I think Voom is in a great position to grow fast

[timbuckone]

Heres a thought I just had. I currently receive dish network and purchased a hdtv set. I then upgraded to the hdtv package and now can't stand what little channels dish is offering in hdtv. So now Voom looks very attractive to me. I am scheduled to get installed on 3-25. Voom has to do a more aggressive advertising campaign to attract more of direct tv and dish customers over to voom. I wonder if Voom is adding more sd channels to compare more to what the other 2 have for packages. I have had several friends over to watch hdtv programs and they are blown away. This is what happened to me when I first seen hdtv on dish n. but I need more than around 7 channels.

 

[LunkHead]

I had dish a few years back, then changed over to directv, then changed to cox cable trying to get more HD.... Now I am with VOOM and am in HD heaven...

I agree that they need to advertise... Most of my friends are blown away when they come over my house... Then I show them all the HD channels I have and they are very impressed! When I tell them I have VOOM most ask "what the heck is that?"

I know of at least 10 people right now how are ready to change over to VOOM based on seeing it in action at my house... They are only waiting for a definitive answer on if VOOM will survive...

If VOOM were to advertise like dish and direct I have no doubt they would be pulling people away... Mainstream America has NO clue that VOOM even exists..

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

I think Voom is doing what they can to attract customers like you. Voom already has a lot of great HD. Now they are beefing up their SD so Direct and Dish customers won't miss all the SD they are used to watching when they switch over to Voom. (After you get used to watching all the HD on Voom you probably won't bother with fuzzy SD anymore.)

The killer will come when Voom gets their DVR launched, starts carrying INHD and HDNet channels, regional sports, and HD feeds of national networks. Voom will be unstoppable!! :up

 

[ram1220]

I think Voom is doing what they can to attract customers like you. Voom already has a lot of great HD. Now they are beefing up their SD so Direct and Dish customers won't miss all the SD they are used to watching when they switch over to Voom. (After you get used to watching all the HD on Voom you probably won't bother with fuzzy SD anymore.)

The killer will come when Voom gets their DVR launched, starts carrying INHD and HDNet channels, regional sports, and HD feeds of national networks. Voom will be unstoppable!! :up

And when Voom gets their new encoders working properly and goes to MPEG-4 you'll be even more blown away by Voom. Right now the PQ is a lot worse than what it used to be. I'm holding out hope that it will once again improve. When I first got Voom back in March 2004 I was blown away by the great PQ. That's why I'm so frustrated right now. But I know Voom has the potential to have great HD.

Edited-- Sorry I quoted the wrong person. I meant to quote Lunkhead. I broke my hand last week and it's in a cast. Plus I'm on Vicodin right now. Guess I should be more careful with my posting for a while.

 

[gutter]

I
The killer will come when Voom gets their DVR launched, starts carrying INHD and HDNet channels, regional sports, and HD feeds of national networks. Voom will be unstoppable!! :up

I would love to see them carry INHD and HDNET but what makes you think they can?

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

I would love to see them carry INHD and HDNET but what makes you think they can?

I have no reason to think they can, except that money talks. If our visionary, Mr. Dolan, is willing to keep this ship afloat, then he might pay through the nose for INHD and HDNET because they will be so attractive to subscribers. What else could be holding back INHD and HDNET besides money? The producers of those channels created them to make money. Why would they not provide them to Voom for the right price?

 

[ksload]

I think the key for mass acceptance (or at least greater acceptance) is to be a one stop viewing shop. I think it will be hard to convince people that they need cable or Dish or DirecTv AND VOOM. My installation is scheduled for tomorrow. With the recent channel additions, if VOOM is able to continue operating...I will gladly cancel my Dish Network. Without the recent additions, I would have been hesitant to do so. I think these SD channels will bring them more subscribers.

Without these recent additions, I would have subscribed only to VOOM. Now I can dis DISH and subscribe to Va Va VOOM

Let's not be HD snobs here...the point of all of this is to make VOOM a viable company...not to be an HD elitist.

