Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	$ 377,356	$ 321,736	$ 1,083,525	$ 938,993
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	154,815	143,492	459,557	403,537
Selling, general and administrative expenses	74,623	78,777	229,102	238,298
Amortization of program license rights	12,666	12,822	36,808	36,627
Corporate and other expenses	8,671	12,598	37,124	37,615
Depreciation and amortization	40,762	40,385	121,220	123,286
(Gain) loss related to property and equipment, net	143	96	(538)	(328)
Goodwill and other intangible impairment	112,511	52,862	112,511	52,862
Merger-related expenses	1,360	10,014	68,803	18,907
Restructuring (income) expenses	(45)	1,132	4,933	1,132
Operating income (loss)	(28,150)	(30,442)	14,005	27,057
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(28,526)	(29,481)	(85,611)	(89,792)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	(928)	(365)	(928)	(2,805)
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	0	0	0
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Other, net	79	27	275	5,939
Total other income (expense)	(29,375)	(29,819)	(86,264)	(86,658)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(57,525)	(60,261)	(72,259)	(59,601)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(10,029)	4,374	(1,780)	3,915
Net income (loss)	(67,554)	(55,887)	(74,039)	(55,686)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	1,153	(7,394)	2,360	(1,395)
Net income (loss) attributable to Media General	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Media General	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Media General [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	0	0	0	0
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	0	0	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	0	0	0
Amortization of program license rights	0	0	0	0
Corporate and other expenses	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	0
(Gain) loss related to property and equipment, net	0	0	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible impairment	0	0	0	0
Merger-related expenses	0	0	0	0
Restructuring (income) expenses	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	0	0	0	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	0	0	0	0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	0	0	0
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Other, net	0	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss)	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Media General	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Media General	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | LIN Television Corporation [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	107,474	91,179	313,684	273,655
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	42,888	40,149	127,226	118,042
Selling, general and administrative expenses	21,793	22,960	67,592	68,677
Amortization of program license rights	4,745	4,494	13,888	13,035
Corporate and other expenses	0	3,111	0	8,973
Depreciation and amortization	14,749	15,055	43,737	44,713
(Gain) loss related to property and equipment, net	100	15	111	144
Goodwill and other intangible impairment	0	0	0	0
Merger-related expenses	0	704	0	3,028
Restructuring (income) expenses	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	23,199	4,691	61,130	17,043
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(10,715)	(11,174)	(32,076)	(31,379)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	0	0	0	0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	(10,252)	(22,965)	(31,207)	(29,263)
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	(68,748)	(14,587)	(62,497)	(12,510)
Other, net	0	(13)	(12)	75
Total other income (expense)	(89,715)	(48,739)	(125,792)	(73,077)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(66,516)	(44,048)	(64,662)	(56,034)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(2,191)	(4,445)	(11,737)	1,743
Net income (loss)	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Media General	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Media General	(68,707)	(48,493)	(76,399)	(54,291)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	270,832	215,524	764,954	632,024
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	113,099	93,562	328,015	265,731
Selling, general and administrative expenses	51,512	43,340	157,267	149,567
Amortization of program license rights	7,978	7,781	22,961	22,132
Corporate and other expenses	8,666	9,511	37,110	28,672
Depreciation and amortization	25,153	24,732	73,992	73,966
(Gain) loss related to property and equipment, net	41	81	(749)	(472)
Goodwill and other intangible impairment	112,511	52,862	112,511	52,862
Merger-related expenses	1,360	9,310	68,803	15,879
Restructuring (income) expenses	(45)	1,132	4,933	1,132
Operating income (loss)	(49,443)	(26,787)	(39,889)	22,555
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(17,569)	(18,113)	(52,763)	(57,525)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	(928)	(365)	(928)	(2,805)
Intercompany income and (expenses)	10,252	23,289	31,551	30,005
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Other, net	79	40	287	864
Total other income (expense)	(8,166)	4,851	(21,853)	(29,461)
Income (loss) before income taxes	(57,609)	(21,936)	(61,742)	(6,906)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(7,838)	9,424	9,339	1,551
Net income (loss)	(65,447)	(12,512)	(52,403)	(5,355)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0	0	(178)
Net income (loss) attributable to Media General	(65,447)	(12,512)	(52,403)	(5,177)
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Media General	(65,447)	(12,512)	(52,403)	(5,177)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	7,168	22,405	32,281	53,088
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	3,253	14,360	20,366	31,758
Selling, general and administrative expenses	1,335	12,631	4,575	20,920
Amortization of program license rights	444	547	1,462	1,460
Corporate and other expenses	5	(24)	14	(30)
Depreciation and amortization	860	598	3,491	4,607
(Gain) loss related to property and equipment, net	2	0	100	0
Goodwill and other intangible impairment	0	0	0	0
Merger-related expenses	0	0	0	0
Restructuring (income) expenses	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	1,269	(5,707)	2,273	(5,627)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(242)	(194)	(772)	(888)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	0	0	0	0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	(324)	(344)	(742)
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Other, net	0	0	0	5,000
Total other income (expense)	(242)	(518)	(1,116)	3,370
Income (loss) before income taxes	1,027	(6,225)	1,157	(2,257)
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	(605)	618	621
Net income (loss)	1,027	(6,830)	1,775	(1,636)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	1,153	(7,394)	2,360	(1,217)
Net income (loss) attributable to Media General	(126)	564	(585)	(419)
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Media General	(126)	564	(585)	(419)
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	(8,118)	(7,372)	(27,394)	(19,774)
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	(4,425)	(4,579)	(16,050)	(11,994)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(17)	(154)	(332)	(866)
Amortization of program license rights	(501)	0	(1,503)	0
Corporate and other expenses	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	0
(Gain) loss related to property and equipment, net	0	0	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible impairment	0	0	0	0
Merger-related expenses	0	0	0	0
Restructuring (income) expenses	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	(3,175)	(2,639)	(9,509)	(6,914)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	0	0	0	0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	0	0	0
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	137,455	63,080	138,896	66,801
Other, net	0	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	137,455	63,080	138,896	66,801
Income (loss) before income taxes	134,280	60,441	129,387	59,887
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss)	134,280	60,441	129,387	59,887
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to Media General	134,280	60,441	129,387	59,887
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
Total comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Media General	$ 134,280	$ 60,441	$ 129,387	$ 59,887