Rumor: Don't Hold Your Breath ! (Get ready for another chapter)

Jwriter1966

Member
Original poster
Mar 2, 2005
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Hello All,
New to this forum but have been reading closely for months. I've been with Voom a few months now and have been worried about this service shutting down.
Been talking on the phone with Voom and as stated in my heading ( Don't Hold Your Breath ) but was told that Voom service is not shutting down. Rainbow DBS and it's ownership by Cablevision is. Voom will continue under private ownership I am told. All software and programing updates will continue and Voom will again start taking new install orders once the ownership issues are ironed out.
There just may be a hint of light at the end of the tunnel !
 
if true

Jwriter1966 said:
Hello All,
New to this forum but have been reading closely for months. I've been with Voom a few months now and have been worried about this service shutting down.
Been talking on the phone with Voom and as stated in my heading ( Don't Hold Your Breath ) but was told that Voom service is not shutting down. Rainbow DBS and it's ownership by Cablevision is. Voom will continue under private ownership I am told. All software and programing updates will continue and Voom will again start taking new install orders once the ownership issues are ironed out.
There just may be a hint of light at the end of the tunnel !

they better notify us realatively quickly through email
 
If this is true !!!!! and I doubt it is .. It is like all the other BS this company has been putting out.. They need to send an email to all us Subs ASAP from old man Dolan I am already looking for some one else to provide me with services I am not going to have my HDtv sitting around with no HD programing on it... VOOM has to Friday to come out and lets us SUBS know what is going on.. I am not paying my bill this month of March either...
 
Dog6869 said:
If this is true !!!!! and I doubt it is .. It is like all the other BS this company has been putting out.. They need to send an email to all us Subs ASAP from old man Dolan I am already looking for some one else to provide me with services I am not going to have my HDtv sitting around with no HD programing on it... VOOM has to Friday to come out and lets us SUBS know what is going on.. I am not paying my bill this month of March either...


like i said on the other post where you posted this very same thing. If you don't pay your bill than you hd will be sitting with no service from voom .
 
I just put it down as a rumor for now. Not that I know anything else what the first poster, posted. As, I said in my previous thread, I heard that it is not over yet despite the cut in services that we may or may not see.

Nobody is holding anybody here. If you want leave, leave and be done with it. If you are going to stay, you have an obligation to pay for what you get.
 
Sean this is from an AP wire

Business - AP


Cablevision Shuts Down Voom Service

Tue Mar 1, 3:21 PM ET Business - AP


By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK - Cablevision Systems Corp., a New York-area cable television provider, is shutting down its high-definition satellite television service called Voom after failing to reach an agreement with its own chairman, who wanted to buy the remaining assets of the business.






The announcement from the Bethpage, N.Y.-based company late Monday came amid a fractious battle among members of the Dolan family, which runs Cablevision. Charles Dolan, the company's chairman and founder, had championed the service, while his son James, who is CEO, opposed it.


Last week Cablevision said it would take $354.9 million in charges as it exited the satellite business. Investors had long been skeptical of the plan, which would have put Cablevision in a high-stakes showdown against two entrenched and well-funded competitors, EchoStar Communications Corp., owner of the DISH satellite TV service, and The DirecTV Group Inc.


In December Cablevision said it would sell Voom's satellite to EchoStar for $200 million in cash, and then in February Charles Dolan and his son Tom entered a tentative agreement to acquire the rest of Voom's assets. However, they failed to consummate a deal by a Feb. 28 deadline.


Voom failed to find an audience with consumers since being launched in the fall of 2003. Voom posted an operating loss of $661.4 million on revenues of $14.9 million for all of 2004, including the $354.9 million in write-downs.


In its most recent quarterly regulatory filing, Cablevision disclosed last fall that the Voom service had only 26,000 customers. In its statement late Monday, Cablevision said it would continue providing service to its current Voom customers for at least 30 days. A Cablevision spokesman declined to comment beyond the statement.


Despite the apparently definitive decision from Cablevision to shut down the Voom service, Tom and Charles Dolan released a separate statement through an entity they control saying they were still interested in completing the acquisition of Voom's assets and funding the venture on their own.


The announcement signaled that the family feud surrounding the Voom venture had not yet been settled, which could fuel more speculation that the elder Dolan might sell some of his holdings of Cablevision stock in order finance Voom.


Cablevision also owns New York's Madison Square Garden as well as the sports teams that play there, including the New York Knicks and the NHL's Rangers. Cablevision is in the midst of a public showdown with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg over Bloomberg's plans to build a stadium on Manhattan's West side, which would compete with the Garden.


Cablevision shares fell 48 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $30.58 in afternoon trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites). The shares have risen steadily over the past seven months, nearly doubling from their 52-week low of $16.13 reached last August, on expectations that the company would get rid of Voom and possibly be put up for sale. Its underlying cable TV business has also been growing strongly thanks to rapid growth of premium services like high-speed data and voice-over-Internet phone offerings.
 
Dog6869 said:
U pay a month in advance

Big deal. I really don't think Voom is going to stiff anyone with a extra months billing. After all Voom did spend quite a bit of cash to hook you up so what are people complaining about? Some people are ALWAYS looking for a way to take advantage of someone else. In this case it is some of Voom's customers feeling as though they are owed something other than the service they signed up for. :smug
 
That was being reported yesterday. Nothing has really changed since yesterday. Cablevision has said it's over and will shutdown at the end of the month. Old man Dolen said he still wants to buy it. (those are the two memos from the day before yesterday) Then the reports yesterday from the news outlets like you posted above. Then the website message popped up yesterday afternoon, confirming what Cablevision wants to do with VOOM. Since then, no big news that I've seen (here or otherwise).
 
