Property and Equipment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 7,261,727	$ 5,688,678
Accumulated depreciation	(4,503,703)	(3,760,498)
Property and equipment, net	2,758,024	1,928,180
Equipment leased to customers
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 1,896,000	2,016,965
Equipment leased to customers \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	2 years
Equipment leased to customers \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	5 years
Satellites
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 1,866,361	843,913
Satellites \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	2 years
Satellites \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	15 years
Satellites acquired under finance lease agreements
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 888,940	499,819
Satellites acquired under finance lease agreements \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	10 years
Satellites acquired under finance lease agreements \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	15 years
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 1,995,436	1,923,585
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	2 years
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	20 years
Buildings and improvements
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 347,923	290,650
Buildings and improvements \| Minimum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	5 years
Buildings and improvements \| Maximum
Property and equipment
Depreciable Life	40 years
Land
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 17,809	13,186
Construction in progress
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	249,258	100,560
Construction in progress \| Software
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	39,040	34,533
Construction in progress \| Wireless
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	189,910	53,466
Construction in progress \| Other
Property and equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 20,308	$ 12,561

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.14)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccumulatedDepreciationDepletionAndAmortizationPropertyPlantAndEquipment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.13)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(14))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(8))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=119400593&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(13))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentUsefulLife
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_EquipmentLeasedToOtherPartyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=dish_SatellitesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=dish_AssetsHeldUnderFinanceLeasesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=dish_FurnitureFixturesEquipmentAndOtherMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_BuildingAndBuildingImprovementsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_LandMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dish_ConstructionInProgressByTypeAxis=us-gaap_SoftwareAndSoftwareDevelopmentCostsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dish_ConstructionInProgressByTypeAxis=dish_WirelessMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dish_ConstructionInProgressByTypeAxis=us-gaap_OtherCapitalizedPropertyPlantAndEquipmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: