ACQUISITIONS (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 Four Points item	Jun. 30, 2012 Four Points item	Jan. 02, 2012 Four Points	Dec. 31, 2011 Four Points	Jan. 31, 2012 Four Points Network affiliations	Jan. 02, 2012 Four Points Network affiliations	Jan. 31, 2012 Four Points Decaying advertiser base	Jan. 02, 2012 Four Points Decaying advertiser base	Jan. 31, 2012 Four Points Other intangible assets	Jan. 02, 2012 Four Points Other intangible assets	Jan. 31, 2012 Four Points Term Loan B	Jun. 30, 2012 Freedom item	Jun. 30, 2012 Freedom item	Apr. 02, 2012 Freedom	Mar. 31, 2012 Freedom	Dec. 31, 2011 Freedom	Apr. 30, 2012 Freedom Network affiliations	Apr. 02, 2012 Freedom Network affiliations	Apr. 30, 2012 Freedom Decaying advertiser base	Apr. 02, 2012 Freedom Decaying advertiser base	Apr. 30, 2012 Freedom Other intangible assets	Apr. 02, 2012 Freedom Other intangible assets	Apr. 30, 2012 Freedom Term Loan A	Apr. 30, 2012 Freedom Term Loan B
Acquisitions
Number of television stations					7	7										8	8
Number of markets						4											7
Cash paid							$ 200,000,000											$ 385,000,000
Working capital adjustment							900,000											300,000
Amount raised for financing the acquisition															180,000,000												157,500,000	192,500,000
Escrow deposit used to fund acquisition							20,000,000											38,500,000
Initial allocated fair value of acquired assets and assumed liabilities
Prepaid expenses and other current assets							416,000											375,000
Program contract costs							3,711,000											3,546,000
Property and equipment							34,578,000											54,109,000
Broadcast licenses							10,658,000											10,424,000
Definite-lived intangible assets							90,099,000			66,900,000		9,400,000		13,800,000				132,475,000				93,100,000		23,400,000		16,000,000
Other assets							548,000											278,000
Accrued liabilities							(343,000)											(633,000)
Program contracts payable							(5,117,000)											(3,480,000)
Fair value of identifiable net assets acquired							134,550,000											197,094,000
Goodwill							64,526,000											188,212,000
Total							199,076,000											385,306,000
Weighted average life									15 years		10 years		14 years								15 years		10 years		16 years
Amount paid for funding working capital needs								8,100,000											9,600,000	1,500,000
Legal and professional services cost incurred	1,100,000		1,100,000
Costs incurred in corporate, general and administrative expenses	200,000		500,000
Net broadcast revenues	253,554,000	188,860,000	477,390,000	371,469,000	18,100,000	35,900,000										26,700,000
Operating income	71,992,000	58,236,000	131,914,000	109,712,000	3,000,000	7,500,000										6,800,000
Pro Forma Information
Total revenues	253,554,000	229,842,000	492,146,000	450,273,000
Net Income	30,231,000	19,355,000	60,759,000	32,607,000
Net Income attributable to Sinclair Broadcast Group	$ 30,159,000	$ 19,457,000	$ 60,972,000	$ 32,861,000
Basic and diluted earnings per share attributable to Sinclair Broadcast Group (in dollars per share)	$ 0.37	$ 0.24	$ 0.75	$ 0.41