MALONE TESTS A FAMILY'S TIES (NYPost) 03.13.05

[gutter]

When the new members of the board where announced, I mentioned in that thread to watch Malone. He was the powerhouse to watch and considered a visionaire in his own right. He always knows how to make money. Plus he has international cable holdings that have over 50m subs.

"Plus just look at the makeup of the new board members. I am particularly refereing to John Malone. He is a titan of his own in the cable industry and is well connected in Washington with all the powers in Congress and at the FCC. He is actually worth more than Chuck and knows his way around. Since he agreed to sit on the board, he will not be silent and he is an empire builder on his own.

What a force James has unleashed by his actions. Also recent news report over at AVS showed that all the networks believe the HD is really the future have stepping up HD programming and plans. Other cable networks as well. Note that Malone is involved with founding STARZ as well as very involved with the Discovery Channels. This whole process is amazing. Now you may know why the STARZ HD channel has been in the clear for nearly a month."

 

[rang1995]

this is for business ideas going foward,using some guesses and some logic--i think that 61.5 will be Vooms again either deal falls thru or they buy out penalty OR a lease for a year or two..Don't forget the towers which they got liscences for and are keeping--now what will they be used for????

 

[riffjim4069]

First, allow self-installation and ship the equipment to those wishing to do so - this will save a significant amount of time, money and aggravation. Second, hire a core of regional VOOM installers and outsource to Installs Inc. only as needed; always roll a VOOM truck for those having a no-show or horrible 1st install appointment and only roll a VOOM truck for those approved for an OTA upgrade. A VOOM professional will get the job done correctly the 1st time and will be able to approve an OTA antenna upgrade on-the-spot...thus saving more time, money and aggravation. Bottom Line: spend the money upfront and get the $#!7 done right. Also, don't forget to send us our MPEG-4 module and bigger dish...soon!

With Dolan & Clan running the show, I see VOOM establishing and maintaining a niche market while developing and selling HD programming packages. I wouldn't be surprised if Cablevision were sold and Dolan & Clan purchased Rainbow Media assets (AMC, WE, IFC, etc.). It should be very interesting to see what happens next. Being a VOOM subscriber is anything but boring. !sadroll

 

[rang1995]

I also don't see where vOOM has paid Lockeed Martin a fee to get out of the contracts as of yet for the future contracts.not to say they won't but is it still on drawing boards with the land based towers???just a thought,and the other "new board members" are not paupers either,nor without contacts and "pull" in their businesses--ITT,Universal pictures....BIGTIME

 

[salsadancer7]

Why is it that whenever there is a POSSIBLE light at the end of the tunnel, there are always people looking at things negatively...or as I posted earlier..."glass half empty". Daddy Dolan has a major power player, a "visionary" as someone posted earlier, with possibly a DEEPER pocket than Chuck...who BELIEVES in the idea of VOOM....I refuse to see that as nothing BUT POSITIVE...!!
At the same token, I am not gonna be naive to forget that if there is no deal, the Grim Reaper will be knocking on VOOM's door on the 31st. So lets just take this info about Malone for what its worth....NO BAD news IS good news..!

 

[B.Greenway]

danielle_s
"JL, said that we'd all be stupid if we thought that Dolan or anyone else somewhat involved in the VOOM project would not risk any of their money in this venture and that's exactly what Dolan has done and now it seems as if another cablevision board member is doing the same thing.

Any thoughts?"


Yeah, I wouldn’t let JL balance my checkbook, much less a billion dollar company.

 

[David Dietzel]

Another fascinating article in the VOOM saga! Keeping up with all these VOOM goings-on is almost as enjoyable as watching VOOM's specatcular content in my home theater!

I must also agree that the New York Post seems to have management that allows reporters more freedom to get to the bottom of issues and the personalities involved. Just when I thought that aggressive or investigative journalism was nearly dead, the New York Post shows it still understands the purpose of a free press.

But, back to VOOM.

We can all speculate on the exact outcome until the cows come home; the bottom line is that superior minds with vision (Dolan and his team) are crunching the possibilities and will very likely save VOOM in one form or another.

One outcome I'd love to see, beyond VOOM's survival under the team assembled by Charles, is that of James Dolan standing in a soup line at the local Union Rescue Mission.

 

[Tahoerob]

If they can roll out a DVR soon as well as add HDNet & HD Movies, then they would quickly tap into the Dish & Directv customer bases. They need to also at least add national net HD channels for those in the O & O DMAs for nets.

I am READY to DUMP Dish & the crazy 921!

 

[texansgal8]

If they can roll out a DVR soon as well as add HDNet & HD Movies, then they would quickly tap into the Dish & Directv customer bases. They need to also at least add national net HD channels for those in the O & O DMAs for nets.

I am READY to DUMP Dish & the crazy 921!

AMEN to that. I love Voom and don't want it to shut down, but i know i have to keep my options open just in case. But something just tells me its going to be ok. These men would not be wasting all those MILLIONS of dollars just for the hell of it along with the money that was put into the new DVR systems :shocked . They definately have something up their sleeve.

 

[cyberized]

Sure HOPE they can pull it off because I would like to switch to VOOM in June when my Dish Buy back deal runs out with Comcast.

 

[will0471]

Many Scenarios Possible, but what is likely?

The whole situation is ripe with possibilities.. however, I think it is unlikely that VOOM buying away from CVC Rainbow Media's core national network assets is highly unlikely.

At $2 billion to finance VOOM over 2 years, that would tap out entirely either Malone or Dolan's entire net worth.

AMC alone is a $2 to $3 billion acquisition. IFC is likely a $1.5 to $2 billion acquisition. WE, likely around $1 billion. AMC and IFC are cash cows with AMC being probably 90% penetrated across the country and Rainbow just sitting there collecting monthly subscriber monies.

Frankly, other CVC businesses (including MSG, the Rangers, the Knicks) bleed money and James couldn't afford to let the real money makers (the national networks) go. And don't forget, James still has the stadium deal in play for which he may already be eyeing the Rainbow assets as potential for sale to finance the purchase of the West Side yard location.

I would think that Dolan would be better served to market his HD networks as Rainbow markets the national networks and sell the channels, individually, on a monthly subscriber basis, to other satellite providers such as Echostar and DirecTV and sit back and collect "x" money per sub, per month from the "y" million subs that EchoStar and Direct already have. For example, if you sold 1 network at $.15 per sub and let's say there are 10,000,000 satellite/HD subscribers, that's $1.5 million/per month/per network. Multiply that by 15 networks and you're collecting $22,500,000 per month. He's already behind the 8-ball in HD subscribership. If DirecTV and Echo have a total, let's say, of 10million subs and he was 46,000, when exactly would he ever catch up? I believe selling the services individually on a per subscriber basis would be the better option.. it certainly made Bravo profitable for Rainbow/CVC. Sold for how many billion?? And it sat there and made money for CVC for how long? Dolan by far has the best HD network/channel offerings.. that's what he should be leveraging for the future.

 

[texansgal8]

Sure HOPE they can pull it off because I would like to switch to VOOM in June when my Dish Buy back deal runs out with Comcast.

You will love Voom... My picture and sound quality is awesome... I came from Time Warner and they couldn't hold a candle to Voom. So far the only problem i ever experienced was with the DVI cable. But now it seems to be working fine.

 

[James Long]

Direct answers first:

JL, said that we'd all be stupid if we thought that Dolan or anyone else somewhat involved in the VOOM project would not risk any of their money in this venture and that's excately what Dolan has done and now it seems as if another cablevision board memeber is doing the same thing.

Any thoughts?

First, you will have to point me to the post where I allegedly said that. I believe there is a lot of wishful thinking here - projecting every negative thought as if I would or did say it.

As far as the topic goes, Malone's money is a rumor. $5 billion will go a long way toward keeping Voom running for a few more years. The question is, is John Malone willing to take the risk? Is he the visionary Charles and Tom Dolan are looking for? Or will his support come at too high a price?

We have three weeks to see if this is more than a rumor or wishful thinking.

Yeah, I wouldn’t let JL balance my checkbook, much less a billion dollar company.

I don't balance my own checkbook. I keep enough in my accounts to cover my spending and scan statements for odd withdrawals, but have not balanced a checkbook in (probably) 15 years.

