Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellite lease guarantees	Mar. 31, 2013 Satellite transponder guarantees	Oct. 11, 2012 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Dec. 29, 2010 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Mar. 31, 2013 ESPN-Affiliation agreements	Dec. 31, 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 item	Mar. 31, 2013 Pragmatus Minimum item	Mar. 31, 2013 Katz Communications-Patent infringement item	Dec. 31, 2007 Katz Communications-Patent infringement item	Mar. 31, 2013 Patent infringement or breach of agreement item	May 24, 2012 Patent infringement or breach of agreement Maximum
Loss contingencies
Guarantees for payments			$ 90,000,000	$ 422,000,000
Guarantee term			P23M
Claim amount						30,000,000				35,000,000
Court ruling											66,000,000		66,000,000
Attorneys' fees					5,000,000		71,000,000
Litigation accrual								71,000,000				42,000,000
Accrued interest							12,000,000
Litigation Expense									(24,000,000)
General and administrative expenses	$ 251,564,000	$ 364,093,000						$ 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		2
Number of patents the suit alleges infringement of																	19
Number of patents remain in the lawsuit																4
Number of companies against whom similar complaints brought															40
Minimum number of autonomous streamlined signal processors																		1