Commitments and Contingencies (Details 5) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 09, 2013 Garnet Digital Item	Dec. 31, 2013 Satellite lease guarantees	Dec. 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	Dec. 31, 2013 Pragmatus Minimum Item	Jan. 31, 2008 Voom HD Holdings	Dec. 31, 2013 Voom HD Holdings	Oct. 23, 2012 Voom HD Holdings DISH Network L.L.C.	Dec. 31, 2013 Katz Communications-Patent infringement Item patent	Dec. 31, 2007 Katz Communications-Patent infringement patent	Dec. 31, 2013 Norman IP Holdings Item	May 24, 2012 The Hopper Litigation Maximum	Dec. 31, 2013 LightSquared transaction shareholder derivative actions Item	Dec. 31, 2013 Lightsquared Harbinger Capital Partners LLC	Dec. 31, 2013 Do Not Call Litigation	Dec. 31, 2013 Do Not Call Litigation DISH Network L.L.C.
Loss contingencies
Guarantees for payments					$ 50,000,000	$ 375,000,000
Guarantee term					P14M
Claim amount								30,000,000				35,000,000						2,500,000,000										270,000,000
Period of injunctive relief sought from placing any outbound telemarketing calls to market or promote its goods or services																											5 years
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	686,473,000	655,538,000	592,178,000							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
Settlement amount																				700,000,000
Payments under the multi-year affiliation agreement to the fair value of the Settlement Agreement																			54,000,000
Fair value of MVDDS Licenses																			24,000,000
Litigation Expense		$ (730,457,000)	$ 316,949,000
Number of companies against whom similar complaints brought				15													40
Business days allowed to terminate existing agreements																										3 days
Minimum number of autonomous streamlined signal processors																							1