 

[bobaphx]

I just got my first HDTV a few weeks ago and had VOOM installed this past Saturday ( a very good, neat, on time install with 24" dish as I had requested). I know that there are complaints with current PQ, but VOOM looks gorgeous on this TV. If it will look even better I'll be thrilled.

I had Dish before and didn't even bother with their HD package... why would I when there was VOOM with everything I have now plus great and plentiful HD programming.
I have temporarily kept Dish for my DVR 508 and to make sure that VOOM will be still be around in a few weeks. With a secure future for VOOM and their DVR, I'll say goodby to Dish.

I'm sure this will happen to more and more HDTV owners as they start thinking about the best programming options for their new HDTVs.

 

[tdillon]

Because of Voom's current uncertainty, I broke down and ordered the HD package from my local cable company. For an additional $22 per month over their basic digital package I added 7 HD channels and their HD DVR. My total cable bill, including Internet Access, Digital Basic, HD channels, HBO and Showtime is now $78 per month.

The HD channels over Adelphia are a big disappointment. They offer:
902 2-1 CBS
904 4-1 NBC
907 7-1 ABC
911 11-1 FOX
928 28-1 KCET
961 HBO HD (from Voom I can tell that this is the HBO-West feed)
971 SHO HD (this is the Showtime West feed).

Adelphia's website indicates that 930 Discovery HD, 939 ESPN HD, and 963 MAX HD are also available, but according to my local Adelphia office, these channels are not available in my neighborhood.

The first 5 channels on this list I can receive in Digital HD from my OTA antenna over the Voom STB, with less video noise.

I am paying $22 per month for two channels, and the DVR.

The DVR has a severe limitation. When you hook up the HD output to your HD set (through component cables, because the boxes DVI output has not been implemented by Adelphia) and change the settings to either 1080i or 720p it works fine for HD content. It fails, however, when you change to a SD channel. It stretches the content to fill a wide screen TV, which is very annoying and creates tons of macro block distortion in the image. Their SD Digital content is very poor compared to Voom's.

I really want Voom to survive and get their DVR out to us. I will dump Adelphia with no hesitation when that happens. My current television content bill is $92 from Voom and $78 per month from Adelphia. Both boxes are hooked up to my single HDTV Sony in the living room. This is way too much to be paying for something that I watch maybe 12 hours a month. (My wife does watch over 30 hours a month, though.)

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

...Let's not be HD snobs here...the point of all of this is to make VOOM a viable company...not to be an HD elitist.

Voom can offer a superior product at a premium price to customers who want something better than E* and D*, just as Lexus offers a superior product at a premium price to customers who want something better than Ford. Both Lexus and Ford are viable products.

Every product does not have to appeal to the same market.

 

[ksload]

They're going to have to do better with installs if they want new customers

 

[gutter]

The producers of those channels created them to make money. Why would they not provide them to Voom for the right price?

It is not as easy as that. INHD was created and only available to cable. There are several threads going back over a year on that. Dolan tried and I am not sure if the FCC ruled that they had to sell or not.

HDNET is a personal matter between Dolan and the owner and he said publically that he would never sell to VOOM. However, as you said money talks. But you have to figure it would be sold on another tier of services to pay for it.

 

[Bruce]

It is not as easy as that. INHD was created and only available to cable. There are several threads going back over a year on that. Dolan tried and I am not sure if the FCC ruled that they had to sell or not.

Again, InHD can be viewed on any DBS system per FCC rules, it is up to the DBS service and InHD to come to a deal, and if they are trying to overcharge the DBS Service vs what cable pays, then the FCC and maybe the legal system gets involved.

HDNET is a personal matter between Dolan and the owner and he said publically that he would never sell to VOOM. However, as you said money talks. But you have to figure it would be sold on another tier of services to pay for it.

I already posted this from a news story, HD-Nets charges $1.10 per sub for both channels together vs InHD wanting $3.84 per sub and UniversalHD gets $0.40 per sub.