SEGMENT DATA: (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Oct. 02, 2012 market	Dec. 31, 2013		Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012		Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 market		Dec. 31, 2012		Dec. 31, 2011
SEGMENT DATA:
Intercompany loans		$ 171,900,000					$ 171,200,000					$ 171,900,000		$ 171,200,000
Intercompany interest expense												20,000,000		20,000,000		19,700,000
Segment data
Number of markets	3											71
Revenue		427,715,000		338,644,000	314,154,000	282,618,000	329,517,000		258,713,000	251,074,000	222,375,000	1,363,131,000		1,061,679,000		765,288,000
Depreciation of property and equipment												70,554,000		47,073,000		32,874,000
Amortization of definite-lived intangible assets and other assets												70,820,000		38,099,000		18,229,000
Amortization of program contract costs and net realizable value adjustments												80,925,000		60,990,000		52,079,000
Impairment of goodwill, intangible and other assets																398,000
General and administrative overhead expenses												53,126,000		33,391,000		28,310,000
Operating income (loss)		103,286,000		72,798,000	84,280,000	63,656,000	119,097,000		78,399,000	71,887,000	59,895,000	324,020,000		329,285,000		225,638,000
Interest expense												162,937,000		128,553,000		106,128,000
Income from equity and cost method investments												621,000		9,670,000		3,269,000
Goodwill		1,380,082,000					1,074,032,000					1,380,082,000		1,074,032,000		660,117,000
Assets		4,147,472,000	[1]				2,729,697,000	[1]				4,147,472,000	[1]	2,729,697,000	[1]
Capital expenditures												43,388,000		43,986,000		35,835,000
Broadcast
Segment data
Goodwill		1,376,594,000					1,070,544,000					1,376,594,000		1,070,544,000		656,629,000
Other Operating Divisions
Segment data
Goodwill		3,488,000					3,488,000					3,488,000		3,488,000		3,488,000
Operating segments | Broadcast
Segment data
Number of markets												71
Revenue												1,306,187,000		1,007,498,000		720,775,000
Depreciation of property and equipment												67,320,000		44,054,000		29,929,000
Amortization of definite-lived intangible assets and other assets												65,786,000		33,701,000		14,643,000
Amortization of program contract costs and net realizable value adjustments												80,925,000		60,990,000		52,079,000
Impairment of goodwill, intangible and other assets																398,000
General and administrative overhead expenses												47,272,000		28,854,000		24,760,000
Operating income (loss)												329,312,000		333,164,000		230,679,000
Goodwill		1,376,594,000					1,070,544,000					1,376,594,000		1,070,544,000
Assets		3,493,603,000					2,436,537,000					3,493,603,000		2,436,537,000
Capital expenditures												37,665,000		35,161,000
Operating segments | Other Operating Divisions
Segment data
Revenue												56,944,000		54,181,000		44,513,000
Depreciation of property and equipment												1,891,000		1,496,000		1,323,000
Amortization of definite-lived intangible assets and other assets												5,034,000		4,398,000		3,586,000
General and administrative overhead expenses												1,350,000		1,697,000		1,158,000
Operating income (loss)												555,000		491,000		(1,041,000)
Interest expense												3,251,000		3,282,000		2,528,000
Income from equity and cost method investments												621,000		9,670,000		3,269,000
Goodwill		3,488,000					3,488,000					3,488,000		3,488,000
Assets		294,921,000					284,583,000					294,921,000		284,583,000
Capital expenditures												4,994,000		2,341,000
Corporate
Segment data
Depreciation of property and equipment												1,343,000		1,523,000		1,622,000
General and administrative overhead expenses												4,504,000		2,840,000		2,392,000
Operating income (loss)												(5,847,000)		(4,377,000)		(4,018,000)
Interest expense												159,686,000		125,271,000		103,600,000
Assets		376,726,000					8,577,000					376,726,000		8,577,000
Capital expenditures												$ 2,700,000		$ 6,484,000

[1] Our consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 include total assets of variable interest entities (VIEs) of $199.1 million and $107.9 million, respectively, which can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. Our consolidated total liabilities as of December 31, 2013 and 2012 include total liabilities of the VIEs of $25.1 million and $7.9 million, respectively, for which the creditors of the VIEs have no recourse to us. See Note 1: Nature of Operations and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.