Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 Satellite lease guarantees	Jun. 30, 2012 Satellite transponder guarantees	Feb. 29, 2012 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Apr. 30, 2009 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Jun. 30, 2012 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Dec. 31, 2011 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Dec. 31, 2008 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Jun. 21, 2011 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Dec. 31, 2010 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Mar. 15, 2010 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Jul. 31, 2009 Technology Development Licensing petition	Apr. 30, 2010 Voom HD Holdings motion	Dec. 31, 2007 Katz Communications-Patent infringement patent	May 31, 2012 Patent infringement or breach of agreement Maximum
Loss contingencies
Guarantees for payments					$ 148,000,000	$ 470,000,000
Guarantee term					P3Y
Claim amount								30,000,000			35,000,000					2,500,000,000
Court ruling												66,000,000		66,000,000
Attorneys' fees							5,000,000
Litigation accrual									71,000,000				42,000,000
Litigation Expense		23,728,000		(316,949,000)						24,000,000
General and administrative expenses	$ 312,877,000	$ 312,072,000	$ 676,970,000	$ 461,916,000					$ 5,000,000
Number of days to store HD primetime programs recordings																		8 days
Loss contingency terms
Number of reexamination petitions pending before patent and trademark office															2
Number of patents the suit alleges infringement of																	19
Number of motions seeking discovery sanctions																2