Related Party Transactions (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 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	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar XVI	Dec. 31, 2009 EchoStar XVI	Mar. 31, 2013 Gilbert Lease Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 Santa Fe Lease Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 Inverness Lease Agreement	Oct. 02, 2012 Hughes Broadband Distribution Agreement	Apr. 29, 2011 EchoStar TiVo vs Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation item	Mar. 31, 2013 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	Mar. 31, 2013 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	Dec. 31, 2012 EchoStar Application Development Agreement	Sep. 30, 2012 EchoStar XIP Encryption Agreement	Sep. 30, 2010 EchoStar Rural Utilities Service Implementation Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar Rural Utilities Service Implementation Agreement	Mar. 31, 2012 EchoStar Rural Utilities Service Implementation Agreement	Jan. 31, 2012 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar Receiver Agreement	Mar. 31, 2012 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	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar DISH Remote Access Services Agreement	Feb. 23, 2010 EchoStar Sling Service Services Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar Sling Service Services Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011 EchoStar Patent Cross-License Agreements	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar Hughes Broadband Distribution Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar El Paso Lease Agreement item	Mar. 31, 2013 EchoStar Radio Access Network Agreement	Dec. 31, 2008 EchoStar Varick Sublease Agreement	Mar. 31, 2013 Blockbuster, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2013 NagraStar	Mar. 31, 2012 NagraStar	Dec. 31, 2012 NagraStar
Related Party Transactions
Minimum required notice period for termination of agreement by related party											60 days		30 days
Automatic renewal period												1 year	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		6 months	180 days			60 days												30 days	90 days	30 days				180 days
Set-top boxes and other equipment purchased from EchoStar																															$ 297,000,000	$ 237,000,000
Maximum grants receivable																											14,000,000
Cost of sales - equipment, merchandise, services, rental and other	99,526,000	142,262,000																										1,000,000	1,000,000
Required notice period for termination by the reporting entity													180 days	60 days									60 days			180 days	45 days						60 days		120 days		120 days		120 days
Agreement term	7 years				10 years				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																			32
Number of transponders subleased																					5
Term of renewal option				6 years			1 year		1 year								6 years							1 year		1 year				1 year					1 year							3 years			1 year
Additional term of renewal option				5 years													5 years
Number of successive one year renewal options																								3											3
Number of consecutive three year renewal options																																										4
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
Subscriber-related expenses	1,911,593,000	1,761,252,000																																							3,000,000
Broadband equipment purchased from EchoStar																																									12,000,000
Purchases (including fees):																																														22,019,000	17,484,000
Amounts payable to NagraStar	309,927,000		281,875,000																																											23,615,000		21,930,000
Settlement amount										500,000,000
Initial settlement amount paid										300,000,000
Contribution from related party										10,000,000
Litigation accrual										200,000,000
Litigation settlement number of annual installments										6
Percentage of litigation settlement amount to be made by related party										95.00%
Property and equipment capitalization																																											$ 5,000,000
Minimum notice period to exercise option to extend agreement																										180 days