Commitments and Contingencies (Details 3) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2008	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 20, 2013 Wireless	Oct. 29, 2013 Wireless	Dec. 31, 2008 Wireless	Mar. 09, 2012 DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions Wireless	Dec. 31, 2013 DBSD North America and TerreStar Transactions Wireless
Spectrum Investments
Unrecognized tax benefits	$ 151,353,000		$ 328,951,000	$ 235,067,000	$ 193,320,000
Purchase price									2,860,000,000
AWS-4 Interim Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										40.00%
AWS-4 Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)										70.00%
Accelerated period to meet Final Build-Out Requirement on failure to meet Interim Build-Out Requirement	1 year
Payment to acquire certain 700 MHz wireless licenses		712,000,000						712,000,000
700 MHz Interim Build-out Requirement (as a percent)								35.00%
700 MHz Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)								70.00%
Modified 700 MHz Interim Build-out Requirement (as a percent)							40.00%
Modified 700 MHz Final Build-out Requirement (as a percent)							70.00%
Aggregate reserve price of H Block wireless spectrum						$ 1,560,000,000