Supplemental Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 26,757	$ 32,792	$ 64,170	$ 88,050
Restricted cash	10,346	6,146
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts	239,578	264,805
Trade receivable	3,733	4,419
Assets held for sale	15,007	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	47,023	68,893
Total current assets	342,444	377,055
Property and equipment, net	224,720	254,702
Broadcast licenses	1,596,715	1,596,337
Other intangible assets, net	261,405	315,490
Goodwill	1,255,519	1,256,741	1,204,953	1,195,594
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivables, net	0	0
Other assets	65,852	70,110
Total assets	3,746,655	3,870,435
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	127,886	146,537
Trade payable	4,259	3,846
Current portion of long-term debt	0	5,937
Total current liabilities	132,145	156,320
Long-term debt, excluding 7.75% senior notes	1,923,987	1,985,956
7.75% senior notes	610,000	610,000
Secured loan	0	25,000
Other liabilities	71,756	79,913
Intercompany payables, net	0	0
Deferred income taxes	475,539	500,506
Total liabilities	3,213,427	3,357,695
Treasury stock, at cost	(231,517)	(251,193)
Additional paid-in-capital	1,595,910	1,603,669
Accumulated deficit	(833,712)	(842,119)
Total stockholders’ equity	533,228	512,740
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	3,746,655	3,870,435
Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	11,804	0	81,599
Restricted cash	0	0
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Trade receivable	0	0
Assets held for sale
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	11,804
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Broadcast licenses	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	616,828	589,163
Intercompany receivables, net	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	616,828	600,967
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	0	0
Trade payable	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt, excluding 7.75% senior notes	0	0
7.75% senior notes	0	0
Secured loan		0
Other liabilities	0	0
Intercompany payables, net	83,600	88,227
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	83,600	88,227
Treasury stock, at cost	(231,517)	(251,193)
Additional paid-in-capital	1,595,910	1,603,669
Accumulated deficit	(833,712)	(842,119)
Total stockholders’ equity	533,228	512,740
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	616,828	600,967
Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	26,489	20,988	63,970	0
Restricted cash	10,346	6,146
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Trade receivable	0	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	24,820	5,948
Total current assets	61,655	33,082
Property and equipment, net	2,060	3,272
Broadcast licenses	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	4,160,697	3,824,690
Intercompany receivables, net	84,391	88,227
Other assets	44,502	46,774
Total assets	4,353,305	3,996,045
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	31,689	24,966
Trade payable	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt		5,937
Total current liabilities	31,689	30,903
Long-term debt, excluding 7.75% senior notes	1,923,987	1,985,956
7.75% senior notes	610,000	610,000
Secured loan		0
Other liabilities	10,430	10,430
Intercompany payables, net	1,160,371	769,593
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	3,736,477	3,406,882
Treasury stock, at cost	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	238,672	223,412
Accumulated deficit	378,156	365,751
Total stockholders’ equity	616,828	589,163
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	4,353,305	3,996,045
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	268	0	200	6,451
Restricted cash	0	0
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Trade receivable	3,733	4,419
Assets held for sale	15,007
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	22,203	62,945
Total current assets	41,211	67,364
Property and equipment, net	222,660	251,430
Broadcast licenses	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	261,405	315,490
Goodwill	1,255,519	1,256,741
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	1,121,176	1,118,952
Intercompany receivables, net	1,399,949	1,011,218
Other assets	20,559	22,440
Total assets	4,322,479	4,043,635
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	96,197	121,521
Trade payable	4,259	3,846
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Total current liabilities	100,456	125,367
Long-term debt, excluding 7.75% senior notes	0	0
7.75% senior notes	0	0
Secured loan		0
Other liabilities	61,326	69,483
Intercompany payables, net	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	24,095
Total liabilities	161,782	218,945
Treasury stock, at cost	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	4,219,656	3,983,196
Accumulated deficit	(58,959)	(158,506)
Total stockholders’ equity	4,160,697	3,824,690
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	4,322,479	4,043,635
Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Restricted cash	0	0
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts	239,578	264,805
Trade receivable	0	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	239,578	264,805
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Broadcast licenses	1,596,715	1,596,337
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Intercompany receivables, net	0	24,090
Other assets	791	896
Total assets	1,837,084	1,886,128
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	0	50
Trade payable	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Total current liabilities	0	50
Long-term debt, excluding 7.75% senior notes	0	0
7.75% senior notes	0	0
Secured loan		25,000
Other liabilities	0	0
Intercompany payables, net	240,369	265,715
Deferred income taxes	475,539	476,411
Total liabilities	715,908	767,176
Treasury stock, at cost	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	2,095,935	2,092,725
Accumulated deficit	(974,759)	(973,773)
Total stockholders’ equity	1,121,176	1,118,952
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	1,837,084	1,886,128
Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Restricted cash	0	0
Accounts receivable, less allowance for doubtful accounts	0	0
Trade receivable	0	0
Assets held for sale	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, net	0	0
Broadcast licenses	0	0
Other intangible assets, net	0	0
Goodwill	0	0
Investment in consolidated subsidiaries	(5,898,701)	(5,532,805)
Intercompany receivables, net	(1,484,340)	(1,123,535)
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(7,383,041)	(6,656,340)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	0	0
Trade payable	0	0
Current portion of long-term debt		0
Total current liabilities	0	0
Long-term debt, excluding 7.75% senior notes	0	0
7.75% senior notes	0	0
Secured loan		0
Other liabilities	0	0
Intercompany payables, net	(1,484,340)	(1,123,535)
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Total liabilities	(1,484,340)	(1,123,535)
Treasury stock, at cost	0	0
Additional paid-in-capital	(6,554,263)	(6,299,333)
Accumulated deficit	655,562	766,528
Total stockholders’ equity	(5,898,701)	(5,532,805)
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	(7,383,041)	(6,656,340)
Class A common stock
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	2,541	2,223
Class A common stock | Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	2,541	2,223
Class A common stock | Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class A common stock | Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class A common stock | Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class A common stock | Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class B common stock
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	154
Class B common stock | Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock		154
Class B common stock | Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock		0
Class B common stock | Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock		0
Class B common stock | Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock		0
Class B common stock | Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock		0
Class C common stock
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	6	6
Class C common stock | Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	6	6
Class C common stock | Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class C common stock | Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class C common stock | Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	0	0
Class C common stock | Eliminations
Condensed Balance Sheet Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Common stock	$ 0	$ 0