Disaggregation of Revenue - Revenue from external customers (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
Disaggregation of Revenue
Revenue	$ 3,138,000	$ 3,383,222
Pay-TV video and related revenue
Disaggregation of Revenue
Revenue	3,097,936	3,347,597
Equipment sales and other
Disaggregation of Revenue
Revenue	$ 40,064	$ 35,625

Amount, excluding tax collected from customer, of revenue from satisfaction of performance obligation by transferring promised good or service to customer. Tax collected from customer is tax assessed by governmental authority that is both imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transaction, including, but not limited to, sales, use, value added and excise.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130543-203045

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130539-203045

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130545-203045

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration