So you never have had Voom? Voom HD had 15 channels of commercial free HD with many channels with programs not available anywhere else like the Equator HD, Treasure HD, Rave HD, Rush HD and others. Monsters and the Kung Fu channels were the only ones with some content that you could find eventually in other combination of channels but for people into those channels they got 24/7 HD of those topics; the other Voom channels have content not available in any other channel.
I went to dish solely for Voom and if you had watched it there would be a good likelihood you would have a lot of enjoyment. For us we knew we were paying a premium compared to Directv yet the 15 unique HD Voom channels with Zero commercials and better picture quality compared to any other HD was worth it; we ignored quarterly marketing from Directv and Comcast.
If dish was smart they would have marketed Voom but they did not. They also charged extra ontop of the premium to get HD; thus they never tried to help Voom at all. Those whom have watched Voom have a high percentage of strong loyalty and if they had used Voom to their advantage they would not be loosing so many customers now. Right now dish and Directv are basically the same on content with Directv having an edge on HD, and better customer service and more importantly a lower price. Without Voom HD dish will continue to loose more market share and profit margins as they try to change their model and likely loose money trying to compete against Directv whom has had a model with lower pricing for years.
Voom could have been a huge advantage to dish but it was not used that way. I think dish sucks and after Saturday I will be with Directv and happy saving money and not giving money to such a deceitful company like dish!
First, I did have Voom. I had it since January 2007, when I first signed up as a Dish Hd subscriber. I kept HD Ultimate even after Feb 08. I still had it when it was pulled, having had swithched to dishHD absolute two days before the take down. Contrary to popular belief, I did enjoy Voom. I watched some programs on Equator quite regularly. I would catch the occasional movie on FilmFest and World Cinema. I liked that I could get news in 10 min on HDNews. But I slowly did watch it less and less as repeats became an issue. Also, because I wasn't a big horror fan, music fan or Kung Fu fan, I never caught on to the "exclusive" content. Now with TravelHD and CNNHD, plus several other movie channels in HD, all the types of content that I tuned into Voom for are available elsewhere. Yeah, some of it may be upconverted, so what? They will improve. Voom just showed more repeats. There may be commercials, but thats why I have a DVR. A few hits of the skip button, and I'm back to the program.
Also, it isn't about me, or any satguys member. We are an educated DBS consumer. Joe Sixpack is not. However, there are a heck of a lot more J6Ps than us. Some of you think because you spend a heck of a lot on DBS, Dish should bend over backwards to give you what you want. While you're no doubt an important customer, Dish can make more money off 10 J6Ps than one of you. And yanking Voom and adding mainstream channels is how they get more J6Ps, even if that costs them the Voom fans.
As to advertising, I agree, Dish could have done a better job advertising. But so could have Voom. I regularly see ads or plugs for other NBCU stations on NBCU channels, ditto Time Warner and Viacom. However, Rainbow only advertised Voom on Voom (once they stopped being a DBS provider). Kind of like preaching to the choir. Why not plug Voom on AMC, IFC, and WE? Maybe some ads could have counted toward their $100M.
Also, I think some of you are looking at the new sub. deals as gospel truth. For me, Directv has always been cheaper than Dish. I saw the above checking into it again, finding that the closest comparable package would be an increase of $13, besides $199 in start up costs, as I would need an HR20/21 and an SD DVR to replace my one 622. Not everyone is cheaper at Directv.
Geez, all he said was he liked Voom...
That's why I said it wasn't really directed at him. It is directed to all of you that are blinded by your rage that you refuse to see fact. I swear I'm not trying to put anyone down. Just trying to make a point
How am I wrong? The latest sub numbers from Dish and Directv don't lie. If a lot of people were coming to Dish for Voom, they would have gained a lot more HD subscribers. But Voomless Direct took the lions share. Just because you can find a few HD enthusiast on a web forum that went Dish for Voom, that does not mean that you have uncovered a larger trend.
Also, I am upset myself that Dish hasn't taken advantage of the space available. However, as Scott says in the latest podcast, more is involved with setting up new channels than fillping a switch. A heck of a lot of hardware needs to get set up first. They can't use the Voom stuff as Rainbow is no longer the source.
