Guarantor Subsidiaries - Condensed Statements of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Operating Activities:
Net income	$ 82,656	$ 36,774	$ 152,117	$ 127,345
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and other	52,250	50,470	149,435	133,579
Amortization of intangible assets and deferred financing fees	3,800	2,551	8,967	4,925
Share-based payments expense	2,774	(1,586)	11,454	13,144
Excess tax benefits on share-based payments	(318)	(1,936)	(3,347)	(5,673)
Deferred income taxes	24,813	16,566	(12,098)	73,190
(Income) loss from equity method investments, net	(57,934)	6,021	(41,280)	(4,094)
Non-cash interest on convertible debt	549	1,789	3,323	5,270
Loss from extinguishments of callable convertible debt	1	0	5,950	0
Other	2,831	(794)	1,020	(4,107)
Equity in (income) losses of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Cash flows from changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	2,344	3,623	(306)	(2,992)
Content library	4,534	10,441	9,446	6,401
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	(20,845)	(3,134)	(31,456)	(10,008)
Other assets	(633)	(574)	269	421
Accounts payable	(13,938)	(14,175)	(84,910)	(40,202)
Accrued payable to retailers	(9,368)	7,295	(9,641)	5,172
Other accrued liabilities	(11,789)	4,142	(26,552)	9,323
Net cash flows from operating activities	61,727	117,473	132,391	311,694
Investing Activities:
Purchases of property and equipment	(39,886)	(56,480)	(108,616)	(133,181)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	56	150	12,888	819
Receipt of note receivable principal	0	0	95	0
Cash paid for equity method investments	(14,000)	(11,377)	(28,000)	(39,727)
Investments in and advances to affiliates			0	0
Net cash flows from investing activities	(287,866)	(67,707)	(367,669)	(272,089)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of senior unsecured notes	0	0	343,769	0
Proceeds from new borrowing of credit facility	150,000	0	150,000	0
Principal payments on credit facility	(54,376)	(3,293)	(60,938)	(7,668)
Financing costs associated with senior unsecured notes	0	0	(444)	0
Repurchase of convertible debt	(30)	0	(169,664)	0
Repurchases of common stock	(23,616)	(59,012)	(95,004)	(63,070)
Principal payments on capital lease obligations and other debt	(3,373)	(4,008)	(10,824)	(13,202)
Excess tax benefits related to share-based payments	318	1,936	3,347	5,673
Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net	1,018	53	7,763	4,034
Net cash flows from financing activities	69,941	(64,324)	168,005	(74,233)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	1,183	1,381	(391)	1,231
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(155,015)	(13,177)	(67,664)	(33,397)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Beginning of period	370,245	321,635	282,894	341,855
End of period	215,230	308,458	215,230	308,458
Reportable Legal Entities | Outerwall Inc.
Operating Activities:
Net income	79,964	36,774	154,807	127,345
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and other	10,033	9,628	27,351	23,485
Amortization of intangible assets and deferred financing fees			3,590	3,371
Share-based payments expense			7,206	7,933
Excess tax benefits on share-based payments			(3,347)	(5,673)
Deferred income taxes			17,698	23,371
(Income) loss from equity method investments, net	(67,069)	484	(65,050)	1,580
Non-cash interest on convertible debt			3,323	5,270
Loss from extinguishments of callable convertible debt			5,950
Other			1,195	(1,905)
Equity in (income) losses of subsidiaries	(20,214)	(35,849)	(90,313)	(129,869)
Cash flows from changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable			(398)	(162)
Content library			641	(190)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			(22,600)	(2,339)
Other assets			163	364
Accounts payable			18	(2,844)
Accrued payable to retailers			(7,963)	5,734
Other accrued liabilities			(5,366)	(2,649)
Net cash flows from operating activities			26,905	52,822
Investing Activities:
Purchases of property and equipment			(46,496)	(43,301)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment			12,078	270
Receipt of note receivable principal			95
Cash paid for equity method investments			0	(10,877)
Investments in and advances to affiliates			4,031	35,149
Net cash flows from investing activities			(274,328)	(18,759)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of senior unsecured notes			343,769
Proceeds from new borrowing of credit facility			150,000
Principal payments on credit facility			(60,938)	(7,668)
Financing costs associated with senior unsecured notes			(444)
Repurchase of convertible debt			(169,664)
Repurchases of common stock			(95,004)	(63,070)
Principal payments on capital lease obligations and other debt			(10,300)	(5,652)
Excess tax benefits related to share-based payments			3,347	5,673
Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net			7,763	4,034
Net cash flows from financing activities			168,529	(66,683)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash			84	(181)
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents			(78,810)	(32,801)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Beginning of period			242,489	310,259
End of period	163,679	277,458	163,679	277,458
Reportable Legal Entities | Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries
Operating Activities:
Net income	22,906	35,849	90,314	129,869
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and other	40,867	39,956	118,440	107,626
Amortization of intangible assets and deferred financing fees			5,377	1,554
Share-based payments expense			4,248	5,211
Excess tax benefits on share-based payments			0	0
Deferred income taxes			(26,759)	49,597
(Income) loss from equity method investments, net	9,135	5,537	23,770	(5,674)
Non-cash interest on convertible debt			0	0
Loss from extinguishments of callable convertible debt			0
Other			(175)	(2,202)
Equity in (income) losses of subsidiaries	2,614	(1,086)	3,266	(4,619)
Cash flows from changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable			1,916	(2,275)
Content library			8,455	8,674
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			(8,511)	(7,351)
Other assets			91	872
Accounts payable			(84,145)	(37,910)
Accrued payable to retailers			(3,252)	(520)
Other accrued liabilities			(21,857)	12,293
Net cash flows from operating activities			111,178	255,145
Investing Activities:
Purchases of property and equipment			(49,928)	(81,727)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment			803	494
