Commitments and Contingencies (Details3) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum Y	Feb. 28, 2011 DBSD North America (ICO)	Jun. 30, 2011 DBSD North America (ICO)	Dec. 31, 2011 DBSD North America (ICO)	Jun. 14, 2011 TerreStar Networks, Inc. ("TerreStar") Gamma Acquisition L.L.C. ("Gamma")	Dec. 31, 2011 Satellite-related obligations Satellite	Dec. 31, 2009 Satellite Under Construction - QuetzSat-1 Y	Dec. 31, 2009 Satellite Under Construction - EchoStar XVI Y	Dec. 31, 2011 Blockbuster, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2011 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021
Commitments and Contingencies
Total rent expense for operating leases	$ 409,000,000	$ 263,000,000	$ 189,000,000
Commitments
Term of programming contracts (in years)				10	1
Transponder service agreement period (in years)											10	10
Commitment to acquire percentage ownership interest	100.00%					100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Committed cost of acquisition							1,400,000,000	1,400,000,000					233,584,000
Purchase price of assets									$ 1,375,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent)	6.375%													6.75%
Number of satellites agreed to lease under construction										1