Acquisitions (Details) (USD $)			3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended							0 Months Ended						0 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended						3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012 New Vision and ACME	Jun. 30, 2012 New Vision and ACME	Dec. 10, 2012 KASY-TV Licensed, LLC ("KASY") ACME	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation	Dec. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Dedicated Media	Apr. 09, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Dedicated Media	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Dedicated Media Maximum	Apr. 09, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Dedicated Media Customer relationships	Apr. 09, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Dedicated Media Completed technology	Apr. 09, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Dedicated Media Trademarks	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation HYFN	Apr. 04, 2013 LIN Television Corporation HYFN	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation HYFN Maximum	Apr. 04, 2013 LIN Television Corporation HYFN Customer relationships	Apr. 04, 2013 LIN Television Corporation HYFN Completed technology	Apr. 04, 2013 LIN Television Corporation HYFN Trademarks	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan	Oct. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Network affiliations	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Network affiliations	Oct. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Favorable leases	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Favorable leases	Oct. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Advertiser relationships	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Advertiser relationships	Oct. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Retransmission consent agreements	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Retransmission consent agreements	Oct. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Other intangible assets	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and Vaughan Other intangible assets	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision item	Dec. 10, 2012 LIN Television Corporation ACME	Jun. 30, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and ACME	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and ACME	Jun. 30, 2012 LIN Television Corporation New Vision and ACME	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Nami Media	Dec. 31, 2012 LIN Television Corporation Nami Media	Nov. 22, 2011 LIN Television Corporation Nami Media	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation Nami Media Maximum	Jun. 30, 2013 LIN Television Corporation LIN Digital	Oct. 12, 2012 LIN Television Corporation Vaughan item	Dec. 10, 2012 LIN Television Corporation KASY-TV Licensed, LLC ("KASY") ACME
Acquisitions
Ownership interest (as a percent)									60.00%						50.10%																							57.60%
Ownership interest calculated on a fully diluted basis (as a percent)																																						50.10%
Number of markets covered by network-affiliated television stations																															8										3
Potential obligation or liability	$ 204,490,000					$ 204,490,000				$ 26,000,000						$ 62,400,000																							$ 37,400,000
Purchase price															7,200,000																334,900,000										4,600,000
Assumption of finance lease obligations															300,000																14,300,000
Amount of purchase price paid					1,700,000				5,800,000						6,900,000																	17,300,000										19,000,000
Provisional allocation of the purchase price to the estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed
Current assets									7,524,000						3,938,000																											1,656,000
Non-current assets															12,000																											1,968,000
Other intangible assets									4,620,000						3,580,000																											12,898,000
Program rights assets																				2,040,000
Property and equipment																				100,559,000
Broadcast licenses																				133,120,000
Definite-lived intangible assets											3,900,000	500,000	200,000				2,400,000	1,100,000	100,000	55,837,000		30,800,000		8,600,000		6,100,000		7,000,000		3,300,000
Goodwill	202,998,000	192,079,000				202,998,000	192,079,000		1,796,000						9,123,000					64,589,000																						5,331,000
Current liabilities									(4,354,000)						(920,000)					(417,000)
Non-current liabilities															(1,324,000)					(2,239,000)																						(2,858,000)
Long-term debt assumed																				(13,989,000)
Noncontrolling interest									(3,834,000)						(7,191,000)																							(3,500,000)
Total									5,752,000						7,218,000					339,500,000																						18,995,000
Estimated remaining useful lives																					2 years		32 years		10 years		5 years		6 years
Remaining useful life											P7Y	P4Y	P2Y				P8Y	P3Y	P3Y
Period for final determination of fair values of the assets and liabilities assumed in the acquisition following the acquisition date																																12 months
Amount of goodwill recognized in connection with the acquisition deductible for tax purposes									0						0
Net revenues																																		69,600,000
Operating income (loss)																																		1,200,000
Pro Forma Information
Net revenue																																	157,212,000		293,168,000
Net income																																	25,956,000		25,911,000
Basic income per common share attributable to LIN TV Corp. (in dollars per share)			$ 0.47	$ 0.47																													$ 0.47		$ 0.47
Diluted income per common share attributable to LIN TV Corp. (in dollars per share)			$ 0.46	$ 0.45																													$ 0.46		$ 0.45
Fair value of the non-controlling interest									3,834,000						7,191,000																							3,500,000
Fair value of mandatory purchase obligation																																				0
Fair value of option to purchase the remaining outstanding shares								0						0																						0	0
Amount paid related to the incentive compensation arrangement																																								$ 8,900,000