voom dishes popping up everywhere!!

[James Long]

I used to have Voom, along with 5 others in my townhouse complex. Now, nobody does.

One of the issues Cablevision reported last year was a problem retaining customers. We all know the magic "26,000" number of subscribers reported 3Q 2004. The text mentioned that Voom had lost enough subscribers to lower their count in the preceeding month. It also noted that Voom had lost 20% of those who had tried voom.

Which means that at the end of last September there were 6,500 people who could say that they had left voom. You are not alone.

That is the challenge Voom faced as they approached Christmas and the challenge VoomHD will face in the future. Mr Dolan seems up to the challenge.

JL

 

[jmhunter83]

I think with the ammount of shopping channels on DirecTV they must have a whole satellite dideicated to home shopping. Bless voom for not yet falling to the dark side, SD qual needs to go up quite a bit though.

 

[gutter]

There are a lot of people who live for the shopping channels. I am not one of them but it is desired by some.

 

[dash2004]

Hidden voom dishes

If you did not see any voom dishes in your town, it did not mean there were any. When I talked to the installer who came to install my voom dish three weeks ago, he told me he has being installing more voom dishes than D* or E*. I have yet see a voom dish personally. They are out there even if you do not see them.

 

[screech]

Can't see mine from the street and even if you look at it, it doesn't say Voom because I put my own 24"er up.

 

[SeattleVoomer1]

And our 24" upgraded by VOOM antenna has no ID on it.

But still getting the signal to enjoy HDTV under mostly clear Seattle skies, Gill

 

[James Long]

If you did not see any voom dishes in your town, it did not mean there were any.

According to Nielsen Media Research, there are 110,420,000 US Households including 108,400,000 TV Households (2004). V* reported 26,000 customers (3Q 2004). That's 1 in 4169. The next smallest DBS provider that reports numbers is E* with 11 million (current) or about 1 in 10. (SkyAngel doesn't report numbers but since they use E* equipment and many customers subscribe to both it is harder to spot their dishes.)

My hometown has 20,072 households (2000, but close) so taking the ratios above in to effect there should be 4 or 5 Voom dishes in town (and over 2000 E* dishes). It wouldn't be too hard to miss 4 or 5 dishes. Mine are not visible from the road.

JL

 

[JimP]

There are a lot of people who live for the shopping channels. I am not one of them but it is desired by some.

That's something I've forgotten about. All those shopping channels. Kinda nice to not have to see any of that garbage.

 

[T2k]

Actually, that was just in the 3rd quarter of last year.

"Voom has struggled since its launch in late 2003. As of the third quarter of last year, the service had just 26,000 customers and an operating loss of $75.3 million on revenues of $5.9 million. Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen estimates that Voom burned through about $477 million in 2004."

Do the math.

Were you completely off from math?

Even if this cost wouldn't contain anything else - which is highly unlikely -, the growing number of subs obviously lowers the per-sub cost.

 

[Cliff]

And our 24" upgraded by VOOM antenna has no ID on it.

But still getting the signal to enjoy HDTV under mostly clear Seattle skies, Gill

Wonder if Voom would send a decal for our updraded dishes?

 

[James Long]

the growing number of subs obviously lowers the per-sub cost.

New subs, especially the $1 offer takers, cost money. Yes ... if they managed to scrape up a few thousand new customers you can divide 500mil in losses between 30k instead of 26k. Each of those customers also adding their own start up costs to the system. We still are waiting on the 4Q results to see how well the $1 and other promotions worked for them.

JL

 

[T2k]

New subs, especially the $1 offer takers, cost money. Yes ... if they managed to scrape up a few thousand new customers you can divide 500mil in losses between 30k instead of 26k. Each of those customers also adding their own start up costs to the system. We still are waiting on the 4Q results to see how well the $1 and other promotions worked for them.

JL

They are ONE TIME costs. But each subs pay its bill every month, from the beginning - which means this cost will be recovered within few months.

This $1 promo really helped the numbers, I think, based on my personal experiences - although nationwide it could be different.

 

[JimP]

My best guess is that in the satellite provider business, most of the cost are fixed cost. Whether you have 50,000 or 500,000 subscribers, the satellite, buildings, equipment and salaries are all going to be about the same. Only difference would be programming cost that are based on the number of subscribers.

That being said, if you can assume that the average subscriber pays $59 per month (or 708 per year) and Voom lost $500 million last year, that it would have taken an additional 700,000 subscribers to just cover the lost.

By divesting itself of the satellite and renting space on it or other birds, Voom's cost has dropped. As to how much, we don't know. Hopefully, its dropped enough such that a reasonable number of subscribers can support the service and make it viable for the long term.

I think Voom hurt itself by relying on Sears to promote their product. I can see where going with Sears may have seemed like the right thing to do, but in hindsight it did more harm than good. Not to mention they wasted valuable time while Cablevision burned through a lot of cash. And lets be honest with ourselves, the original receiver had enough bugs that for some people it was more than they could handle and some "must have"programming was missing.

I do think that with the heavy national advertising and just the shear dynamics of more and more people being aware that Voom has more HD programming than anybody else (by a wide margin) that there should be momentum that adds subscribers at a ever increasing rate. Ultimately, this is what's going to save Voom.

I just hope that with the additional advertising, subscribers increase fast enough to make this a viable business within a couple of years.

 

[James Long]

They are ONE TIME costs. But each subs pay its bill every month, from the beginning - which means this cost will be recovered within few months.

One time costs that are reasonably high.

