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Commitments and Contingencies (Details) $ in Thousands									1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	84 Months Ended	114 Months Ended	117 Months Ended
Commitments and Contingencies (Details) $ in Thousands	May 11, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 23, 2016	Jul. 01, 2016 USD ($)	Aug. 18, 2015 USD ($)	Apr. 29, 2014 USD ($) segment	Oct. 29, 2013	Mar. 09, 2012 USD ($)	Mar. 09, 2012	Jan. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2008 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) item	Apr. 17, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Spectrum Investments
Payment to acquire certain wireless licenses and related assets												$ 11,000,000		$ 21,000,000
MVDDS Licenses
Spectrum Investments
Number Of Licenses \| item										82
MVDDS Licenses \| Maximum
Spectrum Investments
Number Of Licenses \| item										214
LMDS Licenses
Spectrum Investments
Number Of Markets \| item										4
Licenses Renewal Period										10 years
Wireless
Spectrum Investments
Payment to acquire certain wireless licenses and related assets													$ 11,000,000
H Block Licenses
Spectrum Investments
Payment to acquire certain wireless licenses and related assets					$ 1,672,000
Accelerated period to meet Final Build-Out Requirement on failure to meet Interim Build-Out Requirement										2 years
Number of wireless spectrum licenses \| segment					176
H Block Licenses \| Minimum
Spectrum Investments
Interim Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										40.00%
Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										75.00%
700 MHz Licenses
Spectrum Investments
Payment to acquire certain wireless licenses and related assets											$ 712,000
Modified 700 MHz Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)						70.00%
600 MHz Licenses
Spectrum Investments
Build-out requirement accelerated period									2 years
Termination Period									39 months
Aggregate bid price															$ 6,211,000
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Aggregate Bid Price															$ 6,211,000
600 MHz Licenses \| Maximum
Spectrum Investments
Percent of coverage on available licensed geographic areas										75.00%
600 MHz Licenses \| Minimum
Spectrum Investments
Percent of coverage on available licensed geographic areas										40.00%
AWS-3 Licenses [Member]
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Refund amount received										$ 400,000
DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions \| Wireless
Spectrum Investments
Purchase price							$ 2,860,000
AWS-4 Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										70.00%
DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions \| AWS-4 Satellites
Spectrum Investments
Ownership percentage								100.00%
Northstar Spectrum And SNR Holdco
Spectrum Investments
Noncontrolling Interest in Variable Interest Entity										$ 10,000				10,000		$ 10,000,000
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Percentage of bidding credit				25.00%
Total investments										$ 10,191,000				$ 10,191,000
Northstar Spectrum And SNR Holdco \| American III
Spectrum Investments
Number of wireless spectrum licenses \| item										244				244
Northstar Spectrum And SNR Holdco \| AWS-3 Licenses [Member]
Spectrum Investments
Accelerated period to meet Final Build-Out Requirement on failure to meet Interim Build-Out Requirement										2 years
Interim Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										40.00%
Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										75.00%
Northstar Spectrum And SNR Holdco \| Prior Arrangement [Member] \| SNR Licenses
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Number of licenses returned \| item										113
Northstar Wireless or Northstar Spectrum
Spectrum Investments
Re-Auction payment										$ 1,892,000
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Percentage of bidding credit										15.00%
Bidding credit value				$ 1,961,000
Interim Payment										$ 334,000
Interim payment percentage										15.00%
Northstar Wireless or Northstar Spectrum \| Northstar Manager LLC
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Controlling interest owned by other companies										15.00%
Equity contribution										$ 133,000
Northstar Wireless or Northstar Spectrum \| American II
Spectrum Investments
Ownership percentage										85.00%
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Loan made										$ 69,000
Equity contribution										750,000
Northstar Wireless or Northstar Spectrum \| American II \| Northstar Credit Agreement
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Loan made										$ 5,070,000
Northstar Wireless or Northstar Spectrum \| Northstar Licenses
Spectrum Investments
Number of wireless spectrum licenses \| item										261				261
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Gross winning bids										$ 5,619,000
Northstar Wireless or Northstar Spectrum \| AWS-3 Licenses [Member]
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Percentage of bidding credit		25.00%								25.00%
Gross winning bids										$ 7,845,000
Net winning bid										$ 5,884,000
Number of licenses returned \| item										84
Non-payment gross winning bids										$ 2,226,000				$ 2,226,000
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco
Spectrum Investments
Re-Auction payment										1,029,000
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Bidding credit value				$ 1,370,000
Interim Payment										182,000
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco \| SNR Credit Agreement [Member]
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Loan made										$ 3,847,000
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco \| SNR Wireless Management LLC
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Controlling interest owned by other companies										15.00%
Equity contribution										$ 93,000
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco \| American III
Spectrum Investments
Ownership percentage										85.00%
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Gross winning bids										$ 4,271,000
Loan made										344,000
Equity contribution										524,000
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco \| AWS 3 Auction
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Gross winning bids										5,482,000
Net winning bid										4,112,000
Bid withdrawal payment										$ 8,000
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco \| AWS-3 Licenses [Member] \| SNR Wireless Management LLC
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Percentage of bidding credit										15.00%
SNR Wireless or SNR Wireless Holdco \| SNR Licenses
Commitments relating to AWS-3 Auction
Non-payment gross winning bids										$ 1,211,000				$ 1,211,000
Additional bid withdrawal payment										$ 3,000
FCC Wireless Bureau [Member] \| Auction 1000 [Member]
Spectrum Investments
Payment to acquire certain wireless licenses and related assets			$ 1,500,000
Payment of remaining balance of winning bid	$ 4,711,000