Receipt of note receivable principal			0
Cash paid for equity method investments			(28,000)	(28,850)
Investments in and advances to affiliates			(19,782)	(37,772)
Net cash flows from investing activities			(96,907)	(247,855)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of senior unsecured notes			0
Proceeds from new borrowing of credit facility			0
Principal payments on credit facility			0	0
Financing costs associated with senior unsecured notes			0
Repurchase of convertible debt			0
Repurchases of common stock			0	0
Principal payments on capital lease obligations and other debt			(214)	(7,290)
Excess tax benefits related to share-based payments			0	0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net			0	0
Net cash flows from financing activities			(214)	(7,290)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash			0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents			14,057	0
Cash and cash equivalents:
Beginning of period			0	0
End of period	14,057	0	14,057	0
Reportable Legal Entities | Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Operating Activities:
Net income	(2,614)	1,086	(5,957)	4,619
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and other	1,350	886	3,644	2,468
Amortization of intangible assets and deferred financing fees			0	0
Share-based payments expense			0	0
Excess tax benefits on share-based payments			0	0
Deferred income taxes			(3,037)	222
(Income) loss from equity method investments, net	0	0	0	0
Non-cash interest on convertible debt			0	0
Loss from extinguishments of callable convertible debt			0
Other			0	0
Equity in (income) losses of subsidiaries	0	0	0	0
Cash flows from changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable			(1,824)	(555)
Content library			350	(2,083)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			(414)	(342)
Other assets			15	(44)
Accounts payable			(1,137)	1,780
Accrued payable to retailers			1,574	(42)
Other accrued liabilities			740	(1,068)
Net cash flows from operating activities			(6,046)	4,955
Investing Activities:
Purchases of property and equipment			(12,192)	(8,153)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment			7	55
Receipt of note receivable principal			0
Cash paid for equity method investments			0	0
Investments in and advances to affiliates			15,751	2,623
Net cash flows from investing activities			3,566	(5,475)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of senior unsecured notes			0
Proceeds from new borrowing of credit facility			0
Principal payments on credit facility			0	0
Financing costs associated with senior unsecured notes			0
Repurchase of convertible debt			0
Repurchases of common stock			0	0
Principal payments on capital lease obligations and other debt			(310)	(260)
Excess tax benefits related to share-based payments			0	0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net			0	0
Net cash flows from financing activities			(310)	(260)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash			(475)	1,412
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents			(3,265)	632
Cash and cash equivalents:
Beginning of period			40,759	31,766
End of period	37,494	32,398	37,494	32,398
Eliminations
Operating Activities:
Net income	(17,600)	(36,935)	(87,047)	(134,488)
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and other	0	0	0	0
Amortization of intangible assets and deferred financing fees			0	0
Share-based payments expense			0	0
Excess tax benefits on share-based payments			0	0
Deferred income taxes			0	0
(Income) loss from equity method investments, net	0	0	0	0
Non-cash interest on convertible debt			0	0
Loss from extinguishments of callable convertible debt			0
Other			0	0
Equity in (income) losses of subsidiaries	17,600	36,935	87,047	134,488
Cash flows from changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable			0	0
Content library			0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			69	24
Other assets			0	(771)
Accounts payable			354	(1,228)
Accrued payable to retailers			0	0
Other accrued liabilities			(69)	747
Net cash flows from operating activities			354	(1,228)
Investing Activities:
Purchases of property and equipment			0	0
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment			0	0
Receipt of note receivable principal			0
Cash paid for equity method investments			0	0
Investments in and advances to affiliates			0	0
Net cash flows from investing activities			0	0
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of senior unsecured notes			0
Proceeds from new borrowing of credit facility			0
Principal payments on credit facility			0	0
Financing costs associated with senior unsecured notes			0
Repurchase of convertible debt			0
Repurchases of common stock			0	0
Principal payments on capital lease obligations and other debt			0	0
Excess tax benefits related to share-based payments			0	0
Proceeds from exercise of stock options, net			0	0
Net cash flows from financing activities			0	0
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash			0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents			354	(1,228)
Cash and cash equivalents:
Beginning of period			(354)	(170)
End of period	0	(1,398)	0	(1,398)
Ncr Asset Aquistion [Member]
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business	0	0	0	(100,000)
Ncr Asset Aquistion [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities | Outerwall Inc.
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business				0
Ncr Asset Aquistion [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities | Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business				(100,000)
Ncr Asset Aquistion [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities | Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business				0
Ncr Asset Aquistion [Member] | Eliminations
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business				0
ecoATM [Member]
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business	(244,036)	0	(244,036)	0
ecoATM [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities | Outerwall Inc.
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business			(244,036)
ecoATM [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities | Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business			0
ecoATM [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities | Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business			0
ecoATM [Member] | Eliminations
Investing Activities:
Acquisition of business			$ 0