The End of VOOM?

[Lucky]

Guys,

I do not think there is much left here.

Don't try to rationalize it. It is a done deal. There is no more Rainbow 1 and as a consequence the service is not going to be budgeted/supported.

It takes money to produce HD material and pay for it. With all the publicity of selling Rainbow 1 and no new subscribers in the near future and knowing that there is board of investors who want guaranteed money, there is no money to invest in VOOM.

It would be nonsensical to do this after going through all this publicity. Wall Street and the investors will hang them in court. Wake up and smell the coffee and start preparing for another provider. Don't wait until the last minute because you won't see any more investment on Voom 21 channels. You will probably see repeated content until the death of the signal happens. Would you pay your monthly premium to something that does not give you anymore new content?

I wouldn't be surprised if VOOM makes no public announcement and just continue as nothing happened. But it has happened. The end has come. There's no more VOOM even though there is a signal still. That is the reality.

Very well put Sean. I see VOOM as sort of a brain dead patient. They are still breathing and being kept alive by machines, but there is no more brain function. They are functionally dead as of tonight.

 

[FrankJo]

I told you so.

It was always about the assets, baby. The assets. Althought the Voom channels I believe are undervalued. I'd like to know EXACTLY what E* aquired.

 

[skakusha]

Where do I go?

Well, I guess it is time to research the next best option. I have DirecTV but only SD programming, and no HD. I have two SD Tivo's now so I am used to DirecTV.

I am wondering if the aquisition of Rainbow 1 means great PQ on Dish. If so perhaps the switch is worth it. I love my Tivo, but the SD PQ on DirecTV is very poor, and I hear alot about the poor HD pq as well. With Dish I could get new subscriber promos, and D* could care less about retaining me as a customer or offering me a deal on HD or and HD Tivo.

The only good news is I recieved my $500 Voom rebate in the mail today, which I have since cashed. I do not have to worry about the 2 year commitment now.

 

[rang1995]

for me i can't get (see) all of the dish sats or directv sats i can get the regular 101 D* which i get..the only alternative is alot more$$$ (boxes for 6 sets)+i must keep d* for football sunday ticket--to get IO from Cablevision--the guys who pulled the plug--agh i am angry (

 

[graphiteRT]

Folks, I think a bunch of people are jumping to conclusions without all the facts.

Pretty certain the memo of yesterday was genuine and that Chuck Dolan wants to bid for Voom.

Pretty certain that Chuck, being a board member, would know full well that the Rainbow 1 capacity was about to be sold. You don't arrange a $200M sale in a 24 hr. period.

Pretty certain that Chuck Dolan didn't get to be a billionaire by being stupid or "one-upped" by events like we've been reading bits about over the course of today.

So what does that all mean? Means the other shoe is yet to drop and the guys like Sean who are adament that the boxes will go dark within days might end up eating some crow.

Cablevision still has a new facility and leased frequencies on another satellite that is not mentioned at all in today's PR. What's happening with all of that which is still under Voom's control? Think Dolan Sr. might just have a plan that no one here has thought of yet?

If the box ultimately goes dark, whooptifreakingdo. It cost me no long term contract or hardware fees. Life will go on. Some of you are running around here like your family pet just died.

 

[Sean Mota]

Jesus Sean! Get the gun loaded and take a bullet why don't you! I am kind of surprised you have such finality in your posts. You have defended Voom like someone defends the reputation of their little sister.

Maybe we can hope for a few channels to survive the move to Dish. This would make a difference for me not to ask you pass the gun when your finished. That is, if your able.

Unless a MIRACLE happens there is nothing more that I can see they will do. There's no plan. Sorry to say it and you know how much I love HDTV but that is what is going now.

 

[ScottChez]

" I do not have to worry about the 2 year commitment now"

Yes you do, read the contract. Dish bought your contract. The terms of the contract maintain the terms even if someone else owns them. The only requirement in the terms is that they provide you HD channel which Dish will continue to do.

 

[FredOh]

If i have to give up my 31 channels of HD I will be pissed. The alternatives suck. Especially Adelphia in SOuth FLorida

 

[BFG]

" I do not have to worry about the 2 year commitment now"

Yes you do, read the contract. Dish bought your contract. The terms of the contract maintain the terms even if someone else owns them. The only requirement in the terms is that they provide you HD channel which Dish will continue to do.

No, dish did not buy his contract, they did not buy the subs, and they will not continue voom HD!

