Property and Equipment (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 4,665,301	$ 5,021,796
Accumulated depreciation	(2,871,822)	(2,871,456)
Property and equipment, net	$ 1,793,479	2,150,340
Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	1 year
Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	40 years
Equipment Lease To Customers [Member]
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 3,014,243	3,439,254
Equipment Lease To Customers [Member] \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	2 years
Equipment Lease To Customers [Member] \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	5 years
EchoStar XV
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 277,658	277,658
Depreciable life of assets	15 years
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 499,819	499,819
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	10 years
Satellites acquired under capital lease agreements \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	15 years
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 708,313	679,221
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	1 year
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	10 years
Buildings and improvements
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 92,225	85,547
Buildings and improvements \| Minimum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	1 year
Buildings and improvements \| Maximum
Property and Equipment
Depreciable life of assets	40 years
Land
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 5,205	5,504
Construction in progress
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	67,838	34,793
Software projects
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	45,590	22,539
Other
Property and Equipment
Total property and equipment	$ 22,248	$ 12,254

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://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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

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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://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
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-Section S99
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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://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-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

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+ References

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