Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	May 31, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Preparation of Interim Financial Statements	Preparation of Interim Financial Statements Pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the condensed consolidated interim financial statements included herein have been prepared, without audit, by Emmis Communications Corporation (“ECC”) and its subsidiaries (collectively, “our,” “us,” “we,” “Emmis” or the “Company”). As permitted under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC, certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations; however, Emmis believes that the disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. The condensed consolidated financial statements included herein should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Annual Report for Emmis filed on Form 10-K for the year ended February 28, 2014. The Company’s results are subject to seasonal fluctuations. Therefore, results shown on an interim basis are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. In the opinion of Emmis, the accompanying condensed consolidated interim financial statements contain all material adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position of Emmis at May 31, 2014, and the results of its operations and cash flows for the three-month periods ended May 31, 2013 and 2014. There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2014 that have had a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes.
Basic and Diluted Net (Loss) Income Per Common Share	Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Common Share Basic net income per common share is computed by dividing net income attributable to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net income per common share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised or converted. Potentially dilutive securities at May 31, 2013 and 2014 consisted of stock options, restricted stock awards and the 6.25% Series A convertible preferred stock (the “Preferred Stock”).
Local Programming and Marketing Agreement Fees	Local Programming and Marketing Agreement Fees The Company from time to time enters into local programming and marketing agreements (“LMAs”) in connection with acquisitions or dispositions of radio stations, typically pending regulatory approval of transfer of the FCC licenses. Under the terms of these agreements, the acquiring company makes specified periodic payments to the holder of the FCC license in exchange for the right to program and sell advertising for a specified portion of the station’s inventory of broadcast time. The acquiring company records revenues and expenses associated with the portion of the station’s inventory of broadcast time it manages. Nevertheless, as the holder of the FCC license, the owner-operator retains control and responsibility for the operation of the station, including responsibility over all programming broadcast on the station. On February 11, 2014, the Company entered into an LMA in connection with its agreement to purchase WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM in New York City from YMF Media New York LLC and YMF Media New York License LLC (collectively, "YMF"). The LMA, which commenced on March 1, 2014, gives Emmis the right to program and sell advertising for the two New York stations. Emmis pays YMF $1.3 million per month and reimburses YMF for certain monthly expenses through the first closing of the acquisition of the stations. After the first closing, the LMA continues in effect until the 2nd closing at a reduced monthly fee of approximately $0.7 million. During the three months ended May 31, 2014, Emmis recorded $3.8 million of LMA fee expense. See Note 11 for more discussion of the Company's purchase of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM from YMF. On April 26, 2012, Emmis entered into an LMA with a subsidiary of Disney Enterprises, Inc. for 98.7FM in New York (formerly WRKS-FM and now WEPN-FM, hereinafter referred to as “98.7FM”). The LMA for this station started on April 30, 2012 and will continue until August 31, 2024. Emmis retains ownership and control of the Station, including the related FCC license during the term of the LMA and is scheduled to receive an annual fee until the LMA’s termination. LMA fee revenue is recorded on a straight-line basis over the term of the LMA.
Restricted Cash	Restricted Cash The Company's restricted cash, included in current assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets, totaled 2.2 million and 2.9 million as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014, respectively. The terms of our nonrecourse notes and related agreements discussed in Note 4 restrict a portion of our cash on deposit for specific operating and financing purposes. Restricted cash related to the nonrecourse notes and related agreements totaled $1.4 million and $1.2 million as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014, respectively. In connection with the Company's agreement with Sprint/United Management Company (“Sprint”) discussed in Note 5, the Company collects cash from other participating companies in the radio industry and remits cash collected to Sprint. The entirety of cash collected but not yet remitted to Sprint classified as restricted cash as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014 was $0.8 million and $1.7 million, respectively.
Valuation of Indefinite-lived Broadcasting Licenses	Valuation of Indefinite-lived Broadcasting Licenses In accordance with ASC Topic 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other, the Company’s Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) licenses are considered indefinite-lived intangibles. These assets, which the Company determined were its only indefinite-lived intangibles, are not subject to amortization, but are tested for impairment at least annually as discussed below. The carrying amounts of the Company’s FCC licenses were $150.6 million as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014. Pursuant to Emmis’ accounting policy, stations in a geographic market cluster are considered a single unit of accounting, provided that they are not being operated under an LMA by another broadcaster. The Company generally performs its annual impairment test of indefinite-lived intangibles as of December 1 of each year. When indicators of impairment are present the Company will perform an interim impairment test. During the quarter ended May 31, 2014, no new or additional impairment indicators emerged; hence, no interim impairment testing was warranted. These impairment tests may result in impairment charges in future periods. Fair value of our FCC licenses is estimated to be the price that would be received to sell an asset in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. To determine the fair value of our FCC licenses, the Company uses an income valuation method when it performs its impairment tests. Under this method, the Company projects cash flows that would be generated by each of its units of accounting assuming the unit of accounting was commencing operations in its respective market at the beginning of the valuation period. This cash flow stream is discounted to arrive at a value for the FCC license. The Company assumes the competitive situation that exists in each market remains unchanged, with the exception that its unit of accounting commenced operations at the beginning of the valuation period. In doing so, the Company extracts the value of going concern and any other assets acquired, and strictly values the FCC license. Major assumptions involved in this analysis include market revenue, market revenue growth rates, unit of accounting audience share, unit of accounting revenue share and discount rate. Each of these assumptions may change in the future based upon changes in general economic conditions, audience behavior, consummated transactions, and numerous other variables that may be beyond our control. When evaluating our radio broadcasting licenses for impairment, the testing is performed at the unit of accounting level as determined by ASC Topic 350-30-35. In our case, radio stations in a geographic market cluster are considered a single unit of accounting, provided that they are not being operated under an LMA.
