Guarantor Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Statement of Comprehensive Income (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	$ 343,463	$ 296,734
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	151,143	125,876
Selling, general and administrative expenses	78,321	80,470
Amortization of program license rights	12,066	11,758
Corporate and other expenses	10,352	12,651
Depreciation and amortization	40,121	40,283
Gain related to property and equipment, net	(768)	(228)
Merger-related expenses	65,882	5,277
Restructuring expenses	3,982	0
Operating income (loss)	(17,636)	20,647
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(28,556)	(31,023)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs	0	(613)
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	0
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Other, net	74	3,290
Total other income (expense)	(28,482)	(28,346)
Loss before income taxes	(46,118)	(7,699)
Income tax benefit (expense)	20,405	3,157
Net income (loss)	(25,713)	(4,542)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	477	2,891
Net loss attributable to Media General	(26,190)	(7,433)
Other comprehensive income	0	0
Total comprehensive loss attributable to Media General	(26,190)	(7,433)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Media General [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	0	0
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	0
Amortization of program license rights	0	0
Corporate and other expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Gain related to property and equipment, net	0	0
Merger-related expenses	0	0
Restructuring expenses	0	0
Operating income (loss)	0	0
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	0	(1)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs		0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	0
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	(26,190)	(7,432)
Other, net	0	0
Total other income (expense)	(26,190)	(7,433)
Loss before income taxes	(26,190)	(7,433)
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0
Net income (loss)	(26,190)	(7,433)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net loss attributable to Media General	(26,190)	(7,433)
Other comprehensive income		0
Total comprehensive loss attributable to Media General	(26,190)	(7,433)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | LIN Television Corporation [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	99,091	88,218
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	42,160	37,599
Selling, general and administrative expenses	22,693	23,524
Amortization of program license rights	4,480	4,178
Corporate and other expenses	0	3,201
Depreciation and amortization	14,399	14,136
Gain related to property and equipment, net	(7)	(36)
Merger-related expenses	0	1,374
Restructuring expenses	0	0
Operating income (loss)	15,366	4,242
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(10,694)	(10,650)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs		0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	(10,107)	(5,535)
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	(15,958)	(434)
Other, net	0	82
Total other income (expense)	(36,759)	(16,537)
Loss before income taxes	(21,393)	(12,295)
Income tax benefit (expense)	(4,797)	4,863
Net income (loss)	(26,190)	(7,432)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net loss attributable to Media General	(26,190)	(7,432)
Other comprehensive income	0	0
Total comprehensive loss attributable to Media General	(26,190)	(7,432)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	235,157	199,730
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	100,634	83,759
Selling, general and administrative expenses	53,541	53,218
Amortization of program license rights	7,574	7,101
Corporate and other expenses	10,350	9,458
Depreciation and amortization	23,948	24,672
Gain related to property and equipment, net	(833)	(192)
Merger-related expenses	65,882	3,903
Restructuring expenses	3,982	0
Operating income (loss)	(29,921)	17,811
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(17,586)	(20,087)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs		(613)
Intercompany income and (expenses)	10,451	5,767
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Other, net	74	708
Total other income (expense)	(7,061)	(14,225)
Loss before income taxes	(36,982)	3,586
Income tax benefit (expense)	24,584	(2,274)
Net income (loss)	(12,398)	1,312
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	(178)
Net loss attributable to Media General	(12,398)	1,490
Other comprehensive income	0	0
Total comprehensive loss attributable to Media General	(12,398)	1,490
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	17,855	13,742
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	13,447	7,542
Selling, general and administrative expenses	2,252	4,137
Amortization of program license rights	513	479
Corporate and other expenses	2	(8)
Depreciation and amortization	1,774	1,475
Gain related to property and equipment, net	72	0
Merger-related expenses	0	0
Restructuring expenses	0	0
Operating income (loss)	(205)	117
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	(276)	(285)
Debt modification and extinguishment costs		0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	(344)	(232)
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Other, net	0	2,500
Total other income (expense)	(620)	1,983
Loss before income taxes	(825)	2,100
Income tax benefit (expense)	618	568
Net income (loss)	(207)	2,668
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	477	3,069
Net loss attributable to Media General	(684)	(401)
Other comprehensive income	0	0
Total comprehensive loss attributable to Media General	(684)	(401)
Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Income Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net operating revenue	(8,640)	(4,956)
Operating costs:
Operating expenses, excluding depreciation expense	(5,098)	(3,024)
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(165)	(409)
Amortization of program license rights	(501)	0
Corporate and other expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Gain related to property and equipment, net	0	0
Merger-related expenses	0	0
Restructuring expenses	0	0
Operating income (loss)	(2,876)	(1,523)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense, net	0	0
Debt modification and extinguishment costs		0
Intercompany income and (expenses)	0	0
Equity in income (loss) from operations of consolidated subsidiaries	42,148	7,866
Other, net	0	0
Total other income (expense)	42,148	7,866
Loss before income taxes	39,272	6,343
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0
Net income (loss)	39,272	6,343
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	0
Net loss attributable to Media General	39,272	6,343
Other comprehensive income		0
Total comprehensive loss attributable to Media General	$ 39,272	$ 6,343