Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 3,306,829	$ 3,395,141	$ 3,460,845	$ 3,458,487	$ 3,483,928	$ 3,583,454	$ 3,643,632	$ 3,680,361	$ 13,621,302	$ 14,391,375	$ 15,212,302
Subscriber-related expenses									8,544,577	8,919,985	8,913,624
Total subscriber acquisition costs									769,307	1,204,261	1,456,492
Operating income (loss)	482,752	562,703	572,660	529,506	259,291	449,051	252,103	607,320	2,147,621	1,567,765	2,319,261
Income (loss) before income taxes									2,189,175	1,650,087	2,416,603
Income tax (provision) benefit, net									(533,684)	515,320	(865,818)
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network	$ 337,080	$ 431,734	$ 438,717	$ 367,560	$ 1,385,483	$ 297,375	$ 40,116	$ 375,715	$ 1,575,091	$ 2,098,689	$ 1,497,939	$ 1,497,939
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to DISH Network	$ 0.64	$ 0.82	$ 0.83	$ 0.70	$ 2.64	$ 0.57	$ 0.09	$ 0.76	$ 3.00	$ 4.07	$ 3.15	$ 3.15
Subscriber-related revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues									$ 13,456,088	$ 14,260,412	$ 15,033,939
Equipment sales and other revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues									165,214	$ 130,963	$ 178,363
DISH Network (as would have been reported under previous standard)
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Subscriber-related expenses									8,557,738
Total subscriber acquisition costs									927,547
Operating income (loss)									1,993,309
Income (loss) before income taxes									2,034,863
Income tax (provision) benefit, net									(495,558)
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network									$ 1,458,905
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to DISH Network									$ 2.77
DISH Network (as would have been reported under previous standard) | Subscriber-related revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues									$ 13,473,177
ASU 2014-09 | Impact of adoption ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Subscriber-related expenses									(13,161)
Total subscriber acquisition costs									(158,240)
Operating income (loss)									154,312
Income (loss) before income taxes									154,312
Income tax (provision) benefit, net									(38,126)
Net income (loss) attributable to DISH Network									$ 116,186
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to DISH Network									$ 0.23
ASU 2014-09 | Impact of adoption ASU 2014-09 | Subscriber-related revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues									$ (17,089)