Shareholders' equity - Narrative (Detail)		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 29, 2015 shares	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 28, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares shares	Dec. 29, 2013 USD ($) shares	Oct. 20, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 30, 2012 USD ($)	May. 04, 2010 shares
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | $			$ (130,951,000)	$ (778,769,000)	$ (494,055,000)		$ (701,141,000)
Common stock, Authorized (in shares)			800,000,000	800,000,000
Preferred stock, Authorized (in shares)			2,000,000	2,000,000
Common stock, Outstanding (in shares)			220,000,000	227,000,000
Treasury stock (in shares)			104,664,452	97,679,541
Preferred Stock, Issued (in shares)			0	0
Preferred Stock, Outstanding (in shares)			0	0
Stock options outstanding excluded from calculation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)			200,000	800,000	2,400,000
Shares approved to be repurchased under share repurchase program, amount | $		$ 750,000,000				$ 825,000,000
Share repurchase program, period in force		3 years
Share repurchase program, additional authorized amount | $						$ 75,000,000
Shares repurchased under share repurchase program (in shares)			9,600,000	2,700,000	4,900,000
Cost of common shares repurchased | $			$ 271,030,000	$ 75,815,000	$ 116,639,000
Remaining authorized repurchase amount | $			629,100,000
Conversion ratio for every share of Tegna common stock owned by stockholders	0.5
Spin-off adjustment, conversion factor	1.18
Equity awards granted (in shares)	125,000
Income tax benefit from exercise of award | $			7,643,000	6,243,000	6,477,000
Other comprehensive income (loss) | $				(312,283,000)	166,029,000
Reclassification from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Current Period, Net of Tax | $			$ 19,910,000	27,569,000	41,057,000
Minimum
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Number of units ultimately paid for performance share awards of target (as a percent)			0
Maximum
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Number of units ultimately paid for performance share awards of target (as a percent)			2
Stock Options
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Award vesting period			4 years
Tax benefit realized from option exercises | $			$ 3,300,000	$ 3,000,000	$ 2,800,000
Stock options outstanding (in shares)			1,700,000	2,800,000
Stock options outstanding, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares			$ 16.61	$ 22.23
Weighted average remaining contractual life			2 years 4 months 10 days
Aggregate intrinsic value | $			$ 16,400,000
Stock options exercised (in shares)				1,000,000
Stock options exercised, weighted average exercise price (in dollars per share) | $ / shares				$ 14.47
Risk free interest rate (as a percent)					0.75%
Expected dividend yield (as a percent)					3.00%
Weighted average volatility factor (as a percent)					61.94%
Expected term					4 years 6 months
Stock Options | Employee
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Shares reserved for issuance (in shares)								60,000,000
Performance Based Awards
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Award vesting period			3 years
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Spin-off adjustment, conversion factor			1.18
Equity awards granted (in shares)	75,000
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) | Employee
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Requisite service period			4 years
Number of shares of common stock received for each RSU granted			1
Award vesting percentage			25.00%
Maximum number of awards that can be granted to any participant in any fiscal year (no more than) (in shares)			500,000
Restricted Stock
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Requisite service period			4 years
Restricted Stock | Employee
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Maximum number of awards that can be granted to any participant in any fiscal year (no more than) (in shares)			500,000
Performance Shares
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Requisite service period			3 years
Spin-off adjustment, conversion factor			1.18
Equity awards granted (in shares)	50,000		285,458	436,340	813,783
Unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested share-based compensation | $			$ 3,900,000
Unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested share-based compensation for options, recognition period			1 year 8 months 15 days
Tax benefit realized from option exercises | $			$ 11,200,000
Risk free interest rate (as a percent)			1.10%	0.78%	0.36%
Expected dividend yield (as a percent)			2.51%	2.70%	4.44%
Expected term			3 years	3 years	3 years
Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Equity awards granted (in shares)			491,690	1,048,516	1,588,628
Unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested share-based compensation | $			$ 15,500,000
Unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested share-based compensation for options, recognition period			2 years 4 months 24 days
Income tax benefit from exercise of award | $			$ 5,900,000	$ 9,500,000	$ 7,000,000
Foreign Currency Translation
Stockholders Equity Note [Line Items]
Accumulated other comprehensive loss | $			(20,129,000)	391,113,000	427,177,000		$ 418,122,000
Other comprehensive income (loss) | $				(36,064,000)	9,055,000
Reclassification from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, Current Period, Net of Tax | $			$ 0	$ 0	$ 0