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No Pot Of Gold At End Of This Rainbow
BYLINE: Joy Ferguson
BODY:
Investors were less than positive over the new deal from Rainbow National Services (RNS) last week. The satellite-television business, a new spinoff from Cablevision Systems, planned to sell $800 million of debt, including $250 million of senior notes due 2012, and $550 million of senior subordinated notes due 2014. Banc of America Securities, Bear Stearns Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan managed the private offering.
The proceeds of the bond deal, together with borrowings under a new $950 million senior secured credit facility, will be used as a distribution to parent company, Rainbow Media Enterprises, which will then distribute approximately $725 million to Rainbow Media Holdings to repay all existing borrowings under its $821 million credit facility. Additionally, Rainbow Media Enterprises will use the remaining proceeds to invest in its subsidiaries, primarily Rainbow DBS and its Voom satellite service, the first service to offer a comprehensive array of high-definition (HD) television programming.
But investors expressed concern that any of the proceeds would end up at Voom, which many consider a highly speculative, development-stage satellite venture, and Cablevision itself is spinning off its unprofitable Voom subsidiary. In Cablevision's recent second quarter earnings report, the company announced that Voom lost $81.5 million, producing revenue of just $2.7 million out of $1.2 billion total company revenue while contributing to a large part of Cablevision's $187 million net loss.
Voom, said Russ Solomon, analyst at Moody's Investor Service, has been a highly speculative venture for Cablevision, demanding a lot of capital and acting as a drain on the company's financial performance. "The market is not thrilled with that," he said.
As a result, many investors steered clear of the Rainbow National deal. "It's easy to be negative on the credit," said one high yield investor, "given that [Rainbow Media] is taking a lot of the money and putting it toward the satellite business." The three cable networks that Rainbow National controls, which include AMC, Women's Entertainment and International Film Channel, don't need a lot of capital, he said, so the money is "just being passed on to the satellite subsidiary." He also said that the three networks are mediocre and not a big source of revenue. "RNS is a new company coming out of Cablevision; it's unclear how the numbers will be on a quarter-upon-quarter basis," he said.
Another investor said he would not look at the deal given the recent spate of deals from other, more preferable names in the industry, including the higher-rated PanAmSat. "In the long term, uncertainty is still there in the cable and satellite industry as far as how things will play out. I'd rather stick with a higher quality capital structure and a larger, more established company," he said. Investors also considered EchoStar preferable to RNS. EchoStar just released a quarterly report last Monday that indicated strong revenue growth and evidence of an increasing number of subscribers taken from cable television.
A Standard & Poor's analyst said investors' concerns are justified. Rainbow Media, which has a limited subscriber base, is in direct competition with EchoStar and DirecTV. And while the company may offer a specialized high-definition service, the question is whether it will be able to compete at the consumer level with the other choices available. S&P has assigned a triple-C-plus to the senior subordinated notes of RNS.
Likewise, Moody's rated the senior unsecured notes B3 and the senior subordinated notes Caa1. "There is a lot of uncertainty with the credit," said Christina Padgett, analyst at Moody's, who noted concerns over how much it will cost Rainbow National to fund these other businesses or how much money it will take before Voom's business improves. In addition, Rainbow National is almost fully dependent on AMC among its assets, which also makes the company relatively risky.
http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.highyieldreport.com
LOAD-DATE: August 16, 2004
BYLINE: Joy Ferguson
BODY:
Investors were less than positive over the new deal from Rainbow National Services (RNS) last week. The satellite-television business, a new spinoff from Cablevision Systems, planned to sell $800 million of debt, including $250 million of senior notes due 2012, and $550 million of senior subordinated notes due 2014. Banc of America Securities, Bear Stearns Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan managed the private offering.
The proceeds of the bond deal, together with borrowings under a new $950 million senior secured credit facility, will be used as a distribution to parent company, Rainbow Media Enterprises, which will then distribute approximately $725 million to Rainbow Media Holdings to repay all existing borrowings under its $821 million credit facility. Additionally, Rainbow Media Enterprises will use the remaining proceeds to invest in its subsidiaries, primarily Rainbow DBS and its Voom satellite service, the first service to offer a comprehensive array of high-definition (HD) television programming.
But investors expressed concern that any of the proceeds would end up at Voom, which many consider a highly speculative, development-stage satellite venture, and Cablevision itself is spinning off its unprofitable Voom subsidiary. In Cablevision's recent second quarter earnings report, the company announced that Voom lost $81.5 million, producing revenue of just $2.7 million out of $1.2 billion total company revenue while contributing to a large part of Cablevision's $187 million net loss.
