Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable and Sales Returns (Activity in Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable and Sales Returns) (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	$ 1,288
Addition (reduction) to allowance	65
Amounts written off	(34)
Foreign currency translation	(98)
Ending Balance	1,221
Allowance for Sales Returns
Financing Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses [Line Items]
Beginning Balance	354
Addition (reduction) to allowance	15
Amounts written off	0
Foreign currency translation	(1)
Ending Balance	$ 368

Valuation Allowances and Currency Translation

No definition available.

Name:	rnwk_ValuationAllowancesAndCurrencyTranslation
Namespace Prefix:	rnwk_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancingReceivableAllowanceForCreditLossesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Total of allowances and reserves, the valuation and qualifying accounts that are either netted against the cost of an asset (in order to value it at its carrying value) or that reflect a liability established to represent expected future costs.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 235

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 4

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24092-122690

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Section 09

-Article 12

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesBalance
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesChargedToCostAndExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Total of the deductions in a given period to allowances and reserves, the valuation and qualifying accounts that are either netted against the cost of an asset (in order to value it at its carrying value) or that reflect a liability established to represent expected future costs, representing receivables written off as uncollectible and portions of the reserves utilized, respectively.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesDeductions
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesTypeAxis=us-gaap_AllowanceForDoubtfulAccountsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ValuationAllowancesAndReservesTypeAxis=us-gaap_AllowanceForSalesReturnsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: