Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 2,585,368	$ 2,388,643	$ 2,356,672
Cost of sales	(1,576,956)	(1,453,890)	(1,375,351)
Gross profit	1,008,412	934,753	981,321
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(525,918)	(461,022)	(486,403)
Research and development expenses	(140,585)	(134,330)	(140,519)
Amortization of intangibles	(98,829)	(103,997)	(98,385)
Gain from patent litigation	62,141	0	0
Impairment of assets held for sale	0	0	(23,931)
Operating income	305,221	235,404	232,083
Interest expense, net	(61,559)	(82,901)	(95,050)
Non-operating pension cost	(342)	(714)	(8,230)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(22,990)	(52,441)	(2,342)
Income before taxes	220,330	99,348	126,461
Income tax benefit (expense)	(59,619)	(6,495)	1,185
Net income	160,711	92,853	127,646
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(183)	(357)	(357)
Net income attributable to Belden	160,894	93,210	128,003
Less: Preferred stock dividends	34,931	34,931	15,428
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ 125,963	$ 58,279	$ 112,575
Weighted average number of common shares and equivalents:
Basic (in shares)	40,675	42,220	42,093
Diluted (in shares)	40,956	42,643	42,557
Basic income per share attributable to Belden common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.10	$ 1.38	$ 2.67
Diluted income per share attributable to Belden common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.08	$ 1.37	$ 2.65