Voom Deathbed Reflections

[cracka]

Okay, I'm certainly not in marketing, and I don't presume that I would have had the foresight to suggest all of this at Voom's launch, but now that we're sitting at Voom's bedside, waiting for it to flatline, I have to ask...

Once it was obvious that people weren't signing on in droves, WHY didn't Voom...

• Offer SD-only packages to compete with D* and E*, along with fat discounts for existing D*/E* customers who commit for 6 months; "and when you're ready to upgrade to HD, just give Voom a call & we'll flip the switch"; emphasize that the Voom 21 & all other HD channels are perfectly viewable on SD sets.

• Do whatever it took to ship the HD-DVR; $500 to purchase or $10/mo to lease + $10/mo for the home media network option.

• Create a retail presence at the point-of-sale where people are buying their HD televisions; offer a discount with new tv purchase & a 6-month commitment; this means Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, TV Authority, Onecall... not just Sears, Dell, & Crutchfield. Spiff the retailers for every sign-up.

• Provide a self-install option with a $100 programming credit for self-installers.

• Do whatever it took to get every HD network available; INHD1/2, HDNet/HDNet Movies... if it's HD, we've got it, even if it has to be offered a la carte for $$ and even if we had to kiss Mark Cuban's feet & tell him that we enjoyed The Benefactor.

The $1 install + $5 lease was a good start, but for all the machinations at the end trying to salvage the company, the marketing arm of Voom's organization sure seemed to take their demise lying down. I mean... infomercials? Come on, now.

 

[Lars]

More fine coments that let you know a cable company can't run a satellite business. A company that has a captive audience just can't make it where there is a different degree of competition because the marketing needed is TOTALLY DIFFERENT.


I agree wholeheartedly.

 

[DarrellP]

They didn't need an SD only package, the receivers downconverted everything. What they failed to do until the last few months was advertise that an older, NON-HD set would work with Voom and have a fantastic picture.

 

[cracka]

They didn't need an SD only package, the receivers downconverted everything. What they failed to do until the last few months was advertise that an older, NON-HD set would work with Voom and have a fantastic picture.

It's spilt milk now, but they never marketed it that way, which was my point.

 

[Amphicar770]

The timing was bad and the marketing message did not address this. They should have simply been "The Service that Offers More" and then been able to back that claim.

The local channel issue was a killer for them. Not everyone could get the locals, others did not want a big antenna on the roof. They probably should have simply offered a "Local networks Gaurantee" whereby if you could not receive locals OTA they would kick back say $12 per month so you could get them via cable.

The initial SD line up was lacking. Many families could not do without some of the "Basic Lineup" items such as HGTV, Lifetime, Noggin, etc.. Ironically, Voom now has what is probably the best lineup out there.

Lack of a DVR hurt them. As the "Provider Who Gives You More" it would have been a great competitive advantage had they offered not only a DVR but the "Whole House DVR solution".

They were never fully commited. Consider XM and Sirius. It is a long road to profitability in the sat broadcast business.

Jimmy was an idiot. He likely could have sold off the entire company for 2-3 times what he got for just the bird. the new buyer (Charles Senior or whoever) would have essentially had a fresh start with 40k existing subs and considerably lower fixed costs. Just like the reborn Iridium Sat Phone svc. This would have been a win-win for CVC and for the new Voom corp.