COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Details) $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jul. 29, 2016	Jul. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2017 USD ($) station	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) station	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) station	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 06, 2016 station
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Period subject to ongoing compliance monitoring by the FCC	36 months
Net revenue | $				$ 679,290	$ 666,534	$ 1,329,225	$ 1,245,423
FCC national ownership cap, percentage of domestic households reached								39.00%
Number of television stations owned and operated				173		173
Number of stations assigned new channels			93
Broadcast incentive auction, total legislation funds to reimburse stations | $			$ 1,750,000
FCC Consent Decree Settlement
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Number of television stations owned and operated								28
Percentage of domestic households reached, UHF discount applied								25.00%
LMA
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Number of separately owned television stations having programming agreement						2
Number of stations that programs substantial portions of broadcast day and sells advertising time						1
Joint Sales Agreements
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Net revenue | $				$ 16,100	$ 14,300	$ 29,200	$ 26,400
Forecast
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Broadcast incentive auction, proceeds | $		$ 310,700