We all remember the good old days of VOOM 21 -- 21 Voom Channels of High Definition and lots of new content each month. Before Voom DBS went down last March 2005, Rainbow Media made a deal with Echostar to bring back 10 VOOM HD channels in 2005 and all 21 Voom channels by 2006. Today Rush HD, Gallery HD, Rave HD, GuyTv HD, The Majestic HD, Monsters HD, HDnews, Animania HD, Ultra HD and Equator HD are part of the Voom Package that Dish Network provides for an additional $5.00.
Most of Voom 10 content have been new to Dish Network customers who did not subscribe to VOOM DBS. However, since April 2005 the new content have been declining each month. We have read the uplink activity reports that points to new information about the new Voom channel lineup. The VOOM 21 are coming back and that new channels like Sizzle HD, Gameplay HD, Renew HD, Coda HD and Torque HD were added to the System Tables on Dish Network but there was no content on them. Satelliteguys have learned that VOOM 21 is going to be live on Dish Network before January 5th 2006. Voom and Dish Network will have a press conference at CES to unveil the new lineup of Voom HD channels. Nobody knows what the new lineup will look like but we have been told that it will be an exciting one with strong new content in 2006.
Some of the new content we already know. World Sport HD will continue its coverage of the Spanish Premiere League with LIVE games on weekends and UEFA coverage on weekdays. Animania HD has picked up three new series for their coverage. Samurai 7 Based on filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's classic 1954 movie "The Seven Samurai," Samurai 7 is loyal to the original plot and characters, but offers a unique sci-fi twist with the action set in the future. The half-hour series will have the U.S HD premiere on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 @ 9:00 PM ET. PICME is an award-winning interactive animated series where a child literally stars in his/her own cartoon. Each episode features a different child where their picture is placed directly in the pre-made cartoon using the specially developed PICME software. Each also entertains and teaches basic concepts to preschool children. PICME launches on Animania HD in April of 2006. Jungle Beat is the first animated series from Zimbabwe, which features a cast of animals in bizarre situations with hilarious results. This fun and quirky series consists of 5-minute self-contained episodes, all dialogue-free and suitable for all ages. Jungle Beat premieres on Animania HD in January of 2006. Ultra HD is currently producing the second series of Fashion Avenue. I believe that there are also episodes from the first series that never aired. Rush HD has a complete second series of Focused. They also have The North Face which will Air April 2, 2006. Rush HD has renewed NOMADS, a multi-sport action adventure television series in High Definition. The 2006 series will be similar in format to the 2005 series, which consists of 20 one-hour episodes filled with heart-stopping action and adventure travel in the sports of skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, kayaking, mountainbiking and wakeboarding. There are various new movie titles that will appear on Monsters HD and Majestic HD. See this listing for a sample.
If the Voom 21 HD comes close to new programming as before, many customers will be happy. There is one other thing that I need to bring up that needs to be addressed -- Resolution. Currently, there are only 4 Channels out of the 10 Voom channels transmitting at 1920x1080i. They are Monsters HD, Ultra HD, Animania HD, and Equator HD. All the other 6 channels are transmitting at 1280x1080i. If Voom 21 wants to compete against HDnet, HDnet Movies, INHD and INHD2, Voom 21 needs to transmit all their channels at 1920x1080i. Does it make a difference? Yes, it does. Most HD customers have large screens where a noticeable softeness in the picture will be captured at 1280x1080i. If these channels were intended to be 1920x1080i why not give us the full resolution. If they VOOM is so in love with 1280, convert everything to 1280x720p and no one will be unhappy. However, this alternative may be expensive at this stage of the game for VOOM. In a nutshell, the Voom 21 HD channels need to be put at 1920x1080i in order to get full resolution and with a bitrate of at least 15mbps.
Most of Voom 10 content have been new to Dish Network customers who did not subscribe to VOOM DBS. However, since April 2005 the new content have been declining each month. We have read the uplink activity reports that points to new information about the new Voom channel lineup. The VOOM 21 are coming back and that new channels like Sizzle HD, Gameplay HD, Renew HD, Coda HD and Torque HD were added to the System Tables on Dish Network but there was no content on them. Satelliteguys have learned that VOOM 21 is going to be live on Dish Network before January 5th 2006. Voom and Dish Network will have a press conference at CES to unveil the new lineup of Voom HD channels. Nobody knows what the new lineup will look like but we have been told that it will be an exciting one with strong new content in 2006.
Some of the new content we already know. World Sport HD will continue its coverage of the Spanish Premiere League with LIVE games on weekends and UEFA coverage on weekdays. Animania HD has picked up three new series for their coverage. Samurai 7 Based on filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's classic 1954 movie "The Seven Samurai," Samurai 7 is loyal to the original plot and characters, but offers a unique sci-fi twist with the action set in the future. The half-hour series will have the U.S HD premiere on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 @ 9:00 PM ET. PICME is an award-winning interactive animated series where a child literally stars in his/her own cartoon. Each episode features a different child where their picture is placed directly in the pre-made cartoon using the specially developed PICME software. Each also entertains and teaches basic concepts to preschool children. PICME launches on Animania HD in April of 2006. Jungle Beat is the first animated series from Zimbabwe, which features a cast of animals in bizarre situations with hilarious results. This fun and quirky series consists of 5-minute self-contained episodes, all dialogue-free and suitable for all ages. Jungle Beat premieres on Animania HD in January of 2006. Ultra HD is currently producing the second series of Fashion Avenue. I believe that there are also episodes from the first series that never aired. Rush HD has a complete second series of Focused. They also have The North Face which will Air April 2, 2006. Rush HD has renewed NOMADS, a multi-sport action adventure television series in High Definition. The 2006 series will be similar in format to the 2005 series, which consists of 20 one-hour episodes filled with heart-stopping action and adventure travel in the sports of skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, kayaking, mountainbiking and wakeboarding. There are various new movie titles that will appear on Monsters HD and Majestic HD. See this listing for a sample.
If the Voom 21 HD comes close to new programming as before, many customers will be happy. There is one other thing that I need to bring up that needs to be addressed -- Resolution. Currently, there are only 4 Channels out of the 10 Voom channels transmitting at 1920x1080i. They are Monsters HD, Ultra HD, Animania HD, and Equator HD. All the other 6 channels are transmitting at 1280x1080i. If Voom 21 wants to compete against HDnet, HDnet Movies, INHD and INHD2, Voom 21 needs to transmit all their channels at 1920x1080i. Does it make a difference? Yes, it does. Most HD customers have large screens where a noticeable softeness in the picture will be captured at 1280x1080i. If these channels were intended to be 1920x1080i why not give us the full resolution. If they VOOM is so in love with 1280, convert everything to 1280x720p and no one will be unhappy. However, this alternative may be expensive at this stage of the game for VOOM. In a nutshell, the Voom 21 HD channels need to be put at 1920x1080i in order to get full resolution and with a bitrate of at least 15mbps.
You should be good to go...
