Earnings Per Share (Details 1) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Net income attributable to Graham Holdings Company common stockholders	$ 21,086	$ 37,780
Less: Dividends paid-common stock outstanding and unvested restricted shares	(14,202)	(13,758)
Undistributed earnings	$ 6,884	$ 24,022
Percent allocated to common stockholders	99.04%	98.64%
Undistributed Earnings Allocated To Common Stockholders	$ 6,818	$ 23,695
Add: Dividends paid-common stock outstanding	14,066	13,574
Numerator for basic earnings per share	20,884	37,269
Add: Additional undistributed earnings due to dilutive stock options	0	2
Numerator for diluted earnings per share	$ 20,884	$ 37,271
Weighted average shares outstanding (shares)	5,535	5,623
Denominator for diluted earnings per share (shares)	5,569	5,652
Graham Holdings Company Common Stockholders:
Basic income per common share in dollars per share	$ 3.77	$ 6.63
Diluted income per common share in dollars per share	$ 3.75	$ 6.59
Stock Option Plan [Member]
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted, Including Two Class Method [Line Items]
Add: Effect of dilutive stock options (shares)	34	29