Indy said:
Big deal. I really don't think Voom is going to stiff anyone with a extra months billing. After all Voom did spend quite a bit of cash to hook you up so what are people complaining about? Some people are ALWAYS looking for a way to take advantage of someone else. In this case it is some of Voom's customers feeling as though they are owed something other than the service they signed up for. :smug

I have been a Voom customer for a year now. I have paid all of my bills.
I BOUGHT my receivers. Am I owed something, or should I just consider it a $60/month rental fee if Voom goes black now?

-k
 
After discussing by email some of the stuff that's going on, this is the reply that I got about all of this. My understanding of it is that CVC sees VOOM HD LLC, VOOM, and RainbowDBS as separate entities, and even though one of those entities is closing down, that doesn't mean that all of them are. I see it possibly as a reorganization of certain assets and employees. Of course, CSR's only tell use what they are told to tell us. So....Here it is.........


To update your question from our support site, click the following
link or paste it into your web browser.
http://voom.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/voom.cfg/php/enduser/acct_login_submit.php?p_userid=


Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------
OK, I'm seeing the Gloom and Doom on the website. I don't like that my
Credit...


Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (Autumn H.) - 03/02/2005 08:20 AM
Thank you for choosing VOOM - The HDTV Satellite Service!

Thank you for contacting us about VOOM. We appreciate the opportunity
to provide you the broadest and best quality of HD programming
available and are committed to continuing to deliver that service.

As you may have heard, Cablevision's recently announced agreement with
EchoStar involves an agreement to sell the company's Rainbow 1
satellite and certain other related assets. Separately, Cablevision has
announced a letter of intent under which VOOM HD LLC, a new company set up by
the Dolan family, will acquire the actual VOOM programming and service.
Under the terms of this letter, VOOM HD, which is a strong believer in
VOOM, will continue providing our state-of-the-art service to
customers.

All of us at VOOM are excited about the opportunities that this new
agreement will provide to continue building the VOOM service. We will
communicate to you additional information on our future plans as we move
forward.

If you have need further assistance, please feel free to contact us
again.

Thank you for choosing VOOM - the leader in High Definition
programming!

Adrianne F.
VOOM Email Support
 
klen said:
I have been a Voom customer for a year now. I have paid all of my bills.
I BOUGHT my receivers. Am I owed something, or should I just consider it a $60/month rental fee if Voom goes black now?

-k

Klen, see my thread in the Comments forum. Yes, there are precendents under which we are owed a refund for the equipment if they go dark.
 
klen said:
I have been a Voom customer for a year now. I have paid all of my bills.
I BOUGHT my receivers. Am I owed something, or should I just consider it a $60/month rental fee if Voom goes black now?

-k

What about all the programming credits you received? If you are a early adopter then you did get the credits. If you bought the receivers recently then you lack common sense. Either way I feel you are owed nothing but continued Voom service which I believe we will all enjoy past April 1. :)
 
Don't Hold Your Breath Part 2

WOW, You Guy's post replies fast ! I did not intend to start issues here. Just wanted to relay what was stated to me.
I took what I was told with a grain of salt. I fully intend to pay my bills as this is a service I requested.
My hope is that with the limited service out there to us HD TV owners is that someone will pick up the ball and run with it and not let Voom Die.
With that said I can only hope what I was told by Voom reps. is true and that this will all pan out.
 
I for one am not looking for something for free, hdtv is great! This is getting way out of hand, they need to let us know what is going on! If half the subs seek other cable options there is no way voom could possibly survive that! First there going down, then there not,then they are! Thats BS for a company to yank there subs around like this. Dont get me wrong here i do love voom, but enough is enough. Even sean keeps changing his mind, so whats going on Mr Dolan? please let us know, we have all been very understanding and willing to be paying beta test for you. So show us some respect!
 
Indy said:
What about all the programming credits you received? If you are a early adopter then you did get the credits. If you bought the receivers recently then you lack common sense. Either way I feel you are owed nothing but continued Voom service which I believe we will all enjoy past April 1. :)

Again, this discussion is best kept to another thread. Indy, if the service continues then I have no complaints. If it ends, there are very legitimate reasons for a refund.
 
The letter of agreement is old news. That letter was predicated on the deal being completed by last week. The deal was not completed. There has been no new news from the Dolan Senior camp in the past 24 hours.
 
Jwriter1966 said:
Hello All,
Been talking on the phone with Voom and as stated in my heading ( Don't Hold Your Breath ) but was told that Voom service is not shutting down. !

Why is this thread a sticky or considered legit? You mean you were talking to someone in VOOM management? If you were talking to a VOOM CSR then this is the same info in all of the other threads. They are working off of 2 week old information from when the letter of intent was signed.
 
That's kind of my point Amphicar. The CSR's really don't know anything at all about what's going on except the Memos that been going around and the hopes that CDolan will buy out the remaining assets. I fear for the loss of VOOM, but I can't throw in the towel yet.
 

Are Voom 21 channels gone? No.

Some good/bad News (Depending how you want to take it)

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