Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 09, 2013 Garnet Digital item	Sep. 30, 2013 Satellite lease guarantees	Sep. 30, 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	Sep. 30, 2013 Pragmatus Minimum item	Sep. 30, 2013 Katz Communications-Patent infringement item patent	Dec. 31, 2007 Katz Communications-Patent infringement patent	Sep. 30, 2013 Norman IP Holdings item	May 24, 2012 The Hopper Litigation Maximum	Aug. 06, 2013 Harbinger Minimum	Sep. 30, 2013 LightSquared transaction shareholder derivative actions item
Loss contingencies
Guarantees for payments						$ 63,000,000	$ 391,000,000
Guarantee term						P17M
Claim amount									30,000,000				35,000,000										4,000,000,000
Court ruling														66,000,000		66,000,000
Attorneys' fees								5,000,000		71,000,000		24,000,000
Litigation accrual											71,000,000				42,000,000
Payment of accrued interest										12,000,000
General and administrative expenses	$ 224,069,000	$ 309,601,000	$ 725,512,000	$ 986,571,000							$ 5,000,000
Number of days to store HD primetime programs recordings																						8 days
Number of shareholders who filed lawsuits																								5
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					15													40
Minimum number of autonomous streamlined signal processors																					1