Held for sale - Additional information (Detail) - Penguin Random House [member]	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in associate	25.00%
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	22.00%

The proportion of ownership interest in an associate attributable to the entity. [Refer: Associates [member]]

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
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-Subparagraph b
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-URIDate 2019-03-27

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
-Paragraph 16
-Subparagraph b
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-URIDate 2019-03-27

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 12
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
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-Subparagraph a
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-URIDate 2019-03-27

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Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration