Voom gains 2 satellite orbits
BY HARRY BERKOWITZ
STAFF WRITER
July 15, 2004
Cablevision Systems Corp. yesterday won the bidding for two orbital slots that could help fill a gap in its Voom nationwide satellite TV service. The two orbital positions would allow satellites to reach mainly the West Coast.
Since Voom launched service in October, its single satellite, whose orbital position is off the East Coast, has been weakest in transmitting TV channels to the West Coast, especially the Seattle and Portland areas.
Cablevision won the two licenses for $3.2 million apiece - the minimum required bid in the auction by the Federal Communications Commission.
Jessica Reif Cohen, a Merrill Lynch analyst, called the price a "remarkable bargain" based on past auctions.
EchoStar Communications, the nation's second-biggest satellite TV provider, won the third slot being auctioned, which reaches the western half of the nation, with a minimum required bid of $5.8 million.
Cablevision plans to spin off Jericho-based Voom as a separate publicly traded company later this year with a budget of $482 million for 2004, even though analysts are skeptical of its prospects for success.
Meanwhile, the trade publication Adweek reported online that Voom has hired the Mullen advertising agency, whose clients include General Motors and match.com, to replace Lowe, which resigned in April after Voom said it was reviewing its choice of agencies.
As of April 23, Voom had only 8,000 subscriber homes, plus another 3,400 in which it was preparing to activate the service. EchoStar and DirecTV have a combined total of more than 22 million subscribers.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
BY HARRY BERKOWITZ
STAFF WRITER
July 15, 2004
Cablevision Systems Corp. yesterday won the bidding for two orbital slots that could help fill a gap in its Voom nationwide satellite TV service. The two orbital positions would allow satellites to reach mainly the West Coast.
Since Voom launched service in October, its single satellite, whose orbital position is off the East Coast, has been weakest in transmitting TV channels to the West Coast, especially the Seattle and Portland areas.
Cablevision won the two licenses for $3.2 million apiece - the minimum required bid in the auction by the Federal Communications Commission.
Jessica Reif Cohen, a Merrill Lynch analyst, called the price a "remarkable bargain" based on past auctions.
EchoStar Communications, the nation's second-biggest satellite TV provider, won the third slot being auctioned, which reaches the western half of the nation, with a minimum required bid of $5.8 million.
Cablevision plans to spin off Jericho-based Voom as a separate publicly traded company later this year with a budget of $482 million for 2004, even though analysts are skeptical of its prospects for success.
Meanwhile, the trade publication Adweek reported online that Voom has hired the Mullen advertising agency, whose clients include General Motors and match.com, to replace Lowe, which resigned in April after Voom said it was reviewing its choice of agencies.
As of April 23, Voom had only 8,000 subscriber homes, plus another 3,400 in which it was preparing to activate the service. EchoStar and DirecTV have a combined total of more than 22 million subscribers.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
