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Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all assets that are recognized. Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(12))
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-Section S99
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Amount of gain (loss) recognized in settlement of litigation and insurance claims. Excludes claims within an insurance entity's normal claims settlement process.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
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-Section 50
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14326-108349

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Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

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Total revenue from sale of goods and services rendered during the reporting period, in the normal course of business, reduced by sales returns and allowances, and sales discounts.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
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-Section S99
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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	May 11, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Segment information
Number of primary operating business units \| segment				2
Total assets		$ 29,520,855		$ 29,520,855		$ 27,914,292
Total revenue		3,583,454	$ 3,767,472	10,907,447	$ 11,459,537
Operating income (loss)		449,051	522,662	1,308,474	1,746,362
Litigation expense (Note 10)				295,695
United States
Segment information
Total revenue		3,571,686	3,750,264	10,874,653	11,382,670
Canada And Mexico
Segment information
Total revenue		11,768	17,208	32,794	76,867
Pay TV And Broadband [Member] \| Operating segment
Segment information
Total assets		28,100,949		28,100,949		26,980,276
Total revenue		3,583,454	3,767,472	10,907,447	11,459,537
Operating income (loss)		460,158	537,575	1,344,742	1,794,271
Wireless \| Operating segment
Segment information
Total assets		23,256,271		23,256,271		17,814,382
Operating income (loss)		(11,107)	$ (14,913)	(36,268)	$ (47,909)
All Other and Eliminations \| Other and Eliminations
Segment information
Total assets		$ (21,836,365)		$ (21,836,365)		$ (16,880,366)
Auction 1000 [Member] \| FCC Wireless Bureau [Member]
Segment information
Payment of remaining balance of winning bid	$ 4,711,000