Just watched on CNBC ...Voom is in trouble waters and will probably be sold . Dish is a strong potential buyer and the analyst estimated the price around US$125 million. It seems to me as something very possible and the price is a bargain. HD , here we go!
RUMOR: Echostar buying Voom?
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From what I know Dish does not want VOOM, (they did but not any more) also speaking with some folks from the FCC it is a good posibility if Dish tried to buy VOOM the FCC would Vito it. They want a true 3 DBS option in the United States. VOOM has laid that groundwork down.
Scott Greczkowski said:
Why would they veto it? It sounds like the option is either DirecTV and DISH&Voom or just DirecTV and DISH. An independent Voom seems unlikely to continue with Cablevision wanting to kill it (from the news reports).
Well all I have read as of late states the BoD really wants to dump the Voom spin off. We are always the last to know (as it seems) what they really want to do. Their sub numbers do not support a 3rd national carrier even though they seem to occupy a niche market.
I too would like to see Voom acquired but there are no guarantees of how, who, or when. However, when the BoD and the investors want the unit dumped ... they usually dump.
I too would like to see Voom acquired but there are no guarantees of how, who, or when. However, when the BoD and the investors want the unit dumped ... they usually dump.
i wouldnt be suprised if sprint was interested, it seems every phone company has some affiliation with sat compainies, i dont think sprint has any deals with dish or direct
Scott Greczkowski said:
If the FCC wants 3 satellite television options then perhaps they will approve Spectrum Five's request for DBS satellites at 114.5 W. I believe Spectrum Five is part of Spectrum Astro that was recently purchased by General Dynamics. It has built a couple of small satellites for NASA and the DOD.
Scott,
The FCC played hard ball in the Dish/Directv case because they didn't want ONE satellite service. Even buying Voom Dish will be significantly smaller than Directv and I have never seen one single case where the small guy wasn't allowed to get closer to the big one. I think FCC can create obstacles if Directv decides to bid but not Dish.
I bet that at this moment some guys are pretty excited in Denver,CO.
The FCC played hard ball in the Dish/Directv case because they didn't want ONE satellite service. Even buying Voom Dish will be significantly smaller than Directv and I have never seen one single case where the small guy wasn't allowed to get closer to the big one. I think FCC can create obstacles if Directv decides to bid but not Dish.
I bet that at this moment some guys are pretty excited in Denver,CO.
Scott Greczkowski said:
Scott,
Would you care to expand on that comment? Without getting into what the FCC may or may not do, logically one would think a purchase of Voom would be Dish's only solution, to regain HD leadership.
They apparently do not have to bandwith to do anything, before MPEG 4. It would seem they are in danger of losing many high end customers (including me), in Direct gets HD locals up this year.
An "affiliation" between a phone co and satellite provider is much, much different than a phone co *owning* the satellite provider. I don't see SBC buying Dish anytime in the future, for example.stone phillips420 said:
The number of "high end" customers is surely pretty small though and likely churn that Dish is willing to let go.....clapple said:
If Dish were interested in VOOM, it's *only* for their HD lineup and satellite capacity. Dish signs up as many customers in a few months as VOOM has total, don't they ??
Scott Greczkowski said:
That's the first smart thing that I've heard E* do in a long time. No offense to V*'ers but why would Charlie want a company that has a different hardware platform that he'd have to convert from and a 61.5 slot that many on the west coast can't see? E*'s got enought new slots coming up that they don't need to spend $'s on 61.5 IMHO.
Well let's throw a new wrench in, what if dish buying was only for the increased tp's, Sky Angel could increase on Echo 3, DISH lights up Rainbow 1 with their content plus some East coast LIL's. They move Echo 5 to 157, after Echo 10 is up, light 157 with West coast LIL's. Now we all must remember there are more East coast DMA's so the extra tp's would not hurt at 61.5. Also let's not forget 85 and 105. These new sats have some really good potential for HD-LIL. After all the new sats are up and tested, it would not be hard to start a transition to HD. National HD and Distant E/W on 110/119, everything else on wings, SD and stand alone Ku/Ka dishes for smaller DMA's. The major metro area's can be left on DBS sats. Most have a wing spot already. This could be the grand scheme. Hey it at least makes sense.
Not sure what to think about E* and Voom - but - in last weeks "Business Week" there was some commentary on the DBS companies and the thought there was that E* was likely to go up for sale itself in 2005. I can get the actual quotes if somebody wants it bad enough, but maybe if there is even the remotest possibly that charlie wants out then it would make sense to drage feet with the Voom folks
Odd is right - but for those that want this is from Business Week Jan 10th on page 119. Its brief but its from Analyst Aryeh Bourkoff who works for UBS - quote "Charlie Ergen's Echost Communications Corp satellite service also may be on the block", and the same analyst later on is stated as saying that Comcast may buy a film or TV studio to beef up VOD business [they make it look like the comcast thing and the E* thing is related, but it doesnt make sense to me]
long_time_DNC said:
I thought I've heard of Disney and SBC as being possible buyers on past threads on the subject.
I don't think the FCC would have a problem seeing that VOOM is owned by a cable TV company already. In a way competition isn't reduced, except that DBS companies are nationwide. Either way, Voom is just a rounding error for DIsh and Direct, completely insignificant. I don't even think VOOM is worth the FCC or FTC's time.
