Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Oct. 02, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015	Oct. 02, 2016	Sep. 27, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 601,109	$ 579,266	$ 1,744,237	$ 1,711,978
Cost of sales	(355,147)	(353,135)	(1,025,027)	(1,043,922)
Gross profit	245,962	226,131	719,210	668,056
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(126,662)	(127,792)	(372,125)	(395,424)
Research and development	(33,512)	(38,168)	(106,297)	(110,999)
Amortization of intangibles	(23,808)	(25,669)	(75,603)	(78,090)
Operating income	61,980	34,502	165,185	83,543
Interest expense, net	(23,513)	(25,416)	(71,958)	(74,031)
Income from continuing operations before taxes	38,467	9,086	93,227	9,512
Income tax benefit (expense)	(2,902)	5,725	513	7,340
Income from continuing operations	35,565	14,811	93,740	16,852
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	(242)	0	(242)
Loss from disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax	0	0	0	(86)
Net income	35,565	14,569	93,740	16,524
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(88)	0	(286)	0
Net income attributable to Belden	35,653	14,569	94,026	16,524
Less: Preferred stock dividends	6,695	0	6,695	0
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ 28,958	$ 14,569	$ 87,331	$ 16,524
Weighted average number of common shares and equivalents:
Basic (in shares)	42,126	42,417	42,073	42,536
Diluted (in shares)	42,601	42,908	42,532	43,117
Basic income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in usd per share)	$ 0.69	$ 0.35	$ 2.08	$ 0.40
Discontinued operations (in usd per share)	0.00	(0.01)	0.00	(0.01)
Disposal of discontinued operations (in usd per share)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Net income (in usd per share)	0.69	0.34	2.08	0.39
Diluted income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in usd per share)	0.68	0.35	2.05	0.39
Discontinued operations (in usd per share)	0.00	(0.01)	0.00	(0.01)
Disposal of discontinued operations (in usd per share)	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Net income (in usd per share)	$ 0.68	$ 0.34	$ 2.05	$ 0.38
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Belden	$ 31,846	$ (9,803)	$ 90,137	$ 4,036
Dividends declared per share (in usd per share)	$ 0.05	$ 0.05	$ 0.15	$ 0.15