Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Inventory	$ 347,746	$ 321,008
Other current assets	237,079	329,394
Other noncurrent assets, net	407,019	393,426
Total assets	30,154,933	29,773,766
Deferred revenue and other	742,838	709,074
Deferred tax liabilities	2,112,421	2,019,538
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities	471,634	470,487
Total liabilities	22,428,468	22,452,470
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	7,325,263	6,937,906
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	30,154,933	$ 29,773,766
ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Deferred tax liabilities	1,000
DISH Network (as would have been reported under previous standard) | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Inventory	310,641
Other current assets	223,287
Other noncurrent assets, net	368,501
Total assets	30,065,518
Deferred revenue and other	694,757
Deferred tax liabilities	2,103,037
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities	469,210
Total liabilities	22,368,579
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	7,295,737
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	30,065,518
Impact of adoption ASU 2014-09 | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Inventory	37,105
Other current assets	13,792
Other noncurrent assets, net	38,518
Total assets	89,415
Deferred revenue and other	48,081
Deferred tax liabilities	9,384
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities	2,424
Total liabilities	59,889
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	29,526
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	$ 89,415