Related Party Transactions (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 Santa Fe Lease Agreement Y	Mar. 31, 2012 Gilbert Lease Agreement D	Mar. 31, 2012 Move Networks Services Agreement D Y	Mar. 31, 2012 Sprint Settlement Agreement	Apr. 30, 2011 EchoStar TiVo vs Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation installment	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar TiVo vs Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar Remanufactured Receiver Agreement D	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Professional Services Agreement Y D	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Management Services Agreement D Y	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar Real Estate Lease Agreement Y	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Broadcast Agreement D	May 31, 2010 EchoStar Certain Sports Related Programming Broadcast Agreement Y	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar EchoStar XVI Y	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar Nimiq 5 Agreement Y transponder	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar DISH Nimiq 5 Agreement Y transponder	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar QuetzSat-1 Lease Agreement Y transponder	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar QuetzSat-1 Transponder Agreement transponder	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar TT and C Agreement D	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar DBSD North America Agreement D Y option	Sep. 30, 2010 EchoStar Rural Utilities Service Implementation Agreement D	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Receiver Agreement D	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Mar. 31, 2011 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar Product Support Agreement D	Jan. 31, 2010 EchoStar DISH Online.com Services Agreement Y option D	Mar. 31, 2011 EchoStar DISH Online.com Services Agreement Y	Feb. 28, 2010 EchoStar DISH Remote Access Services Agreement Y	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar DISH Remote Access Services Agreement Y D	Feb. 28, 2010 EchoStar Sling Service Services Agreement Y	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar Sling Service Services Agreement Y D	Dec. 31, 2011 EchoStar Patent Cross-License Agreements	Mar. 31, 2012 Blockbuster, Inc. Y	Mar. 31, 2012 NagraStar	Mar. 31, 2011 NagraStar	Dec. 31, 2011 NagraStar
Related Party Transactions
Minimum required notice period for termination of agreement by related party (in days)										60		30
Automatic renewal period (in years)						1					1	1																	1		1		1
Required minimum notice for termination of agreement (in days)						180					60											30		180
Required minimum notice for termination of individual service (in days)					30						30
Grants receivable																							$ 14,000,000
Required notice period for termination by the reporting entity (in days)												180		60							60		45	60			60	120			120		120
Agreement term (in years)						5							7		10		15	10										2		5		5
Agreement term (in years) from commencement of service date																10			10
Number of DBS transponders available to receive services																	32		32
Number of DBS transponders expected to receive services																		32		24
Set-top boxes and other equipment purchased from EchoStar																									237,365,000	272,126,000
Set-top boxes and other equipment included in "Cost of sales - subscriber promotion subsidies - Echostar"	82,274,000	54,426,000																							82,274,000	54,426,000
Term of renewal option (in years)				1																		1						1							1
Number of successive one year renewal options																						4						3
Amount paid for related party transaction									5,000,000
Purchases (including fees):																																				17,484,000	20,729,000
Related party transaction expenses from transactions with related party, less than																																		10,000,000
Amounts payable to NagraStar	284,407,000		229,852,000																																	12,925,000		5,853,000
Due to related parties, less than																																		3,000,000
Related party transaction expenses from transactions with related party																																				17,484,000	20,729,000
Capitalized expenses																																			4,000,000
Net payment for agreement settlement							114,000,000
Settlement amount								500,000,000
Initial settlement amount paid								300,000,000
Contribution from related party								10,000,000
Aggregate of six annual installment amounts between 2012 and 2017, net of contribution from related party								$ 200,000,000
Litigation settlement number of annual installments								6
Percentage of litigation settlement amount to be made by related party								95.00%