,033,000,000	1,091,000,000
Local Broadcasting Segment [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	787,000,000	661,000,000	704,000,000	622,000,000	721,000,000	656,000,000	691,000,000	621,000,000	2,774,000,000	2,689,000,000	2,782,000,000
Total intercompany revenues									19,000,000	20,000,000	22,000,000
Segment OIBDA	325,000,000	213,000,000	248,000,000	171,000,000	266,000,000	184,000,000	230,000,000	169,000,000	957,000,000	849,000,000	865,000,000
Total operating income (loss)	295,000,000	190,000,000	225,000,000	138,000,000	242,000,000	161,000,000	204,000,000	143,000,000	848,000,000	750,000,000	740,000,000
Total depreciation and amortization									90,000,000	99,000,000	100,000,000
Restructuring charges									8,000,000	0
Total stock-based compensation									24,000,000	22,000,000	20,000,000
Total capital expenditures									64,000,000	69,000,000	74,000,000
Total assets	9,614,000,000				9,626,000,000				9,614,000,000	9,626,000,000
Outdoor Americas Segment [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	340,000,000	334,000,000	334,000,000	288,000,000	342,000,000	333,000,000	332,000,000	279,000,000	1,296,000,000	1,286,000,000	1,225,000,000
Total intercompany revenues									15,000,000	22,000,000	19,000,000
Segment OIBDA	94,000,000	105,000,000	103,000,000	76,000,000	108,000,000	104,000,000	99,000,000	69,000,000	378,000,000	380,000,000	317,000,000
Total operating income (loss)	52,000,000	62,000,000	62,000,000	33,000,000	64,000,000	59,000,000	53,000,000	21,000,000	209,000,000	197,000,000	127,000,000
Total depreciation and amortization									169,000,000	182,000,000	186,000,000
Restructuring charges									0	1,000,000
Total stock-based compensation									6,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000
Total capital expenditures									54,000,000	46,000,000	48,000,000
Total assets	3,542,000,000				3,665,000,000				3,542,000,000	3,665,000,000
Corporate [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Segment OIBDA	(97,000,000)	(64,000,000)	(65,000,000)	(70,000,000)	(81,000,000)	(73,000,000)	(78,000,000)	(70,000,000)	(296,000,000)	(302,000,000)	(229,000,000)
Total operating income (loss)	(104,000,000)	(69,000,000)	(71,000,000)	(76,000,000)	(88,000,000)	(78,000,000)	(84,000,000)	(76,000,000)	(320,000,000)	(326,000,000)	(250,000,000)
Total depreciation and amortization									23,000,000	24,000,000	21,000,000
Restructuring charges									1,000,000
Total stock-based compensation									65,000,000	60,000,000	60,000,000
Total capital expenditures									21,000,000	14,000,000	17,000,000
Total assets	1,026,000,000				1,163,000,000				1,026,000,000	1,163,000,000
Eliminations [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total revenues	(71,000,000)	(55,000,000)	(51,000,000)	(60,000,000)	(70,000,000)	(40,000,000)	(27,000,000)	(66,000,000)	(237,000,000)	(203,000,000)	(198,000,000)
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Reportable Segments [Line Items]
Total assets	$ 478,000,000				$ 525,000,000				$ 478,000,000	$ 525,000,000