SEGMENT DATA - Segment Financial Information (Details) - USD ($)		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2020	Sep. 30, 2020	Jun. 30, 2020	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Segment data
Goodwill		$ 2,092,000,000				$ 4,716,000,000				$ 2,092,000,000	$ 4,716,000,000	$ 2,124,000,000
Assets	[1]	13,382,000,000				17,370,000,000				13,382,000,000	17,370,000,000
Capital expenditures										157,000,000	156,000,000	105,000,000
Revenue		1,512,000,000	$ 1,539,000,000	$ 1,283,000,000	$ 1,609,000,000	1,622,000,000	$ 1,125,000,000	$ 771,000,000	$ 722,000,000	5,943,000,000	4,240,000,000	3,055,000,000
Depreciation of property and equipment										674,000,000	424,000,000	280,000,000
Amortization of sports programming rights										1,078,000,000	637,000,000	0
Amortization of program contract costs										86,000,000	90,000,000	101,000,000
Corporate general and administrative expenses										148,000,000	387,000,000	111,000,000
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment										(115,000,000)	(92,000,000)	(40,000,000)
Impairment of goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets										4,264,000,000	0	0
Operating (loss) income		625,000,000	$ (4,216,000,000)	$ 492,000,000	$ 327,000,000	277,000,000	$ (6,000,000)	$ 106,000,000	$ 93,000,000	(2,772,000,000)	470,000,000	660,000,000
Interest expense including amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs										656,000,000	422,000,000	292,000,000
Loss from equity method investments										(36,000,000)	(35,000,000)	(61,000,000)
Spectrum repack reimbursements										90,000,000	62,000,000	6,000,000
Intersegment revenues										100,000,000	35,000,000
Broadcast
Segment data
Goodwill		2,017,000,000				2,026,000,000				2,017,000,000	2,026,000,000	2,055,000,000
Local sports
Segment data
Goodwill		0				2,615,000,000				0	2,615,000,000	0
Operating segments | Broadcast
Segment data
Goodwill		2,017,000,000				2,026,000,000				2,017,000,000	2,026,000,000
Assets		4,908,000,000				4,866,000,000				4,908,000,000	4,866,000,000
Capital expenditures										101,000,000	150,000,000
Revenue										2,922,000,000	2,690,000,000	2,715,000,000
Depreciation of property and equipment										239,000,000	246,000,000	252,000,000
Amortization of sports programming rights										0	0
Amortization of program contract costs										83,000,000	90,000,000	101,000,000
Corporate general and administrative expenses										119,000,000	144,000,000	100,000,000
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment										(118,000,000)	(62,000,000)	(100,000,000)
Impairment of goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets										0
Operating (loss) income										789,000,000	546,000,000	751,000,000
Interest expense including amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs										5,000,000	5,000,000	6,000,000
Loss from equity method investments										0	0	0
Operating segments | Local sports
Segment data
Goodwill		0				2,615,000,000				0	2,615,000,000
Assets		6,620,000,000				11,258,000,000				6,620,000,000	11,258,000,000
Capital expenditures										24,000,000	9,000,000
Revenue										2,686,000,000	1,139,000,000	0
Depreciation of property and equipment										410,000,000	157,000,000	0
Amortization of sports programming rights										1,078,000,000	637,000,000
Amortization of program contract costs										0	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses										10,000,000	93,000,000	0
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment										0	0	0
Impairment of goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets										4,264,000,000
Operating (loss) income										(3,602,000,000)	30,000,000	0
Interest expense including amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs										460,000,000	200,000,000	0
Loss from equity method investments										6,000,000	18,000,000	0
Operating segments | Other & Corporate
Segment data
Goodwill		75,000,000				75,000,000				75,000,000	75,000,000
Assets		1,867,000,000				1,271,000,000				1,867,000,000	1,271,000,000
Capital expenditures										32,000,000	9,000,000
Revenue										451,000,000	470,000,000	350,000,000
Depreciation of property and equipment										27,000,000	22,000,000	29,000,000
Amortization of sports programming rights										0	0
Amortization of program contract costs										3,000,000	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses										19,000,000	151,000,000	11,000,000
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment										3,000,000	(30,000,000)	60,000,000
Impairment of goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets										0
Operating (loss) income										47,000,000	(98,000,000)	(88,000,000)
Interest expense including amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs										203,000,000	230,000,000	301,000,000
Loss from equity method investments										(42,000,000)	(53,000,000)	(61,000,000)
Eliminations
Segment data
Goodwill		0				0				0	0
Assets		$ (13,000,000)				$ (25,000,000)				(13,000,000)	(25,000,000)
Capital expenditures										0	(12,000,000)
Revenue										(116,000,000)	(59,000,000)	(10,000,000)
Depreciation of property and equipment										(2,000,000)	(1,000,000)	(1,000,000)
Amortization of sports programming rights										0	0
Amortization of program contract costs										0	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses										0	(1,000,000)	0
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment										0	0	0
Impairment of goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets										0
Operating (loss) income										(6,000,000)	(8,000,000)	(3,000,000)
Interest expense including amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs										(12,000,000)	(13,000,000)	(15,000,000)
Loss from equity method investments										$ 0	0	0
Spectrum Auction
Segment data
Gain on asset dispositions and other, net of impairment												(83,000,000)
Spectrum repack reimbursements											$ 62,000,000
Consolidated Real Estate Development Project
Segment data
Asset impairment charges												$ 60,000,000

[1] Our consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 include total assets of variable interest entities (VIEs) of $233 million and $228 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs.  Our consolidated total liabilities as of December 31, 2020 and 2019 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $60 million and $27 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to us.  See Note 14. Variable Interest Entities.