Voom question from Dish guy

robertjp

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Oct 22, 2004
161
5
Upstate NY
I am considering the switch from Dish since they have a whopping 5 HD channels. I apologize if this has been asked before but how is the quality of the HD picture.?? The guys at the dish forum pretty much ripped the voom quality. Supposedly poor HD pic issues. Is there anyone out there who had the dish HD pack and switched to voom who can speak for the quality issue?
 
I had Dish and i am getting Voom soon i believe there HD Channels are great to watch and i believe they will add channels soon. I hope you make up you mind soon they have a good Promotion now 1 Buck and 5 dollar rental for the receiver. :D
 
robertjp--there are people who post here who have switched from E*, but there are others who continue to subscribe to both services at the same time. They could provide an honest side-by-side comparison. Specifically, I know that Sean Mota and DarrellP continue to subscribe to both. You could probably PM either one of them and get their opinions regarding comparitive PQ. Both are very experienced users.
 
branchbouncer
Registered User Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Alexandri, Va
Posts: 105



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Cablevision finds Voom getting poor reception

Copyright 2004

Newsday (New York)

September 10, 2004 Friday

ALL EDITIONS

By Harry Berkowitz, Staff Writer

From Lexis Nexis

Voom is slowing down.

The sign-up of new subscribers slowed in July and August at the already struggling nationwide satellite TV service that Cablevision Systems Corp. launched less than one year ago, the company revealed in a new regulatory filing.

"Unless we are able to reverse this trend and grow our customer base quickly and significantly, we are unlikely to have a successful" direct broadcast satellite business, Cablevision said in the filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

As of Aug. 31, Jericho-based Voom had 28,700 customers, with another 1,200 awaiting installation, up from 25,000 active customers June 30. Since launching the service in October, Voom has lost three of every 10 customers who signed up.

Voom competes with DirecTV and EchoStar Communications, which have a total of more than 23-million subscribers, and with cable companies, which have about 70 million.

Adding to the challenges for Voom, which stresses high-definition TV channels, DirecTV said Wednesday it will launch four new satellites by 2007 to expand programming capacity, especially for HDTV.

Voom's sign-up rate turned upward in April, May and June but then began to slide after Voom raised prices and scaled back direct marketing efforts "when it became apparent that we could not efficiently install a growing number of customers," the filing states.

Voom depends on outside installers, who have had to learn to install new types of equipment that sometimes has "operational issues."

"To be successful, we will need to have the capability to quickly install numbers of customers significantly in excess of the number of installations that created problems for us in June and July," the filing states.

Part of the problem lies in the digital antennas Voom provides to pick up local TV stations. Based on surveys of customers who cancel the service, "poor reception of local signals is a significant cause of our higher-than-anticipated churn rate," Voom said in the filing.

Voom, which until March 31 offered free service and until Aug. 1 offered free equipment and installation, is also having a big problem with freeloaders.

"We have a large number of installed customers who have never made any payments to us or who are otherwise not current in their payments to us," the filing states. "We have begun actively seeking to bring these accounts current or to terminate service."

To cut back reliance on direct marketing, Voom also is seeking to expand its network of retail outlets, which consists mainly of 1,600 Sears stores that have provided less than 5 percent of subscribers.

For 2004, Voom posted losses of $36 million in the first quarter and $61.6 million in the second quarter.

The regulatory filing is part of the company's preparation for the spinoff of Voom, along with three cable TV channels Cablevision owns, as a separate company with its own publicly traded stock. That spinoff is scheduled for this month, although it first must get SEC approval.
 
branchbouncer,
where does that article answer the question posted by robertjp? He was asking about the quality of HD on V* versus E*. And why do you think you need to post it in more than one tread?
 
I had Voom, and dropped it due to problems you can read about by searching under my username.

I now have E*. 90 percent of the HD quality is identical. Granted I never watched much DiscoveryHD but I do notice on E* there is a little more motion pixelation. HDnet is just as good or better than V*, and HD Movies is just like Cinema 10, deppends on the original.

Do we miss V*? No, most of what we watch is OTA, TNT HD, Showtime HD and HBO HD, which are carried on both providers. I get a DVR and better service from E*, not to mention a cheaper bill. I do think that OTA HD looks better on the 811 than on the Voom box, it seems brighter and better color definition.

Cinema 10 is decent if your bored looking for something to watch, but its HD quality is equal to the quality we get out of our Samsung HD931 scaling DVD player.

E* or V*, I think you'll end up with the same product in a year, V* IMO is on its way out. They can't handle the 26K subs they have now, if this $1 promotion takes off you'll just end up with 50K+ pissed off subs instead of the ones they have now.
 
PHP:
I had Voom, and dropped it due to problems you can read about by searching under my username.

I now have E*. 90 percent of the HD quality is identical. Granted I never watched much DiscoveryHD but I do notice on E* there is a little more motion pixelation. HDnet is just as good or better than V*, and HD Movies is just like Cinema 10, deppends on the original.

Do we miss V*? No, most of what we watch is OTA, TNT HD, Showtime HD and HBO HD, which are carried on both providers. I get a DVR and better service from E*, not to mention a cheaper bill. I do think that OTA HD looks better on the 811 than on the Voom box, it seems brighter and better color definition.

Cinema 10 is decent if your bored looking for something to watch, but its HD quality is equal to the quality we get out of our Samsung HD931 scaling DVD player.

E* or V*, I think you'll end up with the same product in a year, V* IMO is on its way out. They can't handle the 26K subs they have now, if this $1 promotion takes off you'll just end up with 50K+ pissed off subs instead of the ones they have now.


You act like all subs are unhappy. I am completely happy with Voom. From what I see its the same ones who are complaining.
 
Eric_C said:
....
They can't handle the 26K subs they have now, if this $1 promotion takes off you'll just end up with 50K+ pissed off subs instead of the ones they have now.

Except that there are Voomers who are not pissed off. It's kinda obvious but nevertheless worth repeating whenever pissed off former Voomer speaks for all of us. :)
 
I have faith, give it time :)

Oh, and according to Voom, I'm still a customer, they still try to charge me and the dish and STB are still in my house even though I have a signed off sheet from the installer that came by last week.

Does that count, can I still complain? :)

I'm done being pissed off, I won my case, I'm just waiting for the dust to settle out.
 
I'll try to keep it lite...

If you REALLY want something to complain about, how about how no one's HD quality matches CBS's?

I just really noticed from my earlier comments that they have the bit rate high enough where we do not get the high speed pixelation.

We can dream...
 
Switch I did I am very happy

Rob i switched from Dish Top 150 to just the indian package and basic HD package to Voom, and i love voom . Picture quality using DVi on my Mitsubishi 65 inch diamond tv is incredible. Voom has tremendous choice in terms of premium networks in HD. I love watching movies and it is so amazing that you have two HD Starz Networks with the newest movies in HD, Cinemax, Showtime East and West, HBO, Encore HD, the list goes on, of choice premium networks in HD. Voom's exclusive channels will really show off your HD set. Equator HD is their version of the travel channel in HD and ushers you to beaches in the Riviera, French Alps, Switzerland, Bali all in the lush quaility of 1080i. While working i put on the Moov channel which has mood videos and music in HD. Ultra shows you fashion shows in HD, Rave has music concerts in HD, Genesis, Cyndi Lauper etc. Voom has made be a HD exlusive viewer, almost 95% of the viewing is HD only. Voom is just beginning, they are going to add new channels soon. If you love HD voom is it. I love going out clubbing and there are days i have stayed home just to watch HD on voom , it is that enticing. I can't wait for the DVR to come so i can record more. Make the switch i did , i can't be happier.
 

Voom gearing heavily in advertising, on the Web and on LocalTV

"Black Screen" Fix on TNTHD

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