Supplemental Condensed Consolidating Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Operations) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue	$ 299,541	$ 286,136	$ 287,193	$ 268,530	$ 308,825	$ 289,441	$ 299,334	$ 271,079	$ 1,141,400	$ 1,168,679	$ 1,263,423
Operating expenses:
Content costs									427,780	396,426	433,596
Selling, general & administrative expenses									472,900	477,327	470,441
Depreciation and amortization									87,267	102,105	115,275
LMA fees									12,824	10,129	7,195
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,948, $21,033, and $17,638, respectively)									40,148	73,403	76,428
(Gain) loss on sale of assets or stations									(95,695)	2,856	(1,342)
Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill									604,965	565,584	0
Impairment charges - equity interest in Pulser Media Inc.									0	19,364	0
Total operating expenses									1,550,189	1,647,194	1,101,593
Operating (loss) income	(568,585)	113,017	36,665	10,114	28,821	(567,214)	48,003	11,875	(408,789)	(478,515)	161,830
Non-operating expense:
Interest (expense) income, net									(138,141)	(141,246)	(144,145)
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									8,017	13,222	0
Other income (expense), net									2,039	14,205	4,338
Total non-operating expense, net									(128,085)	(113,819)	(139,807)
(Loss) income before income taxes	(594,736)	79,109	2,315	(23,562)	8,081	(603,034)	24,991	(22,372)	(536,874)	(592,334)	22,023
Income tax benefit (expense)									26,154	45,840	(10,254)
Income (loss) from continuing operations										(546,494)	11,769
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries									0	0	0
Net (loss) income	$ (543,677)	$ 46,321	$ 1,066	$ (14,429)	$ (4,599)	$ (542,179)	$ 12,299	$ (12,015)	(510,720)	(546,494)	11,769
Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Content costs									0	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,948, $21,033, and $17,638, respectively)									0	0	0
(Gain) loss on sale of assets or stations									0	0	0
Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill									0	0
Impairment charges - equity interest in Pulser Media Inc.										0
Total operating expenses									0	0	0
Operating (loss) income									0	0	0
Non-operating expense:
Interest (expense) income, net									0	0	0
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									0	0
Other income (expense), net									0	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net									0	0	0
(Loss) income before income taxes									0	0	0
Income tax benefit (expense)									0	0	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations										0	0
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries									914,575	967,479	(164,839)
Net (loss) income									914,575	967,479	(164,839)
Cumulus Media Inc. (Parent Guarantor)
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Content costs									0	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,948, $21,033, and $17,638, respectively)									0	0	0
(Gain) loss on sale of assets or stations									0	0	0
Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill									0	0
Impairment charges - equity interest in Pulser Media Inc.										0
Total operating expenses									0	0	0
Operating (loss) income									0	0	0
Non-operating expense:
Interest (expense) income, net									(8,711)	(8,735)	(9,349)
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									0	0
Other income (expense), net									0	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net									(8,711)	(8,735)	(9,349)
(Loss) income before income taxes									(8,711)	(8,735)	(9,349)
Income tax benefit (expense)									3,484	3,494	3,739
Income (loss) from continuing operations										(5,241)	(5,610)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries									(505,493)	(541,253)	17,379
Net (loss) income									(510,720)	(546,494)	11,769
Cumulus Media Holdings Inc. (Subsidiary Issuer)
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue									165	500	479
Operating expenses:
Content costs									0	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									1,530	1,525	1,619
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,948, $21,033, and $17,638, respectively)									40,148	73,403	76,428
(Gain) loss on sale of assets or stations									0	0	0
Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill									0	0
Impairment charges - equity interest in Pulser Media Inc.										0
Total operating expenses									41,678	74,928	78,047
Operating (loss) income									(41,513)	(74,428)	(77,568)
Non-operating expense:
Interest (expense) income, net									(129,733)	(132,754)	(135,920)
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									8,017	13,222
Other income (expense), net									0	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net									(121,716)	(119,532)	(135,920)
(Loss) income before income taxes									(163,229)	(193,960)	(213,488)
Income tax benefit (expense)									65,292	77,584	81,993
Income (loss) from continuing operations										(116,376)	(131,495)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries									(407,556)	(424,877)	148,874
Net (loss) income									(505,493)	(541,253)	17,379
Subsidiary Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue									1,141,235	1,168,179	1,262,944
Operating expenses:
Content costs									427,780	396,426	433,596
Selling, general & administrative expenses									470,546	475,268	468,349
Depreciation and amortization									85,737	100,580	113,656
LMA fees									12,824	10,129	7,195
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,948, $21,033, and $17,638, respectively)									0	0	0
(Gain) loss on sale of assets or stations									(95,695)	2,856	(1,342)
Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill									604,965	565,584
Impairment charges - equity interest in Pulser Media Inc.										19,364
Total operating expenses									1,506,157	1,570,207	1,021,454
Operating (loss) income									(364,922)	(402,028)	241,490
Non-operating expense:
Interest (expense) income, net									493	433	1,388
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									0	0
Other income (expense), net									2,039	14,205	4,338
Total non-operating expense, net									2,532	14,638	5,726
(Loss) income before income taxes									(362,390)	(387,390)	247,216
Income tax benefit (expense)									(43,640)	(36,138)	(96,928)
Income (loss) from continuing operations										(423,528)	150,288
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries									(1,526)	(1,349)	(1,414)
Net (loss) income									(407,556)	(424,877)	148,874
Subsidiary Non-guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net revenue									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Content costs									0	0	0
Selling, general & administrative expenses									2,354	2,059	2,092
Depreciation and amortization									0	0	0
LMA fees									0	0	0
Corporate expenses (including stock-based compensation expense of $2,948, $21,033, and $17,638, respectively)									0	0	0
(Gain) loss on sale of assets or stations									0	0	0
Impairment of intangible assets and goodwill									0	0
Impairment charges - equity interest in Pulser Media Inc.										0
Total operating expenses									2,354	2,059	2,092
Operating (loss) income									(2,354)	(2,059)	(2,092)
Non-operating expense:
Interest (expense) income, net									(190)	(190)	(264)
Gain on early extinguishment of debt									0	0
Other income (expense), net									0	0	0
Total non-operating expense, net									(190)	(190)	(264)
(Loss) income before income taxes									(2,544)	(2,249)	(2,356)
Income tax benefit (expense)									1,018	900	942
Income (loss) from continuing operations										(1,349)	(1,414)
(Loss) earnings from consolidated subsidiaries									0	0
Net (loss) income									$ (1,526)	$ (1,349)	$ (1,414)