Long-Term Debt (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Oct. 02, 2013 7 % Senior Notes due 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 7 % Senior Notes due 2013	Sep. 30, 2013 7 % Senior Notes due 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 6 5/8% Senior Notes due 2014	Dec. 31, 2013 6 5/8% Senior Notes due 2014 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2015	Dec. 31, 2013 7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2015 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 7 1/8% Senior Notes due 2016	Dec. 31, 2013 7 1/8% Senior Notes due 2016 DISH DBS	May 28, 2013 5% Senior Notes due 2017	Jun. 30, 2013 5% Senior Notes due 2017	Dec. 31, 2013 5% Senior Notes due 2017	Dec. 31, 2013 4 5/8% Senior Notes due 2017	May 16, 2012 4 5/8% Senior Notes due 2017 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 4 5/8% Senior Notes due 2017 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 4 5/8% Senior Notes due 2017 DISH DBS Redemption Prior to July 15, 2015	Dec. 31, 2013 4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018	Apr. 05, 2013 4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018 DISH DBS Redemption Prior to April 1, 2016	Dec. 31, 2013 7 7/8% Senior Notes due 2019	Dec. 31, 2013 7 7/8% Senior Notes due 2019 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2020	Apr. 05, 2013 5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2020 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2020 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2020 DISH DBS Redemption Prior to May 1, 2016	Dec. 31, 2013 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021	May 05, 2011 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021 DISH DBS Redemption Prior to June 1, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022	Jul. 26, 2012 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 DISH DBS	May 16, 2012 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022 DISH DBS Redemption Prior to July 15, 2015	May 28, 2013 6 1/4% Senior Notes due 2023	Jun. 30, 2013 6 1/4% Senior Notes due 2023	Dec. 31, 2013 6 1/4% Senior Notes due 2023	Dec. 31, 2013 5% Senior Notes due 2023	Dec. 31, 2013 5% Senior Notes due 2023 DISH DBS	Dec. 28, 2012 5% Senior Notes due 2023 DISH DBS	Dec. 31, 2013 5% Senior Notes due 2023 DISH DBS Redemption Prior to March 15, 2016
Long-term debt
Debt repurchased						$ 49,000,000
Principal balance of debt redeemed				451,000,000	500,000,000
Interest rate (as a percent)				7.00%	7.00%	7.00%	6.625%	6.625%	7.75%	7.75%	7.125%	7.125%			5.00%	4.625%		4.625%		4.25%		4.25%		7.875%	7.875%	5.125%		5.125%		6.75%		6.75%		5.875%			5.875%				6.25%	5.00%	5.00%
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount								100.00%		100.00%		100.00%			100.00%			100.00%				100.00%			100.00%			100.00%				100.00%					100.00%				101.00%		100.00%
Percentage of principal amount at which notes may be required to be repurchased in event of change of control								101.00%		101.00%		101.00%						101.00%				101.00%			101.00%			101.00%				101.00%					101.00%						101.00%
Aggregate principal amount													1,250,000,000				900,000,000				1,200,000,000						1,100,000,000				2,000,000,000				1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000			1,350,000,000					1,500,000,000
Term of debt instrument													4 years				5 years				5 years						7 years				10 years				10 years	10 years			10 years
Debt instrument issuance as a percentage of the face amount													100.00%				100.00%				100.00%						100.00%				99.093%				100.75%	100.00%			100.00%					100.00%
Premiums, interest expense and deferred financing costs, as applicable	744,985,000	536,236,000	557,966,000											7,000,000																										23,000,000
Maximum percentage of the aggregate principal amount of notes with net proceeds of certain equity offerings or capital contributions																			35.00%				35.00%						35.00%				35.00%					35.00%							35.00%
Annual Debt Service Requirements							$ 66,250,000		$ 58,125,000		$ 106,875,000					$ 41,625,000				$ 51,000,000				$ 110,250,000		$ 56,375,000				$ 135,000,000				$ 117,500,000								$ 75,000,000