Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 29, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 463,526	$ 500,140
Cost of sales	(293,025)	(313,284)
Gross profit	170,501	186,856
Selling, general and administrative expenses	(98,389)	(97,955)
Research and development expenses	(26,219)	(23,247)
Amortization of intangibles	(16,185)	(18,164)
Operating income	29,708	47,490
Interest expense, net	(13,324)	(13,988)
Non-operating pension benefit	699	603
Income from continuing operations before taxes	17,083	34,105
Income tax expense	(2,192)	(6,170)
Income from continuing operations	14,891	27,935
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(26,110)	(2,757)
Net income (loss)	(11,219)	25,178
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(30)	(24)
Net income (loss) attributable to Belden	(11,189)	25,202
Less: Preferred stock dividends	0	8,733
Net income (loss) attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ (11,189)	$ 16,469
Weighted average number of common shares and equivalents:
Basic	45,390	39,420
Diluted	45,538	39,660
Basic income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ 0.33	$ 0.48
Discontinued operations attributable to Belden common stockholders	(0.58)	(0.07)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders	(0.25)	0.42
Diluted income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders:
Continuing operations attributable to Belden common stockholders	0.33	0.48
Discontinued operations attributable to Belden common stockholders	(0.58)	(0.07)
Net income (loss) per share attributable to Belden common stockholders	$ (0.25)	$ 0.42
Comprehensive income attributable to Belden	$ 11,134	$ 54,211
Common stock dividends declared per share	$ 0.05	$ 0.05