Condensed Consolidating Statements of Operations (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Broadcast revenues									$ 1,025,075	$ 999,591	$ 463,252
Management fees									1,063	2,681	2,792
Net revenues	275,458	262,535	270,306	217,839	263,608	256,371	261,861	220,432	1,026,138	1,002,272	466,044
Operating expenses:
Direct operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization and LMA fees)									668,252	622,884	284,921
Depreciation and amortization									112,511	135,575	48,730
LMA fees									3,716	3,465	2,425
Corporate general and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $11,894)									59,830	57,438	90,761
Gain on exchange of assets or stations									(3,685)	0	(14,217)
Impairment of intangible assets									0	125,985	0
Realized gain on derivative instrument									1,852	12	(3,368)
Gain on derivative instrument									(1,852)
Total operating expenses									838,772	945,335	415,988
Operating (loss) income	31,317	62,820	73,952	19,277	(63,306)	56,600	37,716	25,927	187,366	56,937	50,056
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest expense, net									(176,981)	(198,628)	(86,989)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									(34,934)	(2,432)	(4,366)
Other income, net									(302)	(2,479)	61
Gain on equity investment in Cumulus Media Partners, LLC									0	0	11,636
Total non-operating expense, net									(212,217)	(203,539)	(79,658)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes	(42,837)	17,487	25,187	(24,688)	(116,625)	6,624	(11,977)	(24,624)	(24,851)	(146,602)	(29,602)
Income tax benefit									68,464	34,670	11,259
Income (loss) from continuing operations									43,613	(111,932)	(18,343)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes	106,263	(3,455)	11,987	17,675	1,838	52,076	15,403	9,886	132,470	79,203	82,203
Earnings (loss) from consolidated subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net income (loss)	150,933	7,037	27,101	(8,988)	(84,791)	56,049	8,143	(12,130)	176,083	(32,729)	63,860
Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Broadcast revenues									0	0	0
Management fees									0	2,681	0
Net revenues									0	2,681	0
Operating expenses:
Direct operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization and LMA fees)									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	2,671	1,300
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $11,894)									0	57,438	89,828
Gain on exchange of assets or stations									0		0
Impairment of intangible assets										0
Realized gain on derivative instrument										0	0
Gain on derivative instrument									0
Total operating expenses									0	60,109	91,128
Operating (loss) income									0	(57,428)	(91,128)
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest expense, net									(11,765)	(3,708)	(9,276)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	(4,366)
Other income, net									0	0	0
Gain on equity investment in Cumulus Media Partners, LLC											11,636
Total non-operating expense, net									(11,765)	(3,708)	(2,006)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes									(11,765)	(61,136)	(93,134)
Income tax benefit									4,706	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations									(7,059)	(61,136)	(93,134)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) from consolidated subsidiaries									183,142	28,407	156,994
Net income (loss)									176,083	(32,729)	63,860
Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Broadcast revenues									0	0	0
Management fees									1,063	0	0
Net revenues									1,063	0	0
Operating expenses:
Direct operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization and LMA fees)									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									1,913	0	0
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $11,894)									59,830	0	0
Gain on exchange of assets or stations									0		0
Impairment of intangible assets										0
Realized gain on derivative instrument										0	0
Gain on derivative instrument									0
Total operating expenses									61,743	0	0
Operating (loss) income									(60,680)	0	0
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest expense, net									(165,156)	(196,036)	(78,112)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									(34,934)	(2,432)	0
Other income, net									0	0	0
Gain on equity investment in Cumulus Media Partners, LLC											0
Total non-operating expense, net									(200,090)	(198,468)	(78,112)
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes									(260,770)	(198,468)	(78,112)
Income tax benefit									104,308	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations									(156,462)	(198,468)	(78,112)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) from consolidated subsidiaries									339,604	226,875	235,106
Net income (loss)									183,142	28,407	156,994
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Broadcast revenues									1,025,075	999,591	463,252
Management fees									0	0	2,792
Net revenues									1,025,075	999,591	466,044
Operating expenses:
Direct operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization and LMA fees)									665,993	619,658	283,543
Depreciation and amortization									110,598	132,904	47,430
LMA fees									3,716	3,465	2,425
Corporate general and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $11,894)									0	0	933
Gain on exchange of assets or stations									(3,685)		(14,217)
Impairment of intangible assets										111,279
Realized gain on derivative instrument										12	(3,368)
Gain on derivative instrument									(1,852)
Total operating expenses									774,770	867,294	323,482
Operating (loss) income									250,305	132,297	142,562
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest expense, net									4	1,116	399
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Other income, net									(302)	(2,479)	61
Gain on equity investment in Cumulus Media Partners, LLC											0
Total non-operating expense, net									(298)	(1,363)	460
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes									250,007	130,934	143,022
Income tax benefit									(41,479)	25,290	25,066
Income (loss) from continuing operations									208,528	156,224	168,088
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes									132,470	50,336	85,731
Earnings (loss) from consolidated subsidiaries									(1,394)	20,315	(18,713)
Net income (loss)									339,604	226,875	235,106
Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Broadcast revenues									0	0	0
Management fees									0	0	0
Net revenues									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Direct operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization and LMA fees)									2,259	3,226	1,378
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $11,894)									0	0	0
Gain on exchange of assets or stations									0		0
Impairment of intangible assets										14,706
Realized gain on derivative instrument										0	0
Gain on derivative instrument									0
Total operating expenses									2,259	17,932	1,378
Operating (loss) income									(2,259)	(17,932)	(1,378)
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest expense, net									(64)	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Other income, net									0	0	0
Gain on equity investment in Cumulus Media Partners, LLC											0
Total non-operating expense, net									(64)	0	0
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes									(2,323)	(17,932)	(1,378)
Income tax benefit									929	9,380	(13,807)
Income (loss) from continuing operations									(1,394)	(8,552)	(15,185)
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes									0	28,867	(3,528)
Earnings (loss) from consolidated subsidiaries										0
Net income (loss)									(1,394)	20,315	(18,713)
Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Broadcast revenues									0	0	0
Management fees									0	0	0
Net revenues									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Direct operating expenses (excluding depreciation, amortization and LMA fees)									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate general and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $11,894)									0	0	0
Gain on exchange of assets or stations									0		0
Impairment of intangible assets										0
Realized gain on derivative instrument										0	0
Gain on derivative instrument									0
Total operating expenses									0	0	0
Operating (loss) income									0	0	0
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest expense, net									0	0	0
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									0	0	0
Other income, net									0	0	0
Gain on equity investment in Cumulus Media Partners, LLC											0
Total non-operating expense, net									0	0	0
Loss from continuing operations before income taxes									0	0	0
Income tax benefit									0	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations									0	0	0
Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes									0	0	0
Earnings (loss) from consolidated subsidiaries									(521,352)	(275,597)	(373,387)
Net income (loss)									$ (521,352)	$ (275,597)	$ (373,387)