A one room install would be the best for the company - $499 list price out and $50 or $90 per month back from the customer. If there were no other costs involved (paying providers for programming, customer service, billing, transmission, advertising, salaries, etc) and we were just paying off the install cost it would take 6-10 months to clear the costs of getting that customer. (And that customer on the $1 deal could cancel after six months and end up costing V* the price of a deinstall ... although they could reuse the receiver which recoups some of the cost.)

How about two rooms? The second room list price is $299 but the increase in charges to the customer is only $5. That would take 5 years to recoup on its own - but totaled that is $798 with $55 or $95 returning in fees for 9-15 months to just clear the install debt. Three rooms? $1097 with $60 or $100 returning for 10-18 months going 100% to the install.

Obviously the "list price" of installs isn't the real cost or V* would have gone out of business. But there IS a cost involved for the equiment and labor. If we assume the install list prices are double the cost it still leaves little left over to pay for other expenses.

There are customer count related expenses and non-customer count related expenses. Payments to content providers are generally customer count related. For every customer paying V* for HBO, V* has to pay HBO for the customer. If they are paying HBO $10 per customer they break even. But they are not paying $0 for the channels.

Non-customer count related expenses are better when spread across a wider customer base - satellite rental and uplink costs; a lot of the CSR costs; and most important debt retirement. But there are enough per customer costs - especially the cost of gaining each new customer - that takes the money before it gets to this point. A problem that needs to be solved.

JL

 

[klen]

Wonder if Voom would send a decal for our updraded dishes?

Yes, but you would have to take off work to have Installs, Inc put it on your dish.


All kidding aside, I upgraded to the 24" dish 3 weeks ago, and mine had the Voom logo on it.

-k

 

[SeattleVoomer1]

"All kidding aside, I upgraded to the 24" dish 3 weeks ago, and mine had the Voom logo on it."

klen, that just isn't fair!

However, still enjoying HDTV (well, music actually for another 29') under mostly clear Seattle skies, Gill

 

[Vicki]

"All kidding aside, I upgraded to the 24" dish 3 weeks ago, and mine had the Voom logo on it."

klen, that just isn't fair!

However, still enjoying HDTV (well, music actually for another 29') under mostly clear Seattle skies, Gill

...Sounds to me like just one more good sign of VOOM's probably predetermined plans to succeed in the face of all the adversity! Vicki

 

[ijahman]

I have Converted two D Users to Voom!

Its funny how people have a misconception of voom and the amount of channels it has. I went to Tweeters (audio store in the Northeast, Im in CT) to buy a new DVI cable and the guy thought that voom only had the 40 HD channels and no SD channels. The more I talk to people with the other two services the more I hear the same thing. So I invited to D users to my home to See Voom on My 50" Hitachi LCD Projection and they couldn’t believe the picture, even on The SD picture quality. Both of my friends called right from my house to get new installs done. If we all convert two or three, then they convert two or three Voom could be very profitable in 16 months time. Its just hopeful thinking! Voom is the best and Im just tire of the D users hating on Voom because it is better than their service.

Excellent news voombot! I have to agree with you that I think when the new sub numbers come out, there will be pleasant surprises in store!

On Super Bowl day I had some friends over to show them what HD looks like. I'm still on cable and the quality is only mediocre, but to someone who hasn't seen HD, it was enough to get them interested...and when I described VOOM's superior quality and quantity, they were bowled over and said they were going to give it a try...even though they have not yet purchased an HD TV! They have been waiting for their current big screen to die. I fully explained the current events, but they, like others I've heard on this board, said "What do you have to lose?

It has occurred to me that when I had VOOM last summer, I didn't throw a party to introduce my friends to VOOM, but I should have! I was too busy marveling at the pretty pictures and trying to get my OTA antenna right.

I think that all the buzz about possibly losing VOOM has definitely generated free PR for VOOM...remember, even bad PR is better than no PR...and probably motivated some subscribers to throw that "last hurrah" Super Bowl party and introduce their friends to the possibilities that exist.

I think the general public has a lot of interest in HD, but very little knowledge, and with the prices coming down, if we get their attention by sharing the pretty pictures, they will probably be enticed to learn more about it, and maybe part with some of those precious $$$$$.

HAVE YOU ALL DONE YOUR PART??? ​

Scope out something that will appeal to your friends, give them a call, and make a night of it! bow @party :yikes :clap Show them the Rolls Royce of HD, then give them a dose of SD or a DVD for comparison. You may be doing us all a big favor! ...and even if it doesn't result in a new VOOM subscriber, it will be fun! Can't wait for 2/22 when I have my next party!! @party

 

[Vicki]

Its funny how people have a misconception of voom and the amount of channels it has. I went to Tweeters (audio store in the Northeast, Im in CT) to buy a new DVI cable and the guy thought that voom only had the 40 HD channels and no SD channels. The more I talk to people with the other two services the more I hear the same thing. So I invited to D users to my home to See Voom on My 50" Hitachi LCD Projection and they couldn’t believe the picture, even on The SD picture quality. Both of my friends called right from my house to get new installs done. If we all convert two or three, then they convert two or three Voom could be very profitable in 16 months time. Its just hopeful thinking! Voom is the best and Im just tire of the D users hating on Voom because it is better than their service.

WAY TO GO, IJAHMAN!! Word of mouth and demonstration really can go a long way toward furthering the dream!

Vicki

 

[gutter]

I just converted a neighbor. When I told him that it now has Food Network. That was all he needed and was holding him up. 1 down 2 to go