Did you know Einstein didn't know the number of feet in a mile? He said that it wasn't important and he could look it up if need be but the things he kept in his head were things not found in books. I'm no Einstein (5280ft) but I don't consider trivial tasks such as balancing a checkbook as important.

As far as the Cablevision deal goes:
Cablevision will want to keep all of its profitable parts. Note that in 2004 the company would have MADE over $600 million instead of losing $60 million if they didn't have the RainbowDBS unit. Even the most recent statement (from the March 8th meeting) talked about separating RainbowDBS from Cablevision. The February 10th letter of intent was Voom HD LLC buying "the rest of the Voom assets" (RainbowDBS less Rainbow1, BlackHawk and licenses).

If Dolan and Malone attempt to buy more than the remaining Rainbow DBS assets from Cablevision, James Dolan can cry foul - since the agreement was to place the shutdown on hold until March 31st while C&T Dolan worked out how to separate RainbowDBS from Cablevision - not to sell additional parts of the company. But all's well that ends well, if they pay enough more for the non-RainbowDBS parts of the company it would be overlooked.

This thread, as noted above by many posters, is all speculation. Until we see a deal in print saying Cablevision has sold RainbowDBS to C&T Dolan with the backing of J Malone we are just feeding off of rumor. But the possibility is out there ...

JL

 

[Bruce]

I would think that Dolan would be better served to market his HD networks as Rainbow markets the national networks and sell the channels, individually, on a monthly subscriber basis, to other satellite providers such as Echostar and DirecTV and sit back and collect "x" money per sub, per month from the "y" million subs that EchoStar and Direct already have. For example, if you sold 1 network at $.15 per sub and let's say there are 10,000,000 satellite/HD subscribers, that's $1.5 million/per month/per network. Multiply that by 15 networks and you're collecting $22,500,000 per month. He's already behind the 8-ball in HD subscribership. If DirecTV and Echo have a total, let's say, of 10million subs and he was 46,000, when exactly would he ever catch up? I believe selling the services individually on a per subscriber basis would be the better option.. it certainly made Bravo profitable for Rainbow/CVC. Sold for how many billion?? And it sat there and made money for CVC for how long? Dolan by far has the best HD network/channel offerings.. that's what he should be leveraging for the future.

The only thing I wish to say on this subject is, who says E* and D* ( and maybe C* ) wants Voom channels, there are a few HD channels out there now that they are not carrying ( Universal for E*, TNT for D*, InHD for both, premium movie channels ) that would have more of a interest to the general HD public, if they won't carry them, why then Voom's channels which in D* and E* eyes ( not people who have Voom) has only attracted 46,000 subs.
The answer is money, not bandwidth, both providers have had the room to add more HD, but instead they add what they think is going to make the most money ( for example, E* with all the international channels ), if this is the issue, why would it be any different if the Voom channels were available to them.
The only way the channels would look good to D* and E* ( and maybe C* ) is offer them very, very cheaply per sub to them, but then Voom is back to being a money pit.
No easy answers, but sooner or later, E* and D* ( and some Cable companies) need to start looking at the future and put up the money ( and I know about the promises D* has made with Spaceway, but I heard the same promises that E* made with the Superdish and 50 new HD channels, that worked well ), but in today's post Enron/Worldcom/etc world it is hard to do.

 

[vurbano]

Direct answers first:First, you will have to point me to the post where I allegedly said that. I believe there is a lot of wishful thinking here - projecting every negative thought as if I would or did say it.


JL

I think the blame for that rests with you.

 

[Walter L.]

Although this article is completely in speculation grounds, we have to give credit to the author. Different from many others who have've been merely recycling info, this guy is really think out of the box and he might be right. I 100% agree on something: Malone involvement in CVC board is not for free - he must have some interest on saving VOOM together with Chuck Dolan. Like the article suggests, perhaps it is all about content, about being the future HD content leader. They probably want Ergen to take the VOOM customers & and they want to keep the original channels.
OK, I'm done here. Now let the speculation and trolling continue...

 

[mdonnelly]

Although this article is completely in speculation grounds, we have to give credit to the author. Different from many others who have've been merely recycling info, this guy is really think out of the box and he might be right. I 100% agree on something: Malone involvement in CVC board is not for free - he must have some interest on saving VOOM together with Chuck Dolan. Like the article suggests, perhaps it is all about content, about being the future HD content leader. They probably want Ergen to take the VOOM customers & and they want to keep the original channels.
OK, I'm done here. Now let the speculation and trolling continue...

