Condensed Consolidating Statements of Operations (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	$ 268,530	$ 271,079
Operating expenses:
Content costs	100,045	100,807
Selling, general & administrative expenses	117,227	116,307
Depreciation and amortization	23,097	25,311
LMA fees	5,388	2,498
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $878 and $3,863,respectively)	12,654	13,462
Loss on sale of assets or stations	5	819
Total operating expenses	258,416	259,204
Operating income	10,114	11,875
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest (expense) income, net	(34,396)	(34,984)
Interest income	85	358
Other income, net	720	379
Total non-operating expense, net	(33,676)	(34,247)
Loss before income taxes	(23,562)	(22,372)
Income tax benefit	9,133	10,357
(Loss) income from continuing operations		(12,015)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Net loss	(14,429)	(12,015)
Eliminations
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	0	0
Operating expenses:
Content costs	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
LMA fees	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $878 and $3,863,respectively)	0	0
Loss on sale of assets or stations	0	0
Total operating expenses	0	0
Operating income	0	0
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest (expense) income, net	0	0
Interest income		0
Other income, net	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net	0	0
Loss before income taxes	0	0
Income tax benefit	0	0
(Loss) income from continuing operations		0
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries	(566)	12,001
Net loss	(566)	12,001
Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	0	0
Operating expenses:
Content costs	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
LMA fees	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $878 and $3,863,respectively)	0	0
Loss on sale of assets or stations	0	0
Total operating expenses	0	0
Operating income	0	0
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest (expense) income, net	(2,178)	(2,184)
Interest income		0
Other income, net	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net	(2,178)	(2,184)
Loss before income taxes	(2,178)	(2,184)
Income tax benefit	845	867
(Loss) income from continuing operations		(1,317)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries	(13,096)	(10,698)
Net loss	(14,429)	(12,015)
Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	0	125
Operating expenses:
Content costs	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	404	260
LMA fees	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $878 and $3,863,respectively)	12,654	13,462
Loss on sale of assets or stations	0	0
Total operating expenses	13,058	13,722
Operating income	(13,058)	(13,597)
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest (expense) income, net	(32,256)	(32,753)
Interest income		0
Other income, net	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net	(32,256)	(32,753)
Loss before income taxes	(45,314)	(46,350)
Income tax benefit	18,198	28,242
(Loss) income from continuing operations		(18,108)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries	14,020	7,410
Net loss	(13,096)	(10,698)
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	268,530	270,954
Operating expenses:
Content costs	100,045	100,807
Selling, general & administrative expenses	116,689	115,776
Depreciation and amortization	22,693	25,051
LMA fees	5,388	2,498
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $878 and $3,863,respectively)	0	0
Loss on sale of assets or stations	5	819
Total operating expenses	244,820	244,951
Operating income	23,710	26,003
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest (expense) income, net	85	0
Interest income		358
Other income, net	720	379
Total non-operating expense, net	805	737
Loss before income taxes	24,515	26,740
Income tax benefit	(10,137)	(10,617)
(Loss) income from continuing operations		16,123
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries	(358)	(8,713)
Net loss	14,020	7,410
Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	0	0
Operating expenses:
Content costs	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses	538	531
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
LMA fees	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $878 and $3,863,respectively)	0	0
Loss on sale of assets or stations	0	0
Total operating expenses	538	531
Operating income	(538)	(531)
Non-operating (expense) income:
Interest (expense) income, net	(47)	(47)
Interest income		0
Other income, net	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net	(47)	(47)
Loss before income taxes	(585)	(578)
Income tax benefit	227	(8,135)
(Loss) income from continuing operations		(8,713)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Net loss	$ (358)	$ (8,713)