Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies (Details Textual)

v2.4.0.6
Commitments and Contingencies (Details Textual) (USD $)
 9 Months Ended 1 Months Ended 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Satellites
Sep. 30, 2012
FM-5, XM-5, XM-4 and XM-3 [Member]
Sep. 30, 2012
Boeing Satellite Systems International [Member]
Satellites
Sep. 30, 2012
Space Systems/Loral [Member]
Satellites
Sep. 30, 2012
State Consumer Investigations [Member]
attorneys
Dec. 31, 2009
Carl Blessing [Member]
Sep. 30, 2012
In-Orbit Satellite [Member]
Boeing Satellite Systems International [Member]
Satellites
Sep. 30, 2012
In-Orbit Satellite [Member]
Space Systems/Loral [Member]
Satellites
Commitments and Contingencies (Textual) [Abstract]                
Agreement term to repurchase certain products shipped to distributor from date of shipment 0 years 0 months 90 days              
Number of owned satellites (in satellites) 9   4 5     4 2
Number of satellites entited to future in-orbit performance payments (in satellites)             2  
Accrual related to contingent performance payments for XM-3 and XM-4 $ 27,506,000              
Operating performance over design life   15 years            
Additional payments required if XM-4 continues to operate above baseline specifications 10,000,000              
Period beyond expected operating performance of design life for XM-4 5 years              
Accrual related to contingent performance for FM-5 9,193,000              
Accrual related to contingent performance for XM-5 21,450,000              
Operating lease term, minimum 1 year              
Operating lease term, maximum 15 years              
Number of State Attorneys General (in attorneys)         31      
Price for additional-radio subscription original (in dollars per subscription)           6.99    
Price for additional-radio subscription after increase (in dollars per subscription)           8.99    
Legal fees           $ 13,000,000