Stock-Based Compensation (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Stock-Based Compensation

Schedule of stock awards outstanding

	As of December 31, 2012
	DISH Network Awards		EchoStar Awards
Stock Awards Outstanding	Stock Options	Restricted Stock Units	Stock Options	Restricted Stock Units
Held by DISH DBS employees	13,018,490	1,076,748	644,972	42,954

Schedule of exercise prices for stock options outstanding and exercisable associated with entity's employees

			Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
			Number Outstanding as of December 31, 2012	Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life	Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Number Exercisable as of December 31, 2012	Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life	Weighted- Average Exercise Price
$  —	-	$ 10.00	2,869,406	4.76	$	7.11	1,433,956	4.83	$	7.10
$10.00	-	$ 15.00	422,001	5.62	$	12.25	84,001	5.98	$	12.17
$15.00	-	$ 20.00	2,606,985	6.69	$	16.58	462,684	3.99	$	18.01
$20.00	-	$ 25.00	4,009,998	3.84	$	21.59	1,425,998	3.01	$	21.86
$25.00	-	$ 30.00	2,332,100	7.89	$	28.49	665,350	6.47	$	28.26
$30.00	-	$ 35.00	741,000	7.15	$	32.54	236,500	4.40	$	32.37
$35.00	-	$ 40.00	37,000	9.69	$	36.38	2,000	4.25	$	36.10
$  —	-	$ 40.00	13,018,490	5.60	$	18.99	4,310,489	4.39	$	17.92

Schedule of stock option activity associated with entity's employees

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2012				2011				2010
	Options		Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Options		Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Options		Weighted- Average Exercise Price
Total options outstanding, beginning of period (1)	17,640,074		$	20.38	18,447,004		$	17.76	18,094,235		$	20.86
Granted	589,500		$	32.25	3,198,500		$	28.52	2,450,500		$	18.34
Exercised	(4,406,888	)	$	18.51	(1,640,462	)	$	12.36	(408,231	)	$	9.99
Forfeited and cancelled (2)	(804,196	)	$	20.34	(2,364,968	)	$	12.11	(1,689,500	)	$	21.69
Total options outstanding, end of period	13,018,490		$	18.99	17,640,074		$	20.38	18,447,004		$	17.76
Performance based options outstanding, end of period (3)	6,400,700		$	18.71	8,022,975		$	18.89	9,907,250		$	15.29
Exercisable at end of period	4,310,489		$	17.92	6,387,798		$	21.73	5,325,753		$	22.70

(1) The beginning of period weighted-average exercise price for the year ended December 31, 2012 of $20.38 does not reflect the 2011 Stock Option Adjustment, which occurred subsequent to December 31, 2011.  The beginning of period weighted-average exercise price for the year ended December 31, 2010 of $20.86 does not reflect the 2009 Stock Option Adjustment, which occurred subsequent to December 31, 2009.

(2) Certain of these stock options include options that were granted to individuals who transferred to and/or from another DISH Network subsidiary not a part of DISH DBS.

(3) These stock options are included in the caption “Total options outstanding, end of period.”  See discussion of the 2005 LTIP, 2008 LTIP and other employee performance awards below.

Schedule of realized tax benefits from stock awards exercised

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2012		2011		2010
	(In thousands)
Tax benefit from stock awards exercised	$	22,898	$	9,786	$	1,665

Schedule of aggregate intrinsic value of stock options associated with entity's employees

	As of December 31, 2012
	Options Outstanding		Options Exercisable
	(In thousands)
Aggregate intrinsic value	$	226,617	$	79,656

Schedule of restricted stock unit activity associated with entity's employees

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2012				2011				2010
	Restricted Stock Awards		Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value		Restricted Stock Awards		Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value		Restricted Stock Awards		Weighted- Average Grant Date Fair Value
Total restricted stock units outstanding, beginning of period	1,179,709		$	23.11	1,271,984		$	22.06	857,719		$	25.04
Granted	—		$	—	300,000		$	30.67	600,000		$	18.15
Vested	(24,795	)	$	22.94	(14,705	)	$	11.09	—		$	—
Forfeited and cancelled	(78,166	)	$	27.20	(377,570	)	$	26.23	(185,735	)	$	23.07
Total restricted stock units outstanding, end of period	1,076,748		$	22.82	1,179,709		$	23.11	1,271,984		$	22.06
Restricted Performance Units outstanding, end of period (1)	1,076,748		$	22.82	1,179,709		$	23.11	1,271,984		$	22.06

(1) These Restricted Performance Units are included in the caption “Total restricted stock units outstanding, end of period.”  See discussion of the 2005 LTIP, 2008 LTIP and other employee performance awards below.

Schedule of awards outstanding pursuant to performance-based stock incentive plans

	As of December 31, 2012
Performance Based Stock Options	Number of Awards	Weighted- Average Exercise Price
2005 LTIP	1,878,500	$	21.60
2008 LTIP	1,522,200	$	10.32
Other employee performance awards	3,000,000	$	21.16
Total	6,400,700	$	18.71
Restricted Performance Units
2005 LTIP	211,498
2008 LTIP	10,250
Other employee performance awards	855,000
Total	1,076,748

Schedule of allocated non-cash, stock-based compensation expense for all employees

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2012		2011		2010
	(In thousands)
Subscriber-related	$	1,607	$	1,914	$	1,160
General and administrative	36,966		29,249		14,227
Total non-cash, stock based compensation	$	38,573	$	31,163	$	15,387

Schedule of assumptions of Black-Scholes option valuation model

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Stock Options	2012	2011	2010
Risk-free interest rate	0.41% - 1.29%	0.36% - 3.18%	1.50% - 2.89%
Volatility factor	33.15% - 39.50%	31.74% - 45.56%	33.33% - 38.63%
Expected term of options in years	3.1 - 5.9	3.6 - 10.0	5.2 - 7.5
Weighted-average fair value of options granted	$6.72 - $13.79	$8.73 - $14.77	$6.83 - $8.14

2005 LTIP

Stock-Based Compensation

Schedule of unrecognized non-cash, stock-based compensation expense

	2005 LTIP
	Total		Vested Portion (1)
	(In thousands)
DISH Network awards held by DISH DBS employees	$	31,114	$	28,499
EchoStar awards held by DISH DBS employees	5,608		5,251
Total	$	36,722	$	33,750

(1) Represents the amount of this award that has met the foregoing vesting schedule and would therefore vest upon achievement of the performance condition.

2008 LTIP and Other

Stock-Based Compensation

Schedule of non-cash, stock-based compensation expense recognized

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Non-Cash, Stock-Based Compensation Expense Recognized	2012		2011		2010
	(In thousands)
2008 LTIP	$	9,025	$	18,944	$	2,984
Other employee performance awards	7,471		144		271
Total non-cash, stock-based compensation expense recognized for performance based awards	$	16,496	$	19,088	$	3,255

Schedule of unrecognized non-cash, stock-based compensation expense

Estimated Remaining Non-Cash, Stock-Based Compensation Expense	2008 LTIP		Other Employee Performance Awards
	(In thousands)
Expense estimated to be recognized during 2013	$	1,778	$	2,677
Estimated contingent expense subsequent to 2013	—		42,804
Total estimated remaining expense over the term of the plan	$	1,778	$	45,481