I know that, in my area atleast, almost all of the Voom customers who are leaving are doing so because of the complete lack of available network programming over the air. In fact, when I first signed up, the installer called me before coming out to warn me that he was "removing 9 out of 10 of the Voom systems he was installing" because of this reason, and tried repeatedly to talk me out of going with Voom altogether. I live in a large city (the third largest in Pennsylvania) with hundreds of thousands of potential customers, yet I am sure I am one of only a handfull of Voom subscribers around because of the total lack of OTA channels. I think that Voom is not realizing, much as I also did not before signing up, how much people want to be able to watch popular programming on channels like ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox. Regular nightly network programming like the Simpons, Malcom in the Middle, Nightline, Jeopardy, even morning or late-night talk shows are important after the intial "cool factor" of the Voom Originals wears off, and sure I didn't buy my HD set to "watch reruns of Alf", but if everyone else around me with a $100 TV and a basic cable connection could watch them, I would want atleast the choice to do the same when paying for the "bleeding edge of technology". The channels wouldn't even have to be local, in my opinion, just have an East Coast and West Coast feed of each major network, much like we have now with the Olympics on NBC. I personally wouldn't even care if they were in SD until Voom has more bandwidth, just to have them there. I can't think of any other current problem or shortcoming of Voom that could prevent so many new customers from leaving, or potential customers from streering away and going with another provider if fixed than this lack of OTA channels. It seems like almost every negetive thread in this forum has some connection to this and I was wondering if you guys all agreed, or is it just in my area that it seems to be this big of a problem? And if there are many others who do agree, is there anything we can do to have Voom hear us?
Lack of OTA main reason for high Voom churn rate and low signup numbers?
- Thread starter bnl107
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Mr.Dolan needs to start doing something with the MVDSS lincenses they hold,buy the rest from Charlie(South.com)and use these to provide locals and other channels Voom does not offer.
This discussion comes up a lot. You could be right about the appeal of OTA networks to the general public.
I am learning that adding network feeds would not be easy for VOOM to do. Household by household, you cannot receive a national network feed if there is any local affiliate in your area. You have to go through an elaborate appeals process to prove that you cannot receive a local affiliate.
Temporarily, at least, VOOM has NBC Olympics coverage coming in on 321. This surprised the heck out of me, and I guess not everybody can get it.
So, whether this is a problem for VOOM or not, the networks are not likely to be on VOOM anytime soon. Hopefully somebody here will contradict me with a more positive spin?
A lot of the most vocal people here seem to want VOOM to be as "HD only" as possible - some even to the point of dropping some SD channels they already have and making VOOM a supplemental HD service on top of some other provider. Others clamor for VOOM to add all kinds of SD channels. So it's a mixed bag.
My own preference would be for VOOM to add only the national feeds of the networks that are HD, and keep all SD to a minimum.
We are located too far away to receive any OTA channels, but we are perfectly happy with VaVaVoom without OTA.
I am learning that adding network feeds would not be easy for VOOM to do. Household by household, you cannot receive a national network feed if there is any local affiliate in your area. You have to go through an elaborate appeals process to prove that you cannot receive a local affiliate.
Temporarily, at least, VOOM has NBC Olympics coverage coming in on 321. This surprised the heck out of me, and I guess not everybody can get it.
So, whether this is a problem for VOOM or not, the networks are not likely to be on VOOM anytime soon. Hopefully somebody here will contradict me with a more positive spin?
A lot of the most vocal people here seem to want VOOM to be as "HD only" as possible - some even to the point of dropping some SD channels they already have and making VOOM a supplemental HD service on top of some other provider. Others clamor for VOOM to add all kinds of SD channels. So it's a mixed bag.
My own preference would be for VOOM to add only the national feeds of the networks that are HD, and keep all SD to a minimum.
We are located too far away to receive any OTA channels, but we are perfectly happy with VaVaVoom without OTA.
Maybe a dumb question but what's the problem with the free antenna voom provides??? I get all my local feeds ota with an antenna just fine. With a decent antenna, most people should be able to get their locals. Didn't people watch tv with antennas just fine before?? Personally I would rather use an antenna for locals and leave the sat bandwidth for sat HD programming when it comes to voom.
I have been saying this all along and for this company to survive it will have to do it sooner or later.. Customers want plug and play not losing there OTS tv shows when the weather gets bad or not get there locals at all.. I put a lot of work into my OTA antenna just to get my locals and I get them 80 percent of the time and I have cable as my back up.. No the antenna supplied with Voom does not even come close to fit everyone needs just be glad yours does work for you..
There are alot of varibles with a OTA antenna and for Voom to survive it has a lot of growing to do.. Cya Slick
There are alot of varibles with a OTA antenna and for Voom to survive it has a lot of growing to do.. Cya Slick
How important are the networks? Ask d*. They added cbs-hd e&w and still don't have starzhd or cinemaxhd. They've announced they're adding nbc and fox hd e&w. Again, when they still don't have the premiums or inhd1 & 2. I don't like it since I can get ota. Many others complain that it's a waste of bandwidth. But d* have 12M+ subs and have been in business for years. Maybe they know something? Think about it. They're launching more satellites that cost like a billion just so they can have locals in hd. If it were possible to provide reliable hd locals ota by installing antennas, don't you think they'd be doing it? Even with 12M+ subs, it'd still be cheaper.
v* have a different business plan. also, they simply can't do locals. But they too understand the importance of the networks or they wouldn't be bothering with the nightmare that is OTA reception.
v* have a different business plan. also, they simply can't do locals. But they too understand the importance of the networks or they wouldn't be bothering with the nightmare that is OTA reception.
When I had Voom installed, our installer told me that there was a good possibility that, considering I was 35 miles from Tampa, the OTA antenna that was supplied by Voom would not be strong enough to receive some of my local channels. He was right, I only received roughly half of them. He did leave me a tip though. He said if I called Voom and complained, they would install a stronger OTA antenna. Lo and behold, after calling Voom to complain, they sent the installer back out with a stronger antenna who even proceded to install it on a 30' foot mast (which withstood 60mph winds from hurricane Charley) and I now get all of my OTA stations.
Welcome.skaggs10 said:
You should check the "In Your Area" Forum - I'm pretty sure there's an Atlanta thread or two.
Good luck.
bnl
Don't be too surprised if you find out that your installer also sells D* or E*.
You could always connect your antenna directly to your TV and use your TV's analog tuner to get the major networks.
So when an installer says that he has to remove 9 of 10 systems, it sound to me that either he isn't installing them correctly or he's just trying to persuade you to use another system.
Don't be too surprised if you find out that your installer also sells D* or E*.
You could always connect your antenna directly to your TV and use your TV's analog tuner to get the major networks.
So when an installer says that he has to remove 9 of 10 systems, it sound to me that either he isn't installing them correctly or he's just trying to persuade you to use another system.
