CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - Statement of Cash Flows (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
NET CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	$ 400,695	$ 430,454	$ 160,577
CASH FLOWS USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of property and equipment	(91,421)	(81,458)	(43,388)
Payments for acquisitions of television stations, net of cash acquired	(17,011)	(1,485,039)	(1,006,144)
Payments to Acquire Alarm Monitoring Contracts	(39,185)	(27,701)	(23,721)
Proceeds from the sale of broadcast assets	23,650	176,675	49,738
Decrease in restricted cash	(3,725)	11,616	(11,522)
Investments in equity and cost method investees	(44,715)	(8,104)	(10,767)
Proceeds from insurance settlement		17,042
Other, net	17,371	(387)	(5,437)
Net cash flow used in investing activities	(151,311)	(1,397,356)	(1,051,241)
CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	382,887	1,500,720	2,278,293
Repayments of notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	(395,147)	(582,764)	(1,509,760)
Proceeds from the sale of Class A Common Stock	0	0	472,913
Dividends paid on Class A and Class B common stock	(62,733)	(61,103)	(56,767)
Repurchase of outstanding Class A Common Stock	(28,823)	(133,157)	0
Payments for deferred financing costs	(3,847)	(16,590)	(27,724)
Noncontrolling interests distributions	(9,918)	(8,184)	(10,256)
Increase (decrease) in intercompany payables	0	0	0
Other, net	487	5,558	1,204
Net cash flows (used in) from financing activities	(117,094)	704,480	1,147,903
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	132,290	(262,422)	257,239
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period	17,682	280,104	22,865
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period	149,972	17,682	280,104
Reportable legal entities | Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
NET CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(3,759)	(26,528)	(37,107)
CASH FLOWS USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of property and equipment	0	0	0
Payments for acquisitions of television stations, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Payments to Acquire Alarm Monitoring Contracts	0	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of broadcast assets	0	0	0
Decrease in restricted cash		0	0
Investments in equity and cost method investees	0	0	0
Proceeds from insurance settlement		0
Other, net	4,598	1,000	1,648
Net cash flow used in investing activities	4,598	1,000	1,648
CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	0	0	0
Repayments of notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	(528)	(556)	(482)
Proceeds from the sale of Class A Common Stock			472,913
Dividends paid on Class A and Class B common stock	(62,733)	(61,103)	(56,767)
Repurchase of outstanding Class A Common Stock	(28,823)	(133,157)
Payments for deferred financing costs	0	0	0
Noncontrolling interests distributions	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany payables	89,319	218,081	(371,331)
Other, net	1,926	2,263	(8,874)
Net cash flows (used in) from financing activities	(839)	25,528	35,459
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period	0	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period	0	0	0
Reportable legal entities | Sinclair Television Group, Inc.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
NET CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(133,595)	(147,940)	(264,925)
CASH FLOWS USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of property and equipment	(6,605)	(8,864)	(2,700)
Payments for acquisitions of television stations, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Payments to Acquire Alarm Monitoring Contracts	0	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of broadcast assets	0	0	0
Decrease in restricted cash		11,525	(11,522)
Investments in equity and cost method investees	(8,998)	0	0
Proceeds from insurance settlement		17,042
Other, net	(5,447)	0	0
Net cash flow used in investing activities	(21,050)	19,703	(14,222)
CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	349,562	1,466,500	2,189,753
Repayments of notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	(382,691)	(574,584)	(1,473,898)
Proceeds from the sale of Class A Common Stock			0
Dividends paid on Class A and Class B common stock	0	0	0
Repurchase of outstanding Class A Common Stock	0	0
Payments for deferred financing costs	(3,604)	(16,590)	(27,724)
Noncontrolling interests distributions	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany payables	303,755	(981,669)	(178,240)
Other, net	0	0	0
Net cash flows (used in) from financing activities	267,022	(106,343)	509,891
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	112,377	(234,580)	230,744
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period	3,394	237,974	7,230
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period	115,771	3,394	237,974
Reportable legal entities | Guarantor Subsidiaries and KDSM, LLC
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
NET CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	530,768	628,103	444,680
CASH FLOWS USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of property and equipment	(84,079)	(71,152)	(35,659)
Payments for acquisitions of television stations, net of cash acquired	(17,011)	(1,485,039)	(998,664)
Payments to Acquire Alarm Monitoring Contracts	0	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of broadcast assets	23,650	176,675	71,738
Decrease in restricted cash		91	0
Investments in equity and cost method investees	(27)	0	0
Proceeds from insurance settlement		0
Other, net	575	392	50
Net cash flow used in investing activities	(76,892)	(1,379,033)	(962,535)
CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	0	507	0
Repayments of notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	(1,286)	(1,028)	(1,069)
Proceeds from the sale of Class A Common Stock			0
Dividends paid on Class A and Class B common stock	0	0	0
Repurchase of outstanding Class A Common Stock	0	0
Payments for deferred financing costs	0	0	0
Noncontrolling interests distributions	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany payables	(452,897)	725,678	548,139
Other, net	(1,207)	(1,072)	(820)
Net cash flows (used in) from financing activities	(455,390)	724,085	546,250
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	(1,514)	(26,845)	28,395
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period	1,749	28,594	199
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period	235	1,749	28,594
Reportable legal entities | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
NET CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(16,864)	(35,694)	(40,414)
CASH FLOWS USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of property and equipment	(2,586)	(2,722)	(5,029)
Payments for acquisitions of television stations, net of cash acquired	0	0	(50,480)
Payments to Acquire Alarm Monitoring Contracts	(39,185)	(27,701)	(23,721)
Proceeds from the sale of broadcast assets	0	0	21,000
Decrease in restricted cash		0	0
Investments in equity and cost method investees	(35,690)	(8,104)	(10,767)
Proceeds from insurance settlement		0
Other, net	17,645	(1,779)	3,773
Net cash flow used in investing activities	(59,816)	(40,306)	(65,224)
CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	33,325	33,713	88,540
Repayments of notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	(10,642)	(6,596)	(34,311)
Proceeds from the sale of Class A Common Stock			0
Dividends paid on Class A and Class B common stock	0	0	0
Repurchase of outstanding Class A Common Stock	0	0
Payments for deferred financing costs	(243)	0	0
Noncontrolling interests distributions	(9,918)	(8,184)	(10,256)
Increase (decrease) in intercompany payables	85,953	51,703	59,765
Other, net	(368)	4,367	0
Net cash flows (used in) from financing activities	98,107	75,003	103,738
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	21,427	(997)	(1,900)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period	12,539	13,536	15,436
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period	33,966	12,539	13,536
Eliminations
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
NET CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES	24,145	12,513	58,343
CASH FLOWS USED IN INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Acquisition of property and equipment	1,849	1,280	0
Payments for acquisitions of television stations, net of cash acquired	0	0	43,000
Payments to Acquire Alarm Monitoring Contracts	0	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of broadcast assets	0	0	(43,000)
Decrease in restricted cash		0	0
Investments in equity and cost method investees	0	0	0
Proceeds from insurance settlement		0
Other, net	0	0	(10,908)
Net cash flow used in investing activities	1,849	1,280	(10,908)
CASH FLOWS (USED IN) FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	0	0	0
Repayments of notes payable, commercial bank financing and capital leases	0	0	0
Proceeds from the sale of Class A Common Stock			0
Dividends paid on Class A and Class B common stock	0	0	0
Repurchase of outstanding Class A Common Stock	0	0
Payments for deferred financing costs	0	0	0
Noncontrolling interests distributions	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in intercompany payables	(26,130)	(13,793)	(58,333)
Other, net	136	0	10,898
Net cash flows (used in) from financing activities	(25,994)	(13,793)	(47,435)
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS	0	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period	0	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0