ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS OF ASSETS - Narrative (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Sep. 01, 2017 USD ($) station market	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) station market	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($) station market	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2017 station market	May 31, 2017 USD ($) station market $ / shares shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station		191			191
Number of markets | market		89			89
Operating income (loss)		$ 131,582		$ 118,849	$ 238,897	$ 276,478
Broadcast incentive auction, proceeds					310,800
Gain (loss) on sale of assets and asset impairment charges					$ 83,300
Number of stations assigned new channels | station					98
Broadcast incentive auction, total legislation funds to reimburse stations					$ 1,750,000
Broadcast incentive auction, total capital expenditure		8,300			11,700
Asset impairment charges			$ 63,000		59,600
Correcting adjustment to reduce impairment charges		3,400
Bonten
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate purchase price	$ 240,000
Working capital adjustment	$ 2,200
Number of television stations owned | station	14
Number of markets | market	8
Number of stations to which sales services were provided | station	4
Measurement period adjustments, increase to goodwill			$ 1,500
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired	$ 161,900
Goodwill, expected to be deductible for tax purposes	5,600
Media revenues		23,400			45,400
Operating income (loss)		4,100			5,700
Bonten | Network Affiliations
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired	$ 53,300
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life	15 years
Bonten | Customer relationships
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Finite-lived intangible assets acquired	$ 108,600
Acquired finite-lived intangible assets, weighted average useful life	14 years
Other Acquisitions
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Working capital adjustment							$ 2,700
Business combination purchase price							$ 27,400
Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									42
Number of markets | market									33
Outstanding debt assumed									$ 1,100,000
Number of television stations to divest | station								14
Number of markets with divested stations | market								14
Acquisition related costs		5,200			9,900
Deferred financing costs		$ 12,100			$ 12,100
FOX | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									14
CW | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									12
CBS | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									6
ABC | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									3
NBC | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									2
MyNetworkTV | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									3
Independent Station | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations owned | station									2
Tribune Media Company, Stockholders | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash stockholders will receive (in dollars per share) | $ / shares									$ 35.00
Tribune Media Company, Stockholders | Class A Common Stock | Tribune Media Company
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares to be received for a share of acquired stock (in shares) | shares									0.23