Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of business segments | segment			2
Segment Reporting
Revenues	$ 473,502	$ 472,262	$ 1,398,634	$ 1,387,075
Capital expenditures	98,137	95,155	295,041	314,351
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes	26,223	(18,098)	(42,998)	(44,774)
Interest income, net	(7,364)	(17,175)	(33,707)	(64,817)
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized	37,967	49,865	112,458	156,813
Depreciation and amortization	129,822	122,374	392,077	361,619
Net loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interests	2,167	2,797	9,040	1,359
EBITDA	188,815	139,763	436,870	410,200
All Other Segments And Eliminations
Segment Reporting
Revenues	2,619	4,755	7,944	15,098
Intersegment revenue
Segment Reporting
Revenues	(281)	(326)	(959)	(815)
Corporate and Other
Segment Reporting
Revenues	2,338	4,429	6,985	14,283
Capital expenditures	9,248	18,583	31,156	89,868
EBITDA	(3,475)	(17,968)	(100,253)	(43,643)
Hughes
Segment Reporting
Revenues	466,762	463,735	1,378,416	1,360,919
Hughes | Intersegment revenue
Segment Reporting
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Hughes | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting
Revenues	466,762	463,735	1,378,416	1,360,919
Capital expenditures	88,848	76,572	263,844	224,483
EBITDA	190,016	155,940	531,276	448,837
ESS
Segment Reporting
Revenues	4,121	3,772	12,274	11,058
ESS | Intersegment revenue
Segment Reporting
Revenues	281	326	959	815
ESS | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting
Revenues	4,402	4,098	13,233	11,873
Capital expenditures	41	0	41	0
EBITDA	$ 2,274	$ 1,791	$ 5,847	$ 5,006