Document And Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	May 07, 2018
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2018
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Entity Registrant Name	SAGA COMMUNICATIONS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000886136
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Trading Symbol	SGA
Common Class A [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		5,034,751
Common Class B [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		898,633