Property and Equipment (Details) (USD $)							3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Land	Dec. 31, 2012 Land	Mar. 31, 2013 Buildings and improvements	Dec. 31, 2012 Buildings and improvements	Mar. 31, 2013 Buildings and improvements Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Buildings and improvements Maximum	Mar. 31, 2013 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	Dec. 31, 2012 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other	Mar. 31, 2013 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other Maximum	Mar. 31, 2013 Customer rental equipment	Dec. 31, 2012 Customer rental equipment	Mar. 31, 2013 Customer rental equipment Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Customer rental equipment Maximum	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellites - owned	Dec. 31, 2012 Satellites - owned	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellites - owned Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellites - owned Maximum	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar III - fully depreciated	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellites acquired under capital leases	Dec. 31, 2012 Satellites acquired under capital leases	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellites acquired under capital leases Minimum	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellites acquired under capital leases Maximum	Mar. 31, 2013 Construction in progress	Dec. 31, 2012 Construction in progress
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 4,947,431,000	$ 4,873,983,000	$ 42,579,000	$ 42,312,000	$ 365,548,000	$ 363,338,000			$ 1,088,092,000	$ 1,064,071,000			$ 278,461,000	$ 251,708,000			$ 2,127,826,000	$ 1,762,264,000				$ 935,104,000	$ 935,104,000			$ 109,821,000	$ 455,186,000
Accumulated depreciation	(2,361,258,000)	(2,261,699,000)
Property and equipment, net	$ 2,586,173,000	$ 2,612,284,000																			$ 0
Depreciable Life							1 year	40 years			1 year	12 years			1 year	5 years			10 years	15 years				10 years	15 years