Related party transaction aggregate payments to third party by related parties under extension option, less than.

No definition available.

Name:	ddbs_RelatedPartyTransactionAggregatePaymentsToThirdPartyByRelatedPartiesUnderExtensionOptionLessThan
Namespace Prefix:	ddbs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Related party transaction expenses from transactions with related party, less than.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ddbs_RelatedPartyTransactionExpensesFromTransactionsWithRelatedPartyLessThan
Namespace Prefix:	ddbs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Other costs incurred during the reporting period related to other revenue generating activities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120395209&loc=SL114868664-224227

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherCostOfOperatingRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=ddbs_EchoStarMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=ddbs_PatentCrossLicenseAgreementsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	ddbs_RelatedPartyTransactionPrimaryRelatedPartyAxis=us-gaap_MajorityShareholderMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

Related Party Transactions - Narrative Part 4 (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Cost of sales - equipment and other		$ 28,366	$ 43,358	$ 82,840	$ 133,302
EchoStar \| Patent Cross-License Agreements \| Dish Network \| Maximum
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Payments to third party by related party	$ 10,000
Payments to third party by related party under extension option	$ 3,000