Valuation of Goodwill	Valuation of Goodwill ASC Topic 350-20-35 requires the Company to test goodwill for impairment at least annually using a two-step process. The first step is a screen for potential impairment, while the second step measures the amount of impairment. The Company conducts the two-step impairment test on December 1 of each fiscal year, unless indications of impairment exist during an interim period. During the quarter ended May 31, 2014, no new or additional impairment indicators emerged; hence, no interim impairment testing was warranted. When assessing its goodwill for impairment, the Company uses an enterprise valuation approach to determine the fair value of each of the Company’s reporting units (radio stations grouped by market and magazines on an individual basis). Management determines enterprise value for each of its reporting units by multiplying the two-year average station operating income generated by each reporting unit (current year based on actual results and the next year based on budgeted results) by an estimated market multiple. The Company uses a blended station operating income trading multiple of publicly traded radio operators as a benchmark for the multiple it applies to its radio reporting units. There are no publicly traded publishing companies that are focused predominantly on city and regional magazines as is our publishing segment. Therefore, the market multiple used as a benchmark for our publishing reporting units has been based on recently completed transactions within the city and regional magazine industry or analyst reports that include valuations of magazine divisions within publicly traded media conglomerates. Management believes this methodology for valuing radio and publishing properties is a common approach and believes that the multiples used in the valuation are reasonable given our peer comparisons and recent market transactions. To corroborate the step-one reporting unit fair values determined using the market approach described above, management also uses an income approach, which is a discounted cash flow method to determine the fair value of the reporting unit. This enterprise valuation is compared to the carrying value of the reporting unit for the first step of the goodwill impairment test. If the reporting unit exhibits impairment, the Company proceeds to the second step of the goodwill impairment test. For its step-two testing, the enterprise value is allocated among the tangible assets, indefinite-lived intangible assets (FCC licenses valued using a direct-method valuation approach) and unrecognized intangible assets, such as customer lists, with the residual amount representing the implied fair value of the goodwill. To the extent the carrying amount of the goodwill exceeds the implied fair value of the goodwill, the difference is recorded as an impairment charge in the statement of operations. As of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014, the carrying amount of the Company’s goodwill was $12.6 million. Approximately $4.6 million of our goodwill was attributable to our radio division as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014. Approximately $8.0 million of our goodwill was attributable to our publishing division as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014.
Definite-lived intangibles	Definite-lived intangibles The Company’s definite-lived intangible assets consist of trademarks which are amortized over the period of time the assets are expected to contribute directly or indirectly to the Company’s future cash flows. The trademarks have a weighted average remaining useful life of 10.5 years. Amortization expense related to trademarks is expected to be less than $0.1 million in each of the next five successive fiscal years.
Fair Value Measurements and Disclosure	Available for sale securities — Emmis’ available for sale securities are investments in preferred stock of companies that are not traded in active markets. The investments are recorded at fair value, which is generally estimated using significant unobservable market parameters, resulting in a level 3 categorization. The carrying value of our preferred stock investments is determined by using implied valuations of recent rounds of financing and by other corroborating evidence, including the application of various valuation methodologies including option-pricing and discounted cash flow based models. Our available for sale securities are included in other noncurrent assets in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Interest rate swap agreement — Emmis’ derivative financial instruments consisted solely of an interest rate cash flow hedge in which the Company pays a fixed rate and receives a variable interest rate that was observable based upon a forward interest rate curve and is therefore considered a level 2 measurement. Non-Recurring Fair Value Measurements The Company has certain assets that are measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis under circumstances and events that include those described in Note 3, Intangible Assets and Goodwill, and are adjusted to fair value only when the carrying values are more than the fair values. The categorization of the framework used to price the assets is considered a Level 3 measurement due to the subjective nature of the unobservable inputs used to determine the fair value (see Note 3 for more discussion). Fair Value of Other Financial Instruments The estimated fair value of financial instruments is determined using the best available market information and appropriate valuation methodologies. Considerable judgment is necessary, however, in interpreting market data to develop the estimates of fair value. Accordingly, the estimates presented are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that the Company could realize in a current market exchange, or the value that ultimately will be realized upon maturity or disposition. The use of different market assumptions may have a material effect on the estimated fair value amounts. The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of financial instruments: - Cash and cash equivalents: The carrying amount of these assets approximates fair value because of the short maturity of these instruments. - Long-term debt: The Company’s long-term debt is not actively traded and is considered a level 3 measurement. The Company believes the current carrying value of its long-term debt approximates its fair value. As defined in ASC Topic 820, fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). The Company utilizes market data or assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk and the risks inherent in the inputs to the valuation technique. These inputs can be readily observable, market corroborated or generally unobservable. The Company utilizes valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. ASC Topic 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement). Recurring Fair Value Measurements The following table sets forth by level within the fair value hierarchy the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that were accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis as of February 28, 2014 and May 31, 2014. The financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement requires judgment and may affect the valuation of fair value assets and liabilities and their placement within the fair value hierarchy levels.
New Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In June 2013, the FASB issued a new accounting standard that requires the presentation of certain unrecognized tax benefits as reductions to deferred tax assets rather than as liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets when a net operating loss carryforward, a similar tax loss, or a tax credit carryforward exists. This guidance was effective for the Company beginning March 1, 2014. The adoption of this guidance did not have any effect on the presentation of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements. In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, to clarify the principles used to recognize revenue for all entities. This guidance will be effective for the Company in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending February 28, 2018. The Company is currently evaluating the impact, if any, the adoption of this guidance will have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior year’s financial statements to be consistent with the May 31, 2014 presentation. The reclassifications have no impact on net income previously reported.