Acquisitions, Investments and dispositions - Narrative (Detail)				1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 23, 2013 USD ($) station	Mar. 31, 2015	Jul. 31, 2014 USD ($) station	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($) market station	Mar. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) station	Dec. 28, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 03, 2015 station	Feb. 28, 2015
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of stations | station												3
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Number of television stations | station									46
Goodwill								$ 3,914,771,000	$ 3,919,726,000	$ 3,914,771,000	$ 3,172,585,000
Number of stations conveyed | station						2
Number of markets acquired | market						2
Investment Classified Ventures
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Proceeds from equity method investment, dividends or distributions		$ 154,600,000
Economic Modeling
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Change in ownership interest (as a percent)				11.00%
Percentage of ownership interests in subsidiary (as a percent)				85.00%									74.00%
Cars.com
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of ownership interests in subsidiary	73.00%
Payments to acquire businesses	$ 1,830,000,000
Affiliation agreement period	5 years
Remeasurement gain on acquisition	$ 476,700,000
Remeasurement gain on acquisition, net of tax	285,900,000
Remeasurement gain on acquisition on pre-existing ownership interest	$ 396,700,000
Ownership percentage in subsidiary	27.00%						27.00%
Remeasurement gain on acquisition related to affiliate agreement	$ 80,000,000
Revenue since acquisition								129,000,000
Operating income since acquisition								$ 33,600,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Total revenues										2,987,058,000	2,039,854,000
Net income attributable to TEGNA Inc.										754,851,000	356,353,000
Acquisition related costs										$ 9,300,000
Purchase of television stations from London Broadcasting Company	$ 1,831,198,000
Cars.com | Customer relationships
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted average useful life	11 years
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Definite-lived intangible assets	$ 789,540,000
Cars.com | Internally developed technology
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted average useful life	7 years
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Definite-lived intangible assets	$ 69,500,000
Belo
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Payments to acquire businesses			$ 1,470,000,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Acquisition related costs											$ 33,000,000
Number of television stations | station			17
Total principal long-term debt assumed			$ 715,000,000
Goodwill			929,000,000
Definite-lived intangible assets			$ 186,000,000
Belo | Retransmission Agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted average useful life									8 years
Belo | Network Affiliation Agreements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Weighted average useful life									9 years
London Broadcasting Company
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Number of television stations | station					6
Purchase of television stations from London Broadcasting Company					$ 215,000,000
Escrow deposit disbursement related to London Broadcasting Company television stations acquisition					$ 134,900,000
Apartments.com | Investment Classified Ventures
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Proceeds from divestiture of businesses and interests in affiliates							$ 585,000,000
Phoenix and St. Louis Stations
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Information
Total sale price of Phoenix and St. Louis stations						$ 407,500,000