Gee, when I say that, I get slammed.

 

[niceprophet]

Contradicting NY Post Reports

:shocked

Malone Voices Skepticism About Voom's Chances

15 minutes ago Entertainment - Reuters Industry


By Jeffrey Goldfarb

LONDON (Reuters) - Cable industry pioneer John Malone on Monday voiced skepticism about whether a third stand-alone satellite television service could succeed in the United States.



His opinions on the subject are of interest because Malone recently joined the board of Cablevision Systems Corp., the cable company facing a corporate and family imbroglio over the fate of its struggling satellite service Voom.


"I wouldn't do it with my money," Malone said on a conference call with analysts from around the world to discuss the results of Liberty Media International, the global cable company he runs.


"We were offered on a number of occasions an opportunity to participate in a third satellite competitor and we declined because we didn't think the risks were warranted by the potential returns," Malone said. The approaches were to his U.S. business Liberty Media Corp.


Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan is tapping into his personal fortune to keep Voom, a high-definition television satellite service, running beyond its original shutdown date.


His son, James, who is CEO of Cablevision, and other board members opposed spending any more money on the business.


Charles Dolan dismissed three members of Cablevision's board over the Voom fight, and brought on Malone as one of the replacements.


Malone said in response to a question that he agreed to join Cablevision's board because Dolan asked and because the two men have been friends for 40 years.


"It seemed like I might be helpful in terms of settling things down for him," he said.


Still, Malone suggested time may be running short for his old friend to make a success of Voom.


The idea may have been a good one when originally conceived, Malone said, because it was thought among industry watchers that high-definition TV would reach the market more quickly and that existing cable and satellite operators would be unable to provide the service. HDTV was slow to develop, however.


"I believe that the window is closing for them," Malone said. "They may be able to squeak through it. They may find an existence as a subset of one of the two major distribution systems."


EchoStar's DISH network and Rupert Murdoch's DirecTV are the two competing U.S. satellite services.

 

[gutter]

This story on Malone just in Sounds as if he killed the earlier report on "speculation." http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050314/media_nm/media_voom_malone_dc_1

Malone Voices Skepticism About Voom's Chances

16 minutes ago Entertainment - Reuters Industry


By Jeffrey Goldfarb

LONDON (Reuters) - Cable industry pioneer John Malone on Monday voiced skepticism about whether a third stand-alone satellite television service could succeed in the United States.



His opinions on the subject are of interest because Malone recently joined the board of Cablevision Systems Corp., the cable company facing a corporate and family imbroglio over the fate of its struggling satellite service Voom.


"I wouldn't do it with my money," Malone said on a conference call with analysts from around the world to discuss the results of Liberty Media International, the global cable company he runs.


"We were offered on a number of occasions an opportunity to participate in a third satellite competitor and we declined because we didn't think the risks were warranted by the potential returns," Malone said. The approaches were to his U.S. business Liberty Media Corp.


Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan is tapping into his personal fortune to keep Voom, a high-definition television satellite service, running beyond its original shutdown date.


His son, James, who is CEO of Cablevision, and other board members opposed spending any more money on the business.


Charles Dolan dismissed three members of Cablevision's board over the Voom fight, and brought on Malone as one of the replacements.


Malone said in response to a question that he agreed to join Cablevision's board because Dolan asked and because the two men have been friends for 40 years.


"It seemed like I might be helpful in terms of settling things down for him," he said.


Still, Malone suggested time may be running short for his old friend to make a success of Voom.


The idea may have been a good one when originally conceived, Malone said, because it was thought among industry watchers that high-definition TV would reach the market more quickly and that existing cable and satellite operators would be unable to provide the service. HDTV was slow to develop, however.


"I believe that the window is closing for them," Malone said. "They may be able to squeak through it. They may find an existence as a subset of one of the two major distribution systems."


EchoStar's DISH network and Rupert Murdoch's DirecTV are the two competing U.S. satellite services.

 

[truqui]

Oh boy...here we go again!!!
Fasten your seatbelts...the rollercoaster is about to move again!!!