Related Party Transactions (Details) (USD $)				9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Digital	Sep. 30, 2013 EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2011 Patent Cross-License Agreements	Oct. 31, 2012 Hughes Broadband Distribution Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 Hughes Broadband Distribution Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DBSD North America Agreement item	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network EchoStar XV	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network DISH Digital	Apr. 30, 2011 DISH Network TiVo vs. Dish Network and Echostar Corporation item	Apr. 29, 2011 DISH Network TiVo vs. Dish Network and Echostar Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network 2012 Receiver Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Broadcast Agreement	May 31, 2010 DISH Network Broadcast Agreement for Certain Sports Related Programming	Dec. 31, 2012 DISH Network EchoStar XVI	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2009 DISH Network EchoStar XVI	May 31, 2012 DISH Network Service agreement to lease certain satellite capacity Ciel	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network TT&C Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Inverness Lease Agreement	Dec. 31, 2008 DISH Network Varick Sublease Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Santa Fe Lease Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Gilbert Lease Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Product Support Agreement	Nov. 30, 2013 DISH Network DISH Online.com Services Agreement	Jan. 31, 2010 DISH Network DISH Online.com Services Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network DISH Online.com Services Agreement item	Feb. 28, 2010 DISH Network DISH Remote Access Services Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network DISH Remote Access Services Agreement	Feb. 28, 2010 DISH Network SlingService Services Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network SlingService Services Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Management Services Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network RUS Service Implementation Agreement	Mar. 09, 2012 DISH Network DBSD North America Agreement	Sep. 30, 2012 DISH Network Remanufactured Receiver Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Remanufactured Receiver Agreement	Sep. 30, 2012 DISH Network Remanufactured Receiver Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Tax Sharing Agreement Other noncurrent assets, net	Jun. 30, 2013 DISH Network Tax Sharing Agreement Noncurrent deferred tax liabilities	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Set-Top Box Application Development Agreement	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network XiP Encryption Agreement	Dec. 31, 2009 DISH Network DISH Telesat Agreement item	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network El Paso Lease Agreement item	Sep. 30, 2013 DISH Network Professional Services Agreement	Sep. 30, 2012 DISH Network QuetzSat-1 Transponder item	Dec. 31, 2009 Telesat Canada Nimiq 5 Agreement item	Dec. 31, 2008 SES QuetzSat-1 Lease Agreement item	Sep. 30, 2012 Hughes Systique Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 Hughes Systique Corporation	Sep. 30, 2012 Hughes Systique Corporation	Sep. 30, 2013 NagraStar	Sep. 30, 2012 NagraStar	Sep. 30, 2013 NagraStar	Sep. 30, 2012 NagraStar	Dec. 31, 2012 NagraStar	Sep. 30, 2013 Dish Mexico	Sep. 30, 2012 Dish Mexico	Sep. 30, 2013 Dish Mexico	Sep. 30, 2012 Dish Mexico	Dec. 31, 2012 Dish Mexico	Sep. 30, 2013 Deluxe	Sep. 30, 2012 Deluxe	Sep. 30, 2013 Deluxe	Sep. 30, 2012 Deluxe	Dec. 31, 2012 Deluxe	Sep. 30, 2013 Blockbuster	Sep. 30, 2010 DISH Broadband RUS Service Implementation Agreement Maximum
Related party transactions
Minimum required notice period for termination of agreement by related party								30 days					60 days	60 days						60 days					60 days			120 days		120 days		120 days		45 days								30 days
Agreement term						5 years		1 year							10 years				10 years			7 years				1 year	2 years		5 years		5 years														1 year		15 years	10 years
Agreement term from commencement of service date																4 years		10 years																									10 years
Additional term of renewal option									3 years				1 year				5 years
Number of DBS transponders available to receive services																																											32				32
Number of DBS transponders expected to receive services																																																32
Number of DBS transponders currently receiving services																																														24
Number of DBS transponders currently receiving services subleased back from related party																																														5
Automatic renewal period							1 year																					1 year		1 year		1 year	1 year								1 year				1 year
Required minimum notice for termination of agreement							180 days														6 months			30 days																	90 days				60 days
Required minimum notice for termination of individual service																																													30 days
Required minimum notice period for termination of agreement by the reporting entity																																					60 days					180 days
Number of successive three year renewal options																																												4
Grants receivable by related party																																																																				$ 14,100,000
Term of renewal option				6 years				1 year									6 years						1 year																			1 year		3 years																							1 year
Minimum notice period required to extend the agreement term													180 days																													180 days
Equity interest in joint venture			33.00%
Number of successive one year renewal options								3																				3
Ownership interest in related party (as a percent)																																																		44.40%				50.00%										50.00%
Ownership interest acquired by related party (as a percent)										67.00%																									100.00%
Maximum aggregate payments required under cross license agreements					10,000,000
Maximum additional aggregate payments required under cross license agreements if options are exercised					3,000,000
Ownership percentage by related party																																																		26.10%
Purchases from related party																																				2,800,000		3,500,000														4,626,000	2,832,000	12,781,000	8,169,000
Amount payable to related party	32,907,000	26,960,000																																																		1,243,000		1,243,000		2,694,000
Commitments to purchase from NagraStar																																																				5,835,000		5,835,000		7,303,000
Federal tax benefits reflected as a deferred tax asset for depreciation and amortization																																								82,800,000
Net amount of the allocated tax attributes receivable																																							82,800,000
Settlement amount											500,000,000
Portion of the $300 million initial settlement agreement payment paid by EchoStar											10,000,000
Initial settlement amount paid												300,000,000
Aggregate of six annual installment amounts between 2012 and 2017												200,000,000
Litigation settlement, number of annual installments											6
Estimated percentage of annual future payments payable by EchoStar											5.00%
Digital set-top boxes and related accessories																																																									6,751,000	13,229,000	32,602,000	39,991,000
Sales of satellite services																																																									5,834,000	4,530,000	16,801,000	8,790,000
Uplink services																																																									1,732,000	2,229,000	4,887,000	6,831,000
Other services																																																											18,000	640,000
Amount receivable from related party	336,164,000	281,845,000																																																							5,509,000		5,509,000		11,699,000
Revenue recognized from equipment and services provided to related party																																																	100,000		600,000											200,000	100,000	1,100,000	700,000
Receivables from related party																																																														$ 600,000		$ 600,000		$ 800,000