Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting
Number of primary operating business units | segment			2
Segment information
Total assets	$ 22,762,688		$ 22,762,688		$ 22,071,208
Total revenue	3,832,425	$ 3,688,119	7,556,653	$ 7,282,317
Operating income (loss)	533,987	454,744	1,017,850	901,042
Eliminations
Segment information
Total assets	(15,464,217)		(15,464,217)		(6,894,817)
DISH Network | Operating segment
Segment information
Total assets	22,134,800		22,134,800		21,388,131
Total revenue	3,832,293	3,687,951	7,556,413	7,281,983
Operating income (loss)	550,912	470,260	1,050,222	940,190
Wireless | Operating segment
Segment information
Total assets	16,092,105		16,092,105		$ 7,577,894
Total revenue	132	168	240	334
Operating income (loss)	$ (16,925)	$ (15,516)	$ (32,372)	$ (39,148)