Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets - Goodwill by business segment (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 16, 2014
Summary of activity related to goodwill by business segment
Gross balance	$ 1,022,280us-gaap_GoodwillGross	$ 1,100,575us-gaap_GoodwillGross	$ 1,022,280us-gaap_GoodwillGross	$ 1,022,905us-gaap_GoodwillGross
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of period	28,591us-gaap_Goodwill		27,966us-gaap_Goodwill
Accumulated impairment losses	(994,314)	(994,314)	(994,314)	(994,314)
Acquisitions	(625)us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod
Balance, end of period	27,966us-gaap_Goodwill	106,261us-gaap_Goodwill	27,966us-gaap_Goodwill
Television
Summary of activity related to goodwill by business segment
Gross balance	243,380	288,095	243,380	244,005
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of period	28,591		27,966
Accumulated impairment losses	(215,414)		(215,414)	(215,414)
Acquisitions	(625)
Balance, end of period	27,966	72,681	27,966
Newspapers
Summary of activity related to goodwill by business segment
Gross balance	778,900		778,900	778,900
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of period	0		0
Accumulated impairment losses	(778,900)		(778,900)	(778,900)
Acquisitions	0
Balance, end of period	0	0	0
Syndication and other
Summary of activity related to goodwill by business segment
Gross balance	0	33,580	0	0
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of period	0		0
Accumulated impairment losses	0		0	0
Acquisitions	0
Balance, end of period	0	33,580	0
2014 Newsy acquisition
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of period		28,983
Acquisitions		28,983
2014 Newsy acquisition \| Television
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		0
2014 Newsy acquisition \| Newspapers
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		0
2014 Newsy acquisition \| Syndication and other
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		28,983
2014 Granite Stations acquisitions
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Balance, beginning of period					44,715
Acquisitions		44,715
Balance, end of period					44,715
2014 Granite Stations acquisitions \| Television
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		44,715
2014 Granite Stations acquisitions \| Newspapers
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		0
2014 Granite Stations acquisitions \| Syndication and other
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		0
2014 WeatherSphere acquisition
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		4,597
2014 WeatherSphere acquisition \| Television
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		0
2014 WeatherSphere acquisition \| Newspapers
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		0
2014 WeatherSphere acquisition \| Syndication and other
Goodwill [Roll Forward]
Acquisitions		$ 4,597