Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Inventory	$ 329,507	$ 321,008
Other current assets	217,527	329,394
Other noncurrent assets, net	431,881	393,426
Total assets	29,650,012	29,773,766
Deferred revenue and other	709,050	709,074
Deferred tax liabilities	2,217,077	2,019,538
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities	465,112	470,487
Total liabilities	21,423,305	22,452,470
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	7,806,127	6,937,906
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	29,650,012	$ 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	292,983
Other current assets	191,420
Other noncurrent assets, net	361,803
Total assets	29,517,303
Deferred revenue and other	661,639
Deferred tax liabilities	2,196,622
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities	462,794
Total liabilities	21,353,121
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	7,743,602
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	29,517,303
Impact of adoption ASU 2014-09 | ASU 2014-09
Revenue, Initial Application Period Cumulative Effect Transition [Line Items]
Inventory	36,524
Other current assets	26,107
Other noncurrent assets, net	70,078
Total assets	132,709
Deferred revenue and other	47,411
Deferred tax liabilities	20,455
Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities	2,318
Total liabilities	70,184
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)	62,525
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)	$ 132,709