Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Investments In Available-For-Sale Securities And Other Cost Investments (Details)

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Investments In Available-For-Sale Securities And Other Cost Investments (Details) (USD $)
In Millions, except Share data
 1 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Jun. 30, 2011
Dec. 31, 2010
Sep. 30, 2011
Time Warner Inc [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Time Warner Inc [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Time Warner Cable Inc [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Time Warner Cable Inc [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Sprint [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Sprint [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Motorola Solutions [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Motorola Solutions [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Motorola Mobility [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Motorola Mobility [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Viacom, Inc. [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Viacom, Inc. [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Live Nation [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Live Nation [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Century Link, Inc. [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Century Link, Inc. [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Barnes & Noble, Inc. [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Barnes & Noble, Inc. [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Priceline [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Priceline [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Other AFS Equity Securities [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Other AFS Equity Securities [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
SIRIUS XM Debt Securities [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
SIRIUS XM Debt Securities [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Other AFS Debt Securities [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Other AFS Debt Securities [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Other Cost Investments And Related Receivables [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Other Cost Investments And Related Receivables [Member]
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Segment, Liberty Capital [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Other [Member]
Segment, Liberty Starz [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Other [Member]
Segment, Liberty Starz [Member]
Sep. 30, 2011
Segment, Liberty Starz [Member]
Dec. 31, 2010
Segment, Liberty Starz [Member]
Jan. 31, 2011
Motorola Solutions [Member]
Jan. 31, 2011
Motorola Mobility [Member]
Investments in available-for-sale securities $ 2,782   $ 4,550 $ 373 [1],[2] $ 1,101 [1],[2] $ 196 [1],[2] $ 567 [1],[2] $ 140 [2] $ 301 [2] $ 311 [2],[3] $ 471 [2],[3] $ 245 [2],[3] $ 0 [2],[3] $ 294 $ 301 $ 24 [4] $ 389 [4] $ 122 [2] $ 248 [2] $ 206 [5] $ 0 [5] $ 234 [2] $ 208 [2] $ 35 [1],[2] $ 100 [1],[2] $ 377 $ 384 $ 216 $ 404 $ 8 $ 9 $ 2,781 $ 4,483 $ 1 $ 67 $ 1 $ 67    
Stock issued during period, stock splits (shares)                                                                             0.125
Stock issued during period, stock reverse splits (shares)                                                                           0.1428571429  
Subscription agreement, shares   5,500,000                                                                          
[1] As discussed in note 2, certain of these securities were reattributed from its Capital Group to its Interactive Group in the first quarter of 2011.
[2] Includes shares pledged as collateral for share borrowing arrangements. See note 8.
[3] As discussed in note 6, Motorola Inc. separated into two companies effective January 4, 2011 through a stock distribution and reverse stock split.
[4] During June 2011, Liberty acquired an additional 5.5 million shares of Live Nation which increased our ownership percentage above 20% of the outstanding voting shares. Due to the presumption that an entity with an ownership percentage greater than 20% has significant influence and no other factors would rebut that presumption, the Company is accounting for the investment as an equity method affiliate. The Company has elected to record its share of earnings (loss) for Live Nation on a three-month lag due to timeliness considerations. Increases in ownership which result in a change to the equity method of accounting generally require retroactive recognition of an investment's share of earnings (loss) in prior periods. Due to the relative insignificance of our share of losses for Live Nation in previous periods, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the Company has recorded such amounts in the current year. Approximately $12 million of the losses recorded for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 relate to the prior year.
[5] In August 2011, Liberty acquired 204,000 shares of preferred stock of Barnes & Noble, Inc. which is convertible into an approximate 17% common equity interest for $204 million. The preferred stock accrues dividends at a rate of 7.75% per annum. Liberty has elected to account for its investment in Barnes & Noble at fair value. Accordingly, changes in fair value of Barnes & Noble, Inc. preferred stock are reported in realized and unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations.