VOOM Goes BOOM - update Dish Drops all 15 VOOM Channels

[Spatch]

According to a leading analyst, "Dish could shed at least 37,000 of its 13.8 million customers this quarter." " According to the article, "Dish has opened a new service center to help counter a 15% jump in subscriber defections" and they quoted CEO Ergen saying he "wasn't as aware of the operations" as he should have been.

I haven't read the article yet , but that is less than a quarter of 1% (.25%) and it says "could" which means it could be less. They will probably pick up more than that in new subs. .25% and 15% is a big difference in customers. 15% would be 2,070,000 customers that is a difference of 2033000 customers. those numbers just don't match.

Like I said I haven't read the article yet but the media has been know to over estimate numbers to make an article look good.

 

[Spatch]

Nobody ever won by playing a sloppy game of catchup.

Who is Charlie going to blame now? Let me guess, the economy?

I thought Direct was winning now? They played a "sloppy game of catch up". They trailed Dish for along time.

Isn't catchup something you put on a hamburger?

 

[Peter Parker]

I haven't read the article yet , but that is less than a quarter of 1% (.25%) and it says "could" which means it could be less. They will probably pick up more than that in new subs. .25% and 15% is a big difference in customers. 15% would be 2,070,000 customers that is a difference of 2033000 customers. those numbers just don't match.

Like I said I haven't read the article yet but the media has been know to over estimate numbers to make an article look good.

Lke I said in the other thread it is an estimate. it might be dead on or it could be something totally different. But I hope tou realize that this guy is predicitng a NET loss not loss of that many offset by larger gains.

there were similar estimates in May and in the end DISH had a very small gain but the stock rose because earnings went up and the street seemed to care more about that than a change in the rate of growth of subs.

 

[Spatch]

From a non-industry person's viewpoint the problem I see causing people to bail on DISH is: COMMUNICATION. If you have Dish through AT&T you have a major headache with technical/customer support or getting ANYTHING done. If you don't have the AT&T package then you have a major headache because tech support/customer service is based out of S. America and they have no clue about ANYTHING.

If I hadn't found this forum and had a place to vent (and hints of upcoming HD) then I would have left back in January-March when there were no new HD channels in the foreseeable future. Direct TV was doing a great job promoting all of their new HD content.

Honestly, and I know this will make some people mad, I don't think it has anything to do with them tossing the Voom channels, or the lawsuits with Tivo, etc.. the average subscriber probably isn't too concerned (or even aware) of that. What it all boils down to is communication with the customer. Whether it be their top-secret HD release schedule, or their incompetent customer support center people get frustrated when they can't get questions answered or problems solved.

Very good post!:up

Directv has great ads. I stop and watch them while skipping through commercials on my DVR.

 

[Sammy033]

Very good post!:up

Directv has great ads. I stop and watch them while skipping through commercials on my DVR.

The T-1000 one was pretty good and Jessica Simpson is always nice to look at... even her repeat DirecTV commercials. For whatever adult HD channels might be available someday they need get Jenna Jameson. I know it would never happen. But it would be a great one and I know most men would stop channel surfing to watch it whenever they see it every time. Hows that for exposure? Not hers, DirecTV's. They always use scenes from real movies and I wonder which one of hers they would use. Oh the possibilities

 

[FitzAusTex]

Those who dont, should realize that many of the movies that Voom airs on its four movie channels have only recently been transfered to HD prints. So while a movie may be 5, 10 20, or 30 years or more old, Voom is the first, and in many cases, the only place that these movies have been seen in HD since their theatrical release. The argument that Voom shows only 20 year old movies is completely wasted on some people - they don't get what Voom is about.

I am so missing Equator, Treasure, and Gallery in particular, that I'm seriously considering getting Bell ExpressVu out of Canada since they carry High Fidelity HDTV's Canadian versions of Equator, Treasure (a combo of Voom's Treasure and Gallery), and Rush, plus their own channel called Oasis HD. These channels are what I like to watch most, and miss the most.

Check out their website: High Fidelity HDTV

 

[allargon]

Fellow resident of the capital of TX, how will you receive this?

Do you have some exotic FTA C-band setup?

 

[Spatch]

From what I remember you won't get most of the channels in Texas.

 

[HDRoberts]

Those who dont, should realize that many of the movies that Voom airs on its four movie channels have only recently been transfered to HD prints. So while a movie may be 5, 10 20, or 30 years or more old, Voom is the first, and in many cases, the only place that these movies have been seen in HD since their theatrical release. The argument that Voom shows only 20 year old movies is completely wasted on some people - they don't get what Voom is about.

I never minded the 20+ year old movies. In fact, being 25, I looked foward to many of these classics that I couldn't even see in the theaters. With HD, I was watching them as if for the first time. The problem I had was it was always the same 20+ year old movies over and over. How about some 20 year old movies I haven't seen in HD already on Voom?

 

[Apologist]

At this point if Voom has the drive and $ to carry on they really need to select a few of their most popular channels and negotiate an agreement with someone. 15 is too many. Sat/Cab are already cramming in more channels than they should. I would bet that 95% of the Voom supporters would be thrilled to death with Monsters/Rave/ and a third. I do believe that Monsters would be successful as an addition to IFC and the rest of their channels.

 

[allargon]

At this point if Voom has the drive and $ to carry on they really need to select a few of their most popular channels and negotiate an agreement with someone. 15 is too many. Sat/Cab are already cramming in more channels than they should. I would bet that 95% of the Voom supporters would be thrilled to death with Monsters/Rave/ and a third. I do believe that Monsters would be successful as an addition to IFC and the rest of their channels.

Monsters, Kung Fu, Rush and Rave could definitely succeed on their own.

World Sport, Equator, Family, Film Festival, World Cinema and Ultra are iffy. They could succeed with some additional tweaking.

Animania, Gallery, GamePlay, HD News, Treasure would likely sink like rocks.

 

[WhiteTiger1]

From a non-industry person's viewpoint the problem I see causing people to bail on DISH is: COMMUNICATION. If you have Dish through AT&T you have a major headache with technical/customer support or getting ANYTHING done. If you don't have the AT&T package then you have a major headache because tech support/customer service is based out of S. America and they have no clue about ANYTHING.

If I hadn't found this forum and had a place to vent (and hints of upcoming HD) then I would have left back in January-March when there were no new HD channels in the foreseeable future. Direct TV was doing a great job promoting all of their new HD content.

Honestly, and I know this will make some people mad, I don't think it has anything to do with them tossing the Voom channels, or the lawsuits with Tivo, etc.. the average subscriber probably isn't too concerned (or even aware) of that. What it all boils down to is communication with the customer. Whether it be their top-secret HD release schedule, or their incompetent customer support center people get frustrated when they can't get questions answered or problems solved.

You say it's Communication, I say it's Trust
Many people are more informed then you realize. With everything moving to Digital. They are researching cable, satellite more then ever. With more people buying HD. They are looking for the best Bang for the buck... People do read about the problems with AT&T and Tivo and how they took 15 channels away without a letter or email or any information about them taking them channels away from us. Word of mouth gets around, do something right a few people here about it, do something wrong everyone heres about it...Trust is something you earn. I feel Dish is not doing that...Selling people on channels your getting rid of is not trustworthy.
By the way, they are losing customers who had Voom, maybe not a whole lot but they are losing them. You can check this forum and other forums to see there outrage. Dish anymore is pretty much the same as anybody else. What set them apart were the Voom channels. And hense my decision to go back to cable. This way I don't have to deal with Dish poor and untrustworthy customer service. !protest

 

[Apologist]

You say it's Communication, I say it's Trust
Many people are more informed then you realize. With everything moving to Digital. They are researching cable, satellite more then ever. With more people buying HD. They are looking for the best Bang for the buck... People do read about the problems with AT&T and Tivo and how they took 15 channels away without a letter or email or any information about them taking them channels away from us. Word of mouth gets around, do something right a few people here about it, do something wrong everyone heres about it...Trust is something you earn. I feel Dish is not doing that...Selling people on channels your getting rid of is not trustworthy.
By the way, they are losing customers who had Voom, maybe not a whole lot but they are losing them. You can check this forum and other forums to see there outrage. Dish anymore is pretty much the same as anybody else. What set them apart were the Voom channels. And hense my decision to go back to cable. This way I don't have to deal with Dish poor and untrustworthy customer service. !protest

And there are people like me- waiting until/if Voom is picked up somewhere else. I would drop E* in a second.

