Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 3,458,487	$ 3,680,361
Subscriber-related expenses	2,184,951	2,243,187
Total subscriber acquisition costs	196,011	290,034
Operating income (loss)	529,506	607,320
Income (loss) before income taxes	501,058	597,187
Income tax (provision) benefit, net	(115,737)	(207,112)
Net income (loss) attributable) to DISH Network	$ 367,560	$ 375,715
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to DISH Network	$ 0.70	$ 0.76
Subscriber-related revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 3,422,704
ASU 2014-09 | DISH Network (as would have been reported under previous standard)
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Subscriber-related expenses	2,189,378
Total subscriber acquisition costs	236,309
Operating income (loss)	493,709
Income (loss) before income taxes	465,261
Income tax (provision) benefit, net	(107,146)
Net income (loss) attributable) to DISH Network	$ 340,354
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to DISH Network	$ 0.65
ASU 2014-09 | DISH Network (as would have been reported under previous standard) | Subscriber-related revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 3,431,632
ASU 2014-09 | Impact of adoption ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Subscriber-related expenses	(4,427)
Total subscriber acquisition costs	(40,298)
Operating income (loss)	35,797
Income (loss) before income taxes	35,797
Income tax (provision) benefit, net	(8,591)
Net income (loss) attributable) to DISH Network	$ 27,206
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to DISH Network	$ 0.05
ASU 2014-09 | Impact of adoption ASU 2014-09 | Subscriber-related revenue
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ (8,928)