Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jul. 01, 2018	Jun. 30, 2019	Jul. 01, 2018
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 637,530	$ 668,639	$ 1,224,705	$ 1,274,204
Cost of sales	(396,507)	(411,043)	(758,954)	(786,014)
Gross profit	241,023	257,596	465,751	488,190
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(122,482)	(138,842)	(245,270)	(263,714)
Research and development expenses	(35,034)	(37,209)	(69,188)	(74,310)
Amortization of intangibles	(22,368)	(25,039)	(45,709)	(49,457)
Operating income	61,139	56,506	105,584	100,709
Interest expense, net	(14,168)	(15,088)	(28,361)	(32,066)
Non-operating pension benefit (cost)	481	(257)	1,028	(532)
Loss on debt extinguishment	0	(3,030)	0	(22,990)
Income before taxes	47,452	38,131	78,251	45,121
Income tax expense	(5,162)	(9,339)	(10,783)	(13,759)
Net income	42,290	28,792	67,468	31,362
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	90	(77)	66	(125)
Net income attributable to Belden	42,200	28,869	67,402	31,487
Less: Preferred stock dividends	8,733	8,733	17,466	17,466
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ 33,467	$ 20,136	$ 49,936	$ 14,021
Weighted average number of common shares and equivalents:
Basic (in shares)	39,389	40,735	39,405	41,184
Diluted (in shares)	39,611	40,974	39,635	41,492
Basic income per share attributable to Belden common stockholders (in usd per share)	$ 0.85	$ 0.49	$ 1.27	$ 0.34
Diluted income per share attributable to Belden common stockholders (in usd per share)	$ 0.84	$ 0.49	$ 1.26	$ 0.34
Comprehensive income attributable to Belden	$ 25,507	$ 89,897	$ 79,718	$ 61,107
Common stock dividends declared per share (in usd per share)	$ 0.05	$ 0.05	$ 0.10	$ 0.10