Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Revenue:
Subscriber revenue	$ 4,196,852	$ 3,824,793	$ 3,554,302
Advertising revenue	138,231	122,292	100,982
Equipment revenue	118,947	110,923	104,661
Other revenue	563,190	512,050	421,150
Total revenue	5,017,220	4,570,058	4,181,095
Cost of services:
Revenue share and royalties	1,108,515	1,034,832	810,028
Programming and content	353,779	293,091	297,313
Customer service and billing	387,131	377,908	370,585
Satellite and transmission	103,020	94,609	86,013
Cost of equipment	40,882	42,724	44,397
Subscriber acquisition costs	512,809	532,599	493,464
Sales and marketing	386,724	354,189	336,480
Engineering, design and development	82,146	64,403	62,784
General and administrative	341,106	324,801	293,938
Depreciation and amortization	268,979	272,214	266,423
Total operating expenses	3,585,091	3,391,370	3,061,425
Income from operations	1,432,129	1,178,688	1,119,670
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(331,225)	(299,103)	(269,010)
Loss on extinguishment of debt and credit facilities, net	(24,229)	0	0
Loss on change in value of derivatives	0	0	(34,485)
Other income	14,985	12,379	14,611
Total other expense	(340,469)	(286,724)	(288,884)
Income before income taxes	1,091,660	891,964	830,786
Income tax expense	(345,727)	(382,240)	(337,545)
Net income	745,933	509,724	493,241
Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of tax	363	(100)	(94)
Total comprehensive income	$ 746,296	$ 509,624	$ 493,147
Net income per common share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.15	$ 0.09	$ 0.09
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.15	$ 0.09	$ 0.08
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	4,917,050	5,375,707	5,788,944
Diluted (in shares)	4,964,728	5,435,166	5,862,020
Dividends declared per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0	$ 0