Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Revenue Recognition (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended																7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018		Sep. 30, 2018		Jun. 30, 2018		Mar. 31, 2018		Dec. 31, 2017		Sep. 30, 2017		Jun. 30, 2017		Mar. 31, 2017		Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 820,814		$ 778,786		$ 796,092		$ 794,482		$ 812,733		$ 731,346		$ 773,242		$ 777,710		$ 17,900	$ 3,190,174	$ 3,095,031	$ 3,031,137
Operating profit	210,263		166,170		188,127		195,762		212,246		149,776		183,518		177,239			760,322	722,779	676,850
Costs and expenses	(610,551)		(612,616)		(607,965)		(598,720)		(600,487)		(581,570)		(589,724)		(600,471)			(2,429,852)	(2,372,252)	(2,354,287)
General and administrative expenses																		(145,499)	(153,067)	(136,708)
Gains (losses) on divestitures and impairment charges, net																		15,933	7,015	(26,819)
Hurricane expense, net																		(97)	5,584	0
Operating income	172,710		132,303		161,954		163,692		177,999		109,351		143,902		139,891			630,659	571,143	513,323
Interest expense																		(181,556)	(169,125)	(162,093)
Losses on early extinguishment of debt, net																		10,131	274	22,503
Nonoperating Income (Expense)																		2,760	(1,486)	(2,069)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest	126,012	[1]	86,036	[1]	119,315	[1]	110,369	[1]	133,636	[1]	66,578	[1]	101,518	[1]	98,526	[1]		441,732	400,258	326,658
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	(67,224)		17,043		16,034		28,321		(113,759)		10,437		32,956		(76,223)			5,826	146,589	(149,353)
Net income	193,236		68,993		103,281		82,048		247,395		56,141		68,562		174,749		$ 1,700	447,558	546,847	177,305
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(190)		(58)		(42)		(60)		(79)		23		(81)		(47)			(350)	(184)	(267)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 193,046		$ 68,935		$ 103,239		$ 81,988		$ 247,316		$ 56,164		$ 68,481		$ 174,702			$ 447,208	$ 546,663	$ 177,038
Net income attributable to common stockholders, basic	$ 1.07	[2]	$ 0.38	[2]	$ 0.57	[2]	$ 0.44	[2]	$ 1.32	[2]	$ 0.30	[2]	$ 0.37	[2]	$ 0.93	[2]		$ 2.45	$ 2.91	$ 0.92
Net income attributable to common stockholders, diluted	$ 1.04	[2]	$ 0.37	[2]	$ 0.55	[2]	$ 0.43	[2]	$ 1.29	[2]	$ 0.29	[2]	$ 0.36	[2]	$ 0.91	[2]		$ 2.39	$ 2.84	$ 0.90
Change in amounts due for unfulfilled performance obligations																		$ (546,554)	$ 0	$ 0
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenue																		1,142
Operating profit																		(14,349)
Costs and expenses																		(15,491)
General and administrative expenses																		0
Gains (losses) on divestitures and impairment charges, net																		0
Hurricane expense, net																		0
Operating income																		(14,349)
Interest expense																		0
Losses on early extinguishment of debt, net																		0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)																		0
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest																		(14,349)
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)																		3,672
Net income																		(10,677)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests																		0
Net income attributable to common stockholders																		$ (10,677)
Net income attributable to common stockholders, basic																		$ (58.52)
Net income attributable to common stockholders, diluted																		$ (57.10)
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenue																		$ 3,191,316
Operating profit																		745,973
Costs and expenses																		(2,445,343)
General and administrative expenses																		(145,499)
Gains (losses) on divestitures and impairment charges, net																		15,933
Hurricane expense, net																		(97)
Operating income																		616,310
Interest expense																		(181,556)
Losses on early extinguishment of debt, net																		10,131
Nonoperating Income (Expense)																		2,760
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest																		427,383
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)																		9,498
Net income																		436,881
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests																		(350)
Net income attributable to common stockholders																		$ 436,531
Net income attributable to common stockholders, basic																		$ 2,392.65
Net income attributable to common stockholders, diluted																		$ 2,334.74
Retained Earnings [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Cumulative Effect on Retained Earnings, Net of Tax																		$ 172,200
Deferred Charges And Other Assets [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
New Accounting Pronouncement or Change in Accounting Principle, Effect of Change on Net Income																		268,000
Deferred Revenue [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
New Accounting Pronouncement or Change in Accounting Principle, Effect of Change on Net Income																		38,000
Deferred Tax Liability [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
New Accounting Pronouncement or Change in Accounting Principle, Effect of Change on Net Income																		$ 57,800
Retirement Plan [Member]
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Costs and expenses																			(600)	(400)
General and administrative expenses																			$ (1,400)	$ (1,000)

[1] Includes Gains (losses) on divestitures and impairment charges, net, as described in Note 15.

[2] Net income per share is computed independently for each of the quarters presented. Therefore, the sum of the quarters’ net income per share may not equal the total computed for the year.