Predictions on Voom subscriber numbers

stevvot

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Feb 3, 2005
28
0
Oklahoma City
I tired of everyone talking only about the 26,000 subscribers that Voom had as of 9-04. From everything I've read and heard from my installer and others, installations have skyrocketed since the $1 deal in November. My prediction is that as of now (2/3/05), Voom has doubled their subscriber numbers to around 50,000. Anyone else think it's even higher?
 
45-50K. Two weeks ago, I upgraded to a 24” dish and my installer said that in the last month, he was doing more Voom installs than Direct or Dish.
 
Certain people bitched because Voom only had 26,000 customers as of 09/04. They said that Voom should do something to increase their subs or they would fail. Well, they did something about it and now these same people are screaming "There's no way Voom could have more than 26,000 subs." Voom wasn't doomed, they were damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Anyway, I say 50,000
 
joep said:
45-50K. Two weeks ago, I upgraded to a 24” dish and my installer said that in the last month, he was doing more Voom installs than Direct or Dish.

Maybe in your area, but the math on that makes it highly unlikely, based on "DirecTV added 444,000 net subscribers during the quarter" and Dish pretty close to the same this last quarter, E* and D* must not call him that much.
 
bruce said:
Maybe in your area, but the math on that makes it highly unlikely, based on "DirecTV added 444,000 net subscribers during the quarter" and Dish pretty close to the same this last quarter, E* and D* must not call him that much.

Your right the math doesn't add up. If E*and D* are posting the same numbers, that means 888,000 Sat customers last quarter. Now every member of this forum that claims to be a Sat Installer has stated that basically all they are doing is Voom installs and D* and E* installs have fallen off tremendously. Now if 888,000 installs were done for D* and E* combined and the number of installs have trickled off, that would lead one to believe that Voom must have done more than 888,000 installs.

That's it, I'm changing my prediction from 50K to 1 million :D
 
bruce said:
Maybe in your area, but the math on that makes it highly unlikely, based on "DirecTV added 444,000 net subscribers during the quarter" and Dish pretty close to the same this last quarter, E* and D* must not call him that much.
bruce, we're talking about HD subs here (remember VOOM=HD). Thus, it would be more meaninful to use these stats about total HD subs:

Comcast = 1M (1 year)
D* = 0.5M subs (how many years?)
E* = ???
 
Walter L. said:
bruce, we're talking about HD subs here (remember VOOM=HD). Thus, it would be more meaninful to use these stats about total HD subs:

Comcast = 1M (adding 30k per month)
D* = 0.5M subs
E* = ???

No he was not just talking about HD installs, he said "and my installer said that in the last month, he was doing more Voom installs than Direct or Dish."
Where do you get only HD from that?
 
ram1220 said:
Don't forget about the churn rate too. I say 30K right now.
The churn rate was high in the first year because VOOM had no commitments and had a money-back guarantee on its initial purchase offer. A lot of people signed up just to give it a try without plans to stay. The latest offer requires 6-month contract, so I would expect the churn rate to go down.
 
bruce said:
Maybe in your area, but the math on that makes it highly unlikely, based on "DirecTV added 444,000 net subscribers during the quarter" and Dish pretty close to the same this last quarter, E* and D* must not call him that much.


True...I live in the Los Angeles area. Perhaps, D* and E* do not call him as much but for an large metro are like LA, that is still saying something. He said that with the $1 promotion, that it has really taken off...

I hope we will find out the real number before they pull the plug...
 
And DIRECT still lost 283M in the 3rd quarter. When will they ever turn a profit. Must be pulling the plug soon. lol
 
Ilya said:
The churn rate was high in the first year because VOOM had no commitments and had a money-back guarantee on its initial purchase offer. A lot of people signed up just to give it a try without plans to stay. The latest offer requires 6-month contract, so I would expect the churn rate to go down.

I must disagree. Everyone seems to have opinions as to why Voom ONLY has less than 30000 subscribers at this point. Note that that number has not changed much in the last 6 months. That means that the churn has been 100% lately. Why?

In my opinion, and I have stated it before; they are running Voom as if it where a cable company (read almost monopoly).

1. Why no self installs. (DirecTV has done this.)
2. Why make most users call Voom's support line to find out about the little red button behind the front panel to modify the resolution (1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i, auto). My installer obviously knew about it since he left it at 480i and did not tell me. Since I had experienced HD using DirecTV on the same display, I knew something was wrong. How many are still at 480i because the "professional" installer wanted to get on to the next job asap.
3. Missed installs. I have seen countless messages from users on this and other sites were people take a wasted vacation day. Not a good way to start a relationship me thinks?
4. Buggy receiver (and only one model).
5. No DVR. I got my DirectTV HD Tivo in July, and cancelled Voom in Sept. During the three months I had both, I watched DirecTv's few HD channels 95%+ of the time. Having control of the viewing time is extremely important for us with jobs and who value our time.

I would consider signing up again when:
1. They offer self install
2. HD DVR.

I would also suggest giving current users an incentive to tell friends and family by offering referrals. (Say 1 month free VaVaVoom). I would even install for friends and family if they offered say $50-$60. If they did do something like that, perhaps they could deduct $10-$20 from that amount for every support call.

But, I do not expect such creative ideas to flourish at a cable company. No for some reason, they believe that simply adding more channels will bring more customers. I say be proactive. Include useful manuals. Give the customers more detailed info, then the support lines will not be busy with callers getting the same basic support that could have been avoided.
 
i think since the board original voted to stop funding in the end of january and voom is still going strong, all the installers on here saying they are installing more voom subs then E* or D*, plus less deinstalls of the voom svc. I would say they are at 45-60k and that is why they(cablevision) is still sending the signal. The fourth quarter numbers for voom showed a real turn for the positive.
 
Something is happening. And if you didn't see it..DIRECT posted 4th quarter losses of 283M. Time for all subscribes to leave because that means they must be shutting down. lol Give me a break.
 
gutter said:
DIRECT posted 4th quarter losses of 283M.

isnt funny how direct losses 283m in one quarter no one says throw in the towel for them, voom a startup losses 75M in quarter and everyones putting them 6ft under
 
gutter said:
Something is happening. And if you didn't see it..DIRECT posted 4th quarter losses of 283M.
D* has reserves. Think about it. Every $1 install cost V* a few hundred dollars in equipment ... more for multi-room installs. What was the loss figure for 3Q 2004 per customer?

JL
 

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