Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of business segments | segment			2
Segment Reporting
Revenues	$ 459,466	$ 460,431	$ 925,132	$ 914,813
Capital expenditures	92,300	107,342	196,904	219,196
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	(3,992)	(25,336)	(69,221)	(26,677)
Interest income, net	(10,760)	(23,213)	(26,343)	(47,642)
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	38,258	53,749	74,491	106,948
Depreciation and amortization	129,887	120,266	262,255	239,244
Net loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interests	3,431	(632)	6,873	(1,438)
EBITDA	156,824	124,834	248,055	270,435
All Other Segments And Eliminations
Segment Reporting
Revenues	2,508	5,150	5,325	10,343
Intersegment revenue
Segment Reporting
Revenues	(393)	(308)	(678)	(489)
Corporate and Other
Segment Reporting
Revenues	2,115	4,842	4,647	9,854
Capital expenditures	8,821	33,252	21,908	71,285
EBITDA	(31,338)	(8,417)	(96,778)	(25,677)
Hughes
Segment Reporting
Revenues	453,172	451,847	911,654	897,184
Hughes | Intersegment revenue
Segment Reporting
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Hughes | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting
Revenues	453,172	451,847	911,654	897,184
Capital expenditures	83,479	74,090	174,996	147,911
EBITDA	186,619	131,765	341,260	292,897
ESS
Segment Reporting
Revenues	3,786	3,434	8,153	7,286
ESS | Intersegment revenue
Segment Reporting
Revenues	393	308	678	489
ESS | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting
Revenues	4,179	3,742	8,831	7,775
Capital expenditures	0	0	0	0
EBITDA	$ 1,543	$ 1,486	$ 3,573	$ 3,215