Long-Term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Long-Term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations

Schedule of carrying and fair values of the entity's debt facilities

	As of December 31,
	2017				2016
	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
	(In thousands)
4 5/8% Senior Notes due 2017 (1)	$	—	$	—	$	900,000	$	913,887
4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018 (2)		1,025,861		1,031,596		1,200,000		1,228,464
7 7/8% Senior Notes due 2019		1,400,000		1,501,206		1,400,000		1,559,698
5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2020		1,100,000		1,127,588		1,100,000		1,141,866
6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021		2,000,000		2,120,480		2,000,000		2,178,880
5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022		2,000,000		2,014,140		2,000,000		2,114,780
5% Senior Notes due 2023		1,500,000		1,432,335		1,500,000		1,500,315
5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2024		2,000,000		1,952,220		2,000,000		2,064,000
2 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2024		1,000,000		962,860		—		—
7 3/4% Senior Notes due 2026		2,000,000		2,118,400		2,000,000		2,270,900
3 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2026		3,000,000		3,262,290		3,000,000		3,431,130
Other notes payable		44,928		44,928		47,844		47,844
Subtotal		17,070,789	$	17,568,043		17,147,844	$	18,451,764
Unamortized debt discount on the Convertible Notes		(925,360)				(752,386)
Unamortized deferred financing costs and other debt discounts, net		(46,782)				(52,704)
Capital lease obligations (3)		104,318				140,885
Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations (including current portion)	$	16,202,965			$	16,483,639

(1) On July 17, 2017, we redeemed the principal balance of our 4 5/8% Senior Notes due 2017.

(2) During 2017, we repurchased $174 million of our 4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018 in open market trades.  The remaining balance of $1.026 billion matures on April 1, 2018 and is included in “Current portion of long-term debt and capital lease obligations” on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2017.

(3) Disclosure regarding fair value of capital leases is not required.

Schedule of interest on long-term debt

		Annual
	Semi-Annual	Debt Service
	Payment Dates	Requirements
		(In thousands)
4 1/4% Senior Notes due 2018	April 1 and October 1	$	51,000
7 7/8% Senior Notes due 2019	March 1 and September 1	$	110,250
5 1/8% Senior Notes due 2020	May 1 and November 1	$	56,375
6 3/4% Senior Notes due 2021	June 1 and December 1	$	135,000
5 7/8% Senior Notes due 2022	January 15 and July 15	$	117,500
5% Senior Notes due 2023	March 15 and September 15	$	75,000
5 7/8 % Senior Notes due 2024	May 15 and November 15	$	117,500
2 3/8% Convertible Notes due 2024	March 15 and September 15	$	23,750
7 3/4 % Senior Notes due 2026	January 1 and July 1	$	155,000
3 3/8 % Convertible Notes due 2026	February 15 and August 15	$	101,250

Schedule of other long term debt and capital lease obligations

	As of December 31,
	2017		2016
	(In thousands)
Satellites and other capital lease obligations	$	104,318	$	140,885
Notes payable related to satellite vendor financing and other debt payable in installments through 2031 with interest rates ranging from approximately 1.9% to 8.8%		44,928		47,844
Total		149,246		188,729
Less: current portion		(42,663)		(41,903)
Other long-term debt and capital lease obligations, net of current portion	$	106,583	$	146,826

Future minimum lease payments under capital lease obligations

Future minimum lease payments under the capital lease obligations, together with the present value of the net minimum lease payments as of December 31, 2017 are as follows (in thousands):

For the Years Ended December 31,
2018	$	77,141
2019		50,719
2020		48,000
2021		48,000
2022		16,000
Thereafter		—
Total minimum lease payments		239,860
Less: Amount representing lease of the orbital location and estimated executory costs (primarily insurance and maintenance) including profit thereon, included in total minimum lease payments		(120,196)
Net minimum lease payments		119,664
Less: Amount representing interest		(15,346)
Present value of net minimum lease payments		104,318
Less: Current portion		(37,450)
Long-term portion of capital lease obligations	$	66,868