Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 2,388,643	$ 2,356,672	$ 2,309,222
Cost of sales	(1,454,604)	(1,375,678)	(1,391,049)
Gross profit	934,039	980,994	918,173
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(461,022)	(494,224)	(525,518)
Research and development	(134,330)	(140,601)	(148,311)
Amortization of intangibles	(103,997)	(98,385)	(103,791)
Impairment of assets held for sale	0	(23,931)	0
Operating income	234,690	223,853	140,553
Interest expense, net	(82,901)	(95,050)	(100,613)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(52,441)	(2,342)	0
Income from continuing operations before taxes	99,348	126,461	39,940
Income tax benefit (expense)	(6,495)	1,185	26,568
Income from continuing operations	92,853	127,646	66,508
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	0	(242)
Loss from disposal of discontinued operations, net of tax	0	0	(86)
Net income	92,853	127,646	66,180
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(357)	(357)	(24)
Net income attributable to Belden	93,210	128,003	66,204
Less: Preferred stock dividends	34,931	15,428	0
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ 58,279	$ 112,575	$ 66,204
Weighted average number of common shares and equivalents:
Basic (in shares)	42,220	42,093	42,390
Diluted (in shares)	42,643	42,557	42,953
Basic income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in usd per share)	$ 1.38	$ 2.67	$ 1.57
Discontinued operations (in usd per share)	0.00	0.00	(0.01)
Net income (in usd per share)	1.38	2.67	1.56
Diluted income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in usd per share)	1.37	2.65	1.55
Discontinued operations (in usd per share)	0.00	0.00	(0.01)
Net income (in usd per share)	$ 1.37	$ 2.65	$ 1.54