International programming on Voom (or lack thereof)

[eugenek]

I've decided to post this after reading another thread regarding a addition of a Spanish channel. As it stands today, if someone wants to subscribe to international programming, they only have one choice - Dish Network. I am aware of the fact that DirecTV offers some Spanish channels and some cable companies offer some international channels as well. But everything pales in comparison to the lineup offered by Dish. They have channels oriented towards viewers of almost of every nationality represented in U.S. today. One big issue with Dish service is the fact that you need TWO dishes (one pointed at 110 and one pointed at 61.5) to receive their full channel lineup and in 90% of the cases its impossible to have it in urban areas because of line of sight restrictions.

I came to US 12 years ago and don't care much for international programming, so absence of it on Voom is not an issue for me. However, at least 10 people that came over to my house in the past 15 months got very excited about Voom service, but decided not to get it because it has no international programming. I think Voom has a great chance to acquire many more subscribers if it starts offering at least some sort of international channel package (provided they have the bandwidth).

Voom also has an advantage of being the only satellite service provider that offers the entire channel lineup on a satellite in the 61.5 orbital slot (though possibly not for long). I moved to a new apartment 2 years ago and could not longer get DirecTV or Dish service because my terrace was facing East. Being able to get a satellite service from Voom was a big relief for me because at that time my building was serviced by the worst cable TV company of all times - Nuvisions (now out of business). Regardless of anything, satellite visibility is a big issue in urban areas, where living in apartment buildings often restricts your ability to receive programming.

I am hoping that someone from Voom reads this post and relays this information to the department responsible for making decisions on programming that Voom will offer in the future. Being in a position that Voom is in today, I think they should take every chance to get more subscribers that they can. Offering international programming is a great way to get exposure to at least 10,000 potential subscribers in Greater New York area alone.


Eugene

 

[Sean Mota]

It will be a long time before you see an international package on VOOM like Dish (this assumes that they survive). If it is international that anyone wants, Dish is the solution not VOOM.

 

[B.Greenway]

Eugene

Every service can’t be all things to all people, I’m sure you realize this. Voom is doing something a little different, it may or may not appeal to certain people but one thing is for sure, the quickest way to fall by the wayside is to just try and mimic your competitors on every facet of programming offerings. It might be a little clichéd but to a large degree it holds true, DirecTV seems to cater to your exiting cable customer, providing them with most if not all of the programming they were used to on cable, RSN’s and alike. While Dishnetwork does much of the same but also throws in some international programming as well.

What would be the point of Voom just outright copying either one of those providers? I can’t speak to mister Dolans goals 100%, but if I had to guess I’d say that they’ve already decided what chunk of the market they want, and its likely movie’centric. The customers their (Voom) are after likely scrape the outer edges of both DirecTv and Dishnetworks subscriber base, but not right into their core consumer base.

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

B.Greenway is right on. The key to Voom's survival is enough differentiation to make Voom unique, but no so much that it marginalizes itself with too few customers.

Voom needs to be "just right" for the greatest number of customers they can attract. If they are too different; not enough subscribers. If they are too similar, why bother switching from D* or E*? Perhaps this means the most HD, the least commercials, the most content unavailable anywhere else (Voom exclusives), and enough standard SD to let new customers keep their old habits. For my taste, Voom was already perfect in May 2004 when I joined (except I still wanted the DVR).

Look at the differences between car brands and even political parties. Let's hope the result of competition between satellite TV providers makes them all somewhat unique.

 

[eugenek]

I disagree. The quickest way to fall by the wayside is to operate in the mode where your operating expenses exceed your revenues (which is what has been happening since Voom started operating). In my opinion, in this particular case Voom's #1 goal is to stay in business and there is only one way of making sure that happens - getting more subscribers. Since selling diverse programming packages is one of the ways of making that happen, Voom would probably better off doing it.

I firmly believe that one of the big reasons why DirecTV (and Dish for that matter) have been in business for so long is the fact that they offer everything that Cable companies do and much more on top of that.

Eugene