 

[rtt2]

Dish did not buy the subs or the company just the satellite assets.

He is only obliged to Rainbow DBS. Echostar did not buy RDBS.

 

[rang1995]

to me the way i read the stories(the latest in WSJ just published) both Voom and echostar said to hell with 26,000 folks..It would be nice if E* said the 61.5 will broadcat all the hd content on it +more for the duplicate sd they have but it looks like it will just be a spare(wing) for more Al-jezeras!!and the rest of the crap they put out..do you think that all their subs will want 2 dishes??after they went to the one dish solution and took off the hd from 61.5???

 

[slacker9876]

Good! Now SpaceWay will get a kick in the butt! However it looks like E* will be the short term leader.

 

[Indy]

Folks, I think a bunch of people are jumping to conclusions without all the facts.

Pretty certain the memo of yesterday was genuine and that Chuck Dolan wants to bid for Voom.

Pretty certain that Chuck, being a board member, would know full well that the Rainbow 1 capacity was about to be sold. You don't arrange a $200M sale in a 24 hr. period.

Pretty certain that Chuck Dolan didn't get to be a billionaire by being stupid or "one-upped" by events like we've been reading bits about over the course of today.

So what does that all mean? Means the other shoe is yet to drop and the guys like Sean who are adament that the boxes will go dark within days might end up eating some crow.

Cablevision still has a new facility and leased frequencies on another satellite that is not mentioned at all in today's PR. What's happening with all of that which is still under Voom's control? Think Dolan Sr. might just have a plan that no one here has thought of yet?

If the box ultimately goes dark, whooptifreakingdo. It cost me no long term contract or hardware fees. Life will go on. Some of you are running around here like your family pet just died.

The lease is a liability at this point and not an asset. The new uplink center is part of the sale to Dish along with the satellite. I really doubt Voom could survive by leasing transponder space. The lack of growth is still the major issue.

Put it plain and simple, there are not enough customers to float the boat and short of Dolan buying Dish Network and it's customer base I doubt there ever will be. Sad but true.

 

[skakusha]

If Dish did not buy subs then this would not hold up. As far as we know now, they only bought the satellite. Plus the agreement was for two years of VaVa Voom service. NO Voom, no Va Va Voom package, thus no commitment. Worst case scenario it is prorated monthly over two years, but this should be irrelevant.

I am curious to see what the local BrandsMart, South Florida retail chain, is doing with teh $300 instant rebate they offer on new HDTV's with Voom subscriptions. I also now many people that took part in the promotions and have, or are waiting for Voom.

 

[GabeNet]

Life will go on. Some of you are running around here like your family pet just died.

lol, that sounds so harsh.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Charlie E. doesn't care about the voom customers...

As a former 8 year subscriber to E*, I would say that he doesn't care much about E* customers either!

 

[BFG]

As a former 8 year subscriber to E*, I would say that he doesn't care much about E* customers either!

Well that's true to a degree. He only cares about profit making E* customers, and that makes sense...

 

[Sean Mota]

So what does that all mean? Means the other shoe is yet to drop and the guys like Sean who are adament that the boxes will go dark within days might end up eating some crow.

If this is all true, they'd better start talking soon and not privately but publicly because this has put them in a big hole in which they can only get out if they put a big one on the table.

The selling of Rainbow 1 is quite stunning to say the least. I do not see the big card that Mr. Dolan has not played. Since the news came out of the family feud, I try to stayed very neutral about it. I am not swinging in the pessimistic way. I am just looking at the reality of no Rainbow 1. That's all. By all means if somehow, there is a way to put more breath into VOOM, let me see it.

Maybe 26K is insignificant amount of subs to care; if Voom wants us to believe in them, they better start talking soon because right now there is very little they have given subscribers to believe that somehow VOOM will continue.

 

[Indy]

to me the way i read the stories(the latest in WSJ just published) both Voom and echostar said to hell with 26,000 folks..It would be nice if E* said the 61.5 will broadcat all the hd content on it +more for the duplicate sd they have but it looks like it will just be a spare(wing) for more Al-jezeras!!and the rest of the crap they put out..do you think that all their subs will want 2 dishes??after they went to the one dish solution and took off the hd from 61.5???

The number of satellite dishes never bothered me. I have 9 in my yard. Maybe it erks the neighbors a bit but I love planting them and watching them grow!

 

[rang1995]

they will probably shut it down right before superbowl too!!!!!!don't plan a party