Voom?

[bhelms]

Too bad voom couldn't have lasted a year or two longer under their own power as more households added HD capabilities. Then their SAM (service available market - those who might be customers that voom could service) would have been substantially larger and they might have been able to reach the critical mass necessary for their survival as a wholly independent provider, and with a superior product in terms of PQ. I'm sure they would have added more programming in time as well, perhaps including more HD sports that seems to be the major draw. We the consumers are the losers here, but there was probably nothing more we could have done at the time. Voom was rather expensive - about $70 per mo. for their lower tier IIRC. It was probably difficult for many subs to justify that expense in addition to regular cable or sat. that I suspect most carried as well for their networks. By the time I was ready for HD, voom as an independent option was already history...

All that said, I'm extremely pleased that E* offers the voom channels they do, ostensibly for about $5 per month more (in their old HD packs) even at reduced PQ. Tho' "nichy" I find a good bit of the programming of interest to me, even if it's just to see more in "HD". If/when E* discontinues most or all of the voom programming, I will be at a loss. I just hope they can wean us gradually, replacing the voom channels we lose with more HD nationals in full resolution/bit rate...

 

[Bear Paws]

Voom was a leader in HD content. I had Voom till they went belly up. In 2004 they had 30 HD channels. E* just got to that number with the help of Voom programing.
Yes, they could not compete with National Sports, so they provided antenna installation. I think all this free installation was partly responsible for their going under. Their programing appeals to a wide variety of interests, and it is a joy to watch almost commercial free programming.

The free install is what got me in. I'm cheap
The problem was no one knew about them. I got my HD TV from Sears and they never mentioned a word about Voom. Yet they were the main retailer for Voom. I found out about Voom by accident almost.

Had they marketed Voom like a free 3 mo Sub with a new TV or at least a sales job , Voom would be #1 today. THe equipment was phenominal as their PQ. Especially back then. Heh, Sounds like the dark ages. I think it still is. I have been waiting for HD since 1978, when I first read about it.
The Color conversion only took a couple years FCS.

I still have 4 recievers, I got to Ebay them as OTA converters. The Voom dish is planted in a flower pot as a center piece.

 

[Sean Mota]

Sean, In your HD-Lite list post you indicate the Food channel has Macroblocking. I'v never seen that. A little fuzzy on occassion but I atribute that to maybe camera work. Actually whats cool is we have 2 food channels. With the new format in the EPG its easyer to choose. Is that duel EPG just a trial ballon or is that permanent?.

Yes you are right the Macroblocking seems to be gone from Food HD. It was when it first debuted on this dish that the macroblocking was showing.

 

[havnfn]

The Kung Fu Channel has a lot of Japanese movies that are very good and it is hard to find them elsewhere

 

[Sammy033]

There is alot of martial arts themed anime material out there that Kung Fu could pick up. One thing I also wish they could get from whoever has the rights to is a hilariously dubbed old show called Dynaman. I think it was on USA or TBS. Right now I have several Kurosawa movies recorded from Kung Fu to go through. And no stretch-o-vision on the 4:3 movies.