Salem Media Group, Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Notes Payable and Long-Term Debt - Additional Information (Detail)

Notes Payable and Long-Term Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended							1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
	Mar. 14, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Standby letters of credit	Mar. 31, 2013 Swingline Credit Facility	Mar. 14, 2013 Term Loan B	Mar. 31, 2013 Term Loan B	Mar. 31, 2013 Revolver	Mar. 14, 2013 Revolver	Mar. 14, 2013 Terminated revolver	Nov. 15, 2011 Terminated revolver	Mar. 31, 2013 Terminated revolver	Nov. 01, 2010 Terminated revolver	Dec. 01, 2009 Terminated revolver	Mar. 31, 2013 Terminated revolver Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Terminated revolver Maximum	Mar. 31, 2013 Terminated revolver Covenant requirement Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Terminated revolver Covenant requirement Maximum	Mar. 14, 2013 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Dec. 12, 2012 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Jun. 01, 2012 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Dec. 31, 2009 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Mar. 31, 2013 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Mar. 31, 2012 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Dec. 12, 2011 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Sep. 06, 2011 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Jun. 01, 2011 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Dec. 01, 2010 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Jun. 01, 2010 9 5/8% Senior Secured Second Lien Notes	Sep. 15, 2013 Subordinated debt	May 21, 2012 Subordinated debt	Mar. 31, 2013 Subordinated debt due related parties	Nov. 17, 2011 Subordinated debt due related parties Stuart W. Epperson, Board of Directors Chairman	Nov. 17, 2011 Subordinated debt due related parties Edward G. Atsinger III, Chief Executive Officer and Director	Sep. 12, 2012 Subordinated debt due related parties Roland S. Hinz, a Salem board member	May 21, 2012 Subordinated debt due related parties Roland S. Hinz, a Salem board member	Mar. 31, 2013 Seller financed note
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Credit facility, borrowing capacity				$ 5,000,000	$ 5,000,000	$ 300,000,000	$ 300,000,000		$ 25,000,000																									$ 3,000,000	$ 6,000,000	$ 12,000,000	$ 6,000,000
Term loan maturity year						7 years			5 years
Additional term loan amount increased						60,000,000
Credit facility, quarterly consecutive principal payments							750,000																								1,250,000
Floor percentage on Term Loan							1.00%
Debt, interest rate over LIBOR							3.50%				3.00%
Debt, interest rate above base rate							2.50%				1.25%
Debt, increase in interest rate if default occurs							2.00%				2.00%
Revolving credit facility, covenant description												With respect to financial covenants, the credit agreement includes a minimum interest coverage ratio, which starts at 1.50 to 1.0 and steps up to 2.50 to 1.0 by 2016 and a maximum leverage ratio, which starts at 6.75 to 1.0 and steps down to 5.75 to 1.0 by 2017. The credit agreement also includes other negative covenants that are customary for credit facilities of this type, including covenants that, subject to exceptions described in the credit agreement, restrict the ability of Salem and its subsidiary guarantors
Interest coverage ratio												2.26					1.50	2.50
Interest coverage ratio												5.64	5.0		5.75	6.75
Debt, issuance of principal amount																						300,000,000
Debt, issued at discount																						298,100,000
Debt, effective yield																						9.75%
Debt, interest payment terms																						Interest is due and payable on June 15 and December 15 of each year, commencing June 15, 2010 until maturity.
Debt maturity period																						2016-12
Debt, annual interest payment																						28,900,000
Debt, accrued interest		548,000	1,110,000																				25,000		900,000
Interest expense																							37,000	45,000
Principal repurchased or redeemed																			212,597,000	4,000,000	17,500,000					12,500,000	5,000,000	17,500,000	12,500,000	17,500,000
Debt, purchase price																			240,300,000	4,100,000	18,000,000
Percent of debt purchase price																			110.65%	103.00%	103.00%
Loss on early retirement of long-term debt	33,000	(27,721,000)								800,000									26,900,000	200,000	900,000		800,000
Unamortized Discount																			837,000	17,000	80,000					62,000	26,000	93,000	70,000	105,000
Bond issue cost																			2,867,000	57,000	287,000					337,000	135,000	472,000	334,000	417,000
Tendered amount																			240,300,000
Amount paid for redemption																			22,700,000
Aggregate principal amount outstanding																							900,000
Deposit with Trustee																			1,000,000
Restricted cash		970,000																					970,000
Redemption price percentage																							103.00%
Carrying value of notes																							900,000		212,600,000
Increase borrowing capacity													40,000,000	30,000,000
Debt, amendment fees											500,000
Revolving credit facility, second amendment description											On November 15, 2011, we completed the Second Amendment of the Terminated Revolver to among other things, (1) extend the maturity date from December 1, 2012 to December 1, 2014, (2) change the interest rate applicable to LIBOR or the Wells Fargo base rate plus a spread to be determined based on our leverage ratio, (3) allow us to borrow and repay unsecured indebtedness provided certain conditions are met and (4) include step-downs related to our leverage ratio covenant
Revolving credit facility extend maturity date											2014-12-01
Credit facility, principal amount																																10,000,000
Debt, maturity date																															Jun. 15, 2014	Jun. 15, 2014						Apr. 30, 2014
Credit facility, interest at a floating rate																																4.25%
Credit facility, floating rate, interest above prime rate							2.50%	2.00%																								1.00%
Debt, interest rate terms																																The interest rate for the FCB Loan ("Interest Rate") was variable and was equal to the greater of (a) 4.250% or (b) the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate as published in The Wall Street Journal and reported by FCB plus 1%.	Outstanding amounts under each subordinated line of credit will bear interest at a rate equal to the lesser of (1) 5% per annum and (2) the maximum rate permitted for subordinated debt under the Revolver referred to above plus 2% per annum. Interest is payable at the time of any repayment of principal. In addition, outstanding amounts under each subordinated line of credit must be repaid within three (3) months from the time that such amounts are borrowed, with the exception of the subordinated line of credit with Mr. Hinz, which must be repaid within six (6) months from the time that such amounts are borrowed.
Credit facility, term																															23 months
Credit facility, interest charge																															50
Credit facility, increased interest rate																															5.00%
FCB loan termination date		March 14, 2013
Debt, interest rate above LIBOR							3.50%	3.00%
Credit facility, outstanding amount								4,000,000																														2,000,000
Interest payable on notes																							40,000
Redeemed notes amount																							$ 900,000
Debt, interest rate																							9.625%		9.625%													5.00%