 

[KAB]

And hense my decision to go back to cable. This way I don't have to deal with Dish poor and untrustworthy customer service. !protest

But you are OK with even poorer customer service, less HD, poorer picture quality and ultimately higher cost?

 

[Apologist]

But you are OK with even poorer customer service, less HD, poorer picture quality and ultimately higher cost?

I agree with some of what you say. Customer service-E* has to be the worst. PQ- I've seen/had a lot of different providers and at this point E*s hd pq is the worst. I have Comcast also and their hd pq is superior.

 

[WhiteTiger1]

But you are OK with even poorer customer service, less HD, poorer picture quality and ultimately higher cost?

Actually pretty much of the HD I watch, the cable company offers. Picture quality looked good on my brother's HD set. I can bundle phone/internet/cable and save $45.00
Free Dvr
Insight in my area ranks pretty high in customer satisfaction.
No rain fade
Same Hi-def up-converted crap that you get from Dish
Again there's not much difference in programming, since either has Voom..
Television is not life or death, might as well save!!!
If television went away today could you live without it??
I can!!!

 

[FitzAusTex]

I'm not calling out any particular post, nor obviously am I a moderator, but could we keep the discussion mainly to Voom, Voom channels, Voom in relation to E* and/or Rainbow Media in this thread? We get off topic quite a bit (as is the case in many threads).

 

[WhiteTiger1]

I feel the same way

And there are people like me- waiting until/if Voom is picked up somewhere else. I would drop E* in a second.

But after dealing with Dish Network customer service yesterday, I made my decision. I have to pay $13.33 a month for the remand er of my contract. Insight has a deal to pay off that remaining fee for me. I like you would change to who ever had Voom.
Dish forgets about Newton's 3rd law-Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

 

[FitzAusTex]

Monsters, Kung Fu, Rush and Rave could definitely succeed on their own.

World Sport, Equator, Family, Film Festival, World Cinema and Ultra are iffy. They could succeed with some additional tweaking.

Animania, Gallery, GamePlay, HD News, Treasure would likely sink like rocks.

My list of successes/failures is a bit different. I think Equator, Monsters, Rush and Rave would do great. Kung Fu might gain a sufficient audience.

Gallery combined with Treasure would do outstanding, and blow the socks off Smithsonian (and this combo is the format of Treasure in Canada).

Animania and Family Room combo could potentially do quite well.

Film Fest could do well, as IFC does well. World Cinema was reworked into Film Fest on May 1st, and Voom HD Movies replaced it, and is fairly similar to HDNet Movies (one of my favorites).

Ultra is kinda interesting, but not sure if it would survive. Gameplay could do really, really well.

World Sport would die (notwithstanding CFL and La Liga having an audience). HDNews has problems.

But all these channels could do quite well if they were marketed and had the proper $$$ behind them.

After all, what's wrong with brand new channels, they do come along from time to time and become accepted/loved. Once upon a time Speed and FX did not exist...

 

[Spatch]

Monsters, Kung Fu, Rush and Rave could definitely succeed on their own.

World Sport, Equator, Family, Film Festival, World Cinema and Ultra are iffy. They could succeed with some additional tweaking.

Animania, Gallery, GamePlay, HD News, Treasure would likely sink like rocks.

I kind of agree with this. Voom would need to dump some money in to them and combine the channels. If the Voom 15 was compressed down to 3 or 4 channels they may be successful .

1 Monsters, Kung Fu, Film Fest and World Cinema

2 Rush, World Sport, Gameplay

3 Rave, Equator, Ultra, Gallery and Treasures

Still they would need to bring in new content, mixing the right amount new and old programming and not repeat the schedule to often.

Of course they couldn't charge for 21 or 15 channel if they only carried 3. Then they probably wouldn't have enough revenue coming in to buy new content. They would endlessly repeat their line-up and would need to find a new fix.