CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS' DEFICIT - 3 months ended Mar. 31, 2016 - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Total	Common Stock Common Class A	Common Stock Common Class B	Additional Paid-in Capital	Charges in Excess of Capital	Accumulated Deficit	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)	Parent [Member]	Noncontrolling Interest [Member]	Contingent Consideration, Liability Settlements [Domain]	Contingent Consideration, Liability Settlements [Domain] Parent [Member]
Balance at Dec. 31, 2015	$ (487,073)	$ 269,841	$ 1	$ 0	$ (315,261)	$ (526,990)	$ 6,257	$ (566,152)	$ 79,079
Balance (in shares) at Dec. 31, 2015		49,986,705	3,754.5
Increase (Decrease) in Stockholders' Equity [Roll Forward]
Net loss attributable to MDC Partners Inc.	(23,293)	$ 0	$ 0	0	0	(23,293)	0	(23,293)	0
Other Comprehensive income (loss)	(8,825)	0	0	0	0	0	(10,481)	(10,481)	1,656
Issuance of restricted stock	0	$ 956	$ 0	(956)	0	0	0	0	0
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, New Issues		227,437
Stock Issued During Period, Value, New Issues		$ 5,368								$ 5,368	$ 5,368
Issuance of restricted stock (in shares)		79,278	0
Shares acquired and cancelled	(902)	$ (902)	$ 0	0	0	0	0	(902)	0
Shares acquired and cancelled (in shares)		(40,267)	0
Stock-based compensation	1,779	$ 0	$ 0	1,779	0	0	0	1,779	0
Changes in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interests	1,423	0	0		0	0	0		0
Temporary Equity, Accretion to Redemption Value	(1,423)			(1,423)				(1,423)
Changes in noncontrolling interests and redeemable noncontrolling interest from step-up transactions								0
Dividends paid and to be paid	(10,840)	0	0	(10,840)	0	0	0	(10,840)	0
Transfer to charges in excess of capital	0	0	0	11,440	(11,440)	0	0	0	0
Balance at Mar. 31, 2016	$ (525,209)	$ 275,263	$ 1	$ 0	$ (326,701)	$ (550,283)	$ (4,224)	$ (605,944)	$ 80,735
Balance (in shares) at Mar. 31, 2016		50,253,153	3,755