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Talk about a guy who is encircled in his own box. Can you at least read both press releases and get out of the box and be open minded to see what really is going on. I do not get it. You seemed to have quite an obsession with the demise of VOOM despite the fact that there has been two press releases stating Yes is shutdown and another stating it won't. If you are looking it just this way, you are missing the point.
Sean, no offense but I think you need to get out of your own box. You've said before about proof about things going on. Well, we don't have proof either way but we do know some things:
1. CVC has intentions of shutting down the service sometime in the near future. More than one source has confirmed this.
2. CVC decided not to fund Voom any longer.
3. Certain people within CVC signed a letter of intent to purchase the remaining Voom assets however, they do not have funding in place right now.
4. There were two internal memos posted here. One saying, "Yeah, we're going under." Another saying, "Well, we're still looking at our options."
5. Dish is working to purchase Voom's satellite (the one they own and is operational providing Voom programming currently).
Now, out of all of this, everyone seems to be fixated on #4. Think about it, if they still wanted to buy Voom (and it's obvious they do) what do you THINK they would say???? Uh, sorry guys, we can't get funding. So you can all go find new jobs and the few subs we have can all cancel. Of COURSE they're going to say they're still working on it! They don't want everyone to jump ship! And they're doing the right thing by saying this.
However, if you're looking for cold hard facts the only facts we know are CVC is working to shut Voom down and Dish is buying the satellite. Everything else is a guess by everyone here no matter what their opinions are.
And I don't have an obsession with the demise of Voom. Many people around here have an obsession with the future of Voom and have gotten very unrealistic as to what direction things are headed. No matter what is said about Voom, no matter what is released about Voom these people always look at it and say, "Yeah but..." So when Voom DOES shut down are you all going to say, "Yeah, but they're just regrouping and they'll be back."??? Being open minded means looking at the information from an objective point of view. Most people are hardly doing this.
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Rick, some of what you state here is true, but some of it isn't reality. I've used Delta as an example before. They lost $5billion? That's BILLION, with a "B". Are people still holding investments in Delta? Yes. Is Delta still in business? Yes. Would I fly Delta tomorrow if I needed to? Yes.
They haven't been giving the service away. They've been giving free installations, they've gone with a lease model on the equipment, but they haven't been giving anything away that I'm aware of.
As for potential investors...they're out there. You would be absolutely amazed at what some people invest in...especially in terms of venture capital.
You can certainly use Delta as an example, however, it's a VERY different example. Delta offers a tangible benefit to its customers. They still sell a lot of tickets. The government can go in and bail them out. They can turn it around. Not saying Voom can't turn it around but it's highly unlikely. They aren't bringing an appreciable amount of money in (relative to what they need to bring in). The customers aren't lining up to use the service like with Delta.
And you are correct. They're not giving the service away but they've removed the largest obstacle (for many people) to getting HDTV in their homes (other than an HDTV itself). So, other than actually giving the service away, what else is there???
And you're correct, I'd be surprised at what people invest in these days. However, if it was so easy for them to gain investors don't you think they would have something lined up already? After the last few years people are NOT lining up to invest in technology. Can someone come along and do it? Sure. I just wouldn't bet on it.
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With all of this said, AGAIN, I do not in ANY way want to see Voom fail. I hope I come here a year from now and you all have blasted my comments and said, "I told you so!" I love what Voom has tried to do. I'm back with DTV now and I HATE it. I miss my movie channels in HD. I miss the way the channels are arranged. I miss many things. I canceled Voom due to many issues they hadn't worked out. If they were to survive and if the issues I've experienced were to be worked out, I'd sign back up in a heartbeat. My contention with everything here is everyone keeps looking for that silver lining no matter how dark the clouds are. If Dolan Sr. posted here himself and said, "We're shutting her down," I think people around here would still say they're not going to shut down.
I've also asked many times. So, they get funded. What then? They can't seem to get subs now. What's going to change to allow them to gain enough subs to stay afloat? I'm not saying NOTHING can be done. I'm just wondering what the ideas are. If I were an investor, this would be my #1 question.
I hope I'm wrong. Also, enjoy it while it lasts. I'm not suggesting people call Voom and cancel. I'm not suggesting people who are on the fence not sign up (I've told many people to go for it).
So call me negative if you want. I'm just being realistic.
The Rickster