Related Party Transactions (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2008 QuetzSat-1 Transponder Agreement transponder	Dec. 31, 2012 Gilbert Lease Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Sprint Settlement Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Santa Fe Lease Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Inverness Lease Agreement	Oct. 02, 2012 Hughes Broadband Distribution Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011 Tivo Inc	Dec. 31, 2010 Tivo Inc	Apr. 30, 2011 EchoStar TiVo vs Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation installment	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar TiVo vs Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation	Apr. 29, 2011 EchoStar TiVo vs Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar Remanufactured Receiver Agreement	Jan. 02, 2013 EchoStar Professional Services Agreement	Jan. 02, 2013 EchoStar Management Services Agreement	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Broadcast Agreement	May 31, 2010 EchoStar Certain Sports Related Programming Broadcast Agreement	Dec. 21, 2012 EchoStar EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar Nimiq 5 Agreement transponder	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar DISH Nimiq 5 Agreement transponder	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar QuetzSat-1 Lease Agreement transponder	Sep. 30, 2012 EchoStar QuetzSat-1 Transponder Agreement item	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar QuetzSat-1 Transponder Agreement transponder	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar TT and C Agreement	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar DBSD North America Agreement option	Sep. 30, 2010 EchoStar Rural Utilities Service Implementation Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar Rural Utilities Service Implementation Agreement	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Product Support Agreement	Nov. 30, 2012 EchoStar DISH Online.com Services Agreement	Jan. 31, 2010 EchoStar DISH Online.com Services Agreement option	Feb. 28, 2010 EchoStar DISH Remote Access Services Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar DISH Remote Access Services Agreement	Feb. 23, 2010 EchoStar Sling Service Services Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar Sling Service Services Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011 EchoStar Patent Cross-License Agreements	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar Hughes Broadband Distribution Agreement	Mar. 31, 2010 EchoStar EchoStar XV Launch Service	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar EchoStar XV Launch Service	Jun. 30, 2010 EchoStar Weather Related Programming Agreement	Dec. 31, 2010 EchoStar International Programming Rights Agreement	Oct. 31, 2010 EchoStar Acquisition of South.com, L.L.C	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar El Paso Lease Agreement item	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar Varick Sublease Agreement	Dec. 31, 2012 Blockbuster, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2012 NagraStar	Dec. 31, 2011 NagraStar	Dec. 31, 2010 NagraStar
Related Party Transactions
Minimum required notice period for termination of agreement by related party																60 days		30 days
Required notice period for termination of agreement									6 months
Automatic renewal period																	1 year	1 year																			1 year			1 year		1 year
Minimum notice period for termination of a specific service																	30 days
Minimum notice period for termination of agreement						30 days				180 days							60 days												30 days			180 days
Maximum grants receivable																														$ 14,000,000
Cost of sales - equipment, merchandise, services, rental and other	569,626,000	448,686,000	76,406,000																												7,000,000
Required notice period for termination by the reporting entity																		180 days	60 days									60 days		45 days		60 days				60 days		120 days		120 days		120 days
Agreement term										5 years										10 years			15 years	10 years														2 years	5 years		5 years										7 years
Agreement term from commencement of service date																					4 years	4 years			10 years
Number of DBS transponders available to receive services																							32		32
Number of DBS transponders expected to receive services																											24
Number of DBS transponders currently used					24																			32
Number of transponders subleased																										5
Set-top boxes and other equipment purchased from EchoStar																																	1,028,588,000	1,158,293,000	1,470,173,000
Set-top boxes and other equipment included in "Cost of sales - subscriber promotion subsidies - Echostar"	267,133,000	249,440,000	175,777,000																														267,133,000	249,440,000	175,777,000
Term of renewal option				6 years				1 year		1 year												6 years							1 year			1 year						1 year												3 years		1 year
Number of successive one year renewal options																													3									3
Number of consecutive three year renewal options																																																		4
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												517,000,000			200,000,000
Litigation settlement number of annual installments													6
Percentage of litigation settlement amount to be made by related party													95.00%
Reversal of litigation accrual											335,000,000
Settlement payment											290,000,000
Portion of litigation payment related to periods periods prior to 2011											182,000,000
Portion of litigation payment related to future period prepayments											108,000,000
Dish Network's share of remaining litigation payments											190,000,000
Litigation settlement gross amount related to future periods											298,000,000
Reduction in litigation expense											6,000,000
Fair value of rights assigned																																														103,000,000
Recorded value of rights assigned																																													89,000,000
Excess of paid amount over recorded amount of rights assigned																																													14,000,000
Amount paid for related party transaction														5,000,000																																	5,000,000	2,000,000	5,000,000
Payments to third party by related party under extension option																																											3,000,000
Related party transaction expenses from transactions with related party, less than																																											10,000,000
Net payment for agreement settlement							114,000,000
Subscriber-related expenses	7,254,458,000	6,845,611,000	6,676,145,000																																									1,000,000
Purchases (including fees):																																																					72,549,000	77,705,000	79,547,000
Amounts payable to NagraStar	$ 281,875,000	$ 229,852,000																																																			$ 21,930,000	$ 5,853,000