Voom, said Russ Solomon, analyst at Moody's Investor Service, has been a highly speculative venture for Cablevision, demanding a lot of capital and acting as a drain on the company's financial performance. "The market is not thrilled with that," he said.
As a result, many investors steered clear of the Rainbow National deal. "It's easy to be negative on the credit," said one high yield investor, "given that [Rainbow Media] is taking a lot of the money and putting it toward the satellite business." The three cable networks that Rainbow National controls, which include AMC, Women's Entertainment and International Film Channel, don't need a lot of capital, he said, so the money is "just being passed on to the satellite subsidiary." He also said that the three networks are mediocre and not a big source of revenue. "RNS is a new company coming out of Cablevision; it's unclear how the numbers will be on a quarter-upon-quarter basis," he said.
Another investor said he would not look at the deal given the recent spate of deals from other, more preferable names in the industry, including the higher-rated PanAmSat. "In the long term, uncertainty is still there in the cable and satellite industry as far as how things will play out. I'd rather stick with a higher quality capital structure and a larger, more established company," he said. Investors also considered EchoStar preferable to RNS. EchoStar just released a quarterly report last Monday that indicated strong revenue growth and evidence of an increasing number of subscribers taken from cable television.
A Standard & Poor's analyst said investors' concerns are justified. Rainbow Media, which has a limited subscriber base, is in direct competition with EchoStar and DirecTV. And while the company may offer a specialized high-definition service, the question is whether it will be able to compete at the consumer level with the other choices available. S&P has assigned a triple-C-plus to the senior subordinated notes of RNS.
Likewise, Moody's rated the senior unsecured notes B3 and the senior subordinated notes Caa1. "There is a lot of uncertainty with the credit," said Christina Padgett, analyst at Moody's, who noted concerns over how much it will cost Rainbow National to fund these other businesses or how much money it will take before Voom's business improves. In addition, Rainbow National is almost fully dependent on AMC among its assets, which also makes the company relatively risky.
http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.highyieldreport.com
LOAD-DATE: August 16, 2004
8 Replies
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2779 views
C
VMI: I live in Knoxville,TN and would like to know who does installs here. I will be switching to VOOM in Dec. when my contract with Dish is up.VMI said:
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
This thread is a place to discuss the 4K events that appear on channel 540. We are getting, at this point, one college football game a week. Let's hope there is more coming.
1930 Replies
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298804 views
Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything like those events in our Hopper 3 guide for tonight or Saturday.
I went into the Tools menu and requested a Guide Update. I'll try looking at it after the update completes.
edit — I now have the 148-01 4KFox events for Saturday, but not anything for 148-02 or 148-03 which don't even show as available channels. I do have 148-04 4KUSA.
As I recall you have the Flex package. Do you sub to multisport? -02 is FS1 and -03 is ESPN. -01 is Fox so you would get that if you sub to locals.Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything like those events in our Hopper 3 guide for tonight or Saturday.
I went into the Tools menu and requested a Guide Update. I'll try looking at it after the update completes.
edit — I now have the 148-01 4KFox events for Saturday, but not anything for 148-02 or 148-03 which don't even show as available channels. I do have 148-04 4KUSA.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5R5Aw27yr0
Direct YouTube Link - A State Cyber-emergency in Japan
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5R5Aw27yr0
Direct YouTube Link - A State Cyber-emergency in Japan
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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1 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmNun8Ms4s
Direct YouTube Link - AI and Mathematicians
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmNun8Ms4s
Direct YouTube Link - AI and Mathematicians
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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1 views
Supporting Founder
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Apple has finally released their Apple TV 4K with built-in Siri and a microphone so it can respond to your queries even if you don't have the remote. It also increases in price, to $299. I had been planning on updating my current Apple TV 4K streamers, but that's $600 for the two of them, and that's a pass at this point.
At $299, it had better come with 256 GB of Storage, Gigabit (or better) Ethernet, the latest HDMI tech and standards, and one year of free Apple One. But it probably won't…
At $299, it had better come with 256 GB of Storage, Gigabit (or better) Ethernet, the latest HDMI tech and standards, and one year of free Apple One. But it probably won't…
Apple TV 4K
Apple TV 4K. New Siri AI and hands-free control. Stunning picture and immersive HomePod surround sound. Works with your Apple and smart home devices.
www.apple.com
13 Replies
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149 views
Staff member
Pub Member / Supporter
Cutting Edge
The TPN Map Excel Presents all DIRECTV Channels:
Understanding the TPN Map
Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions
National (50-States or wide/NAT+PR beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)
Additional tabs provide:
OTA the (Over-The-Air) Database
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders
Domestic Satellites
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8
Understanding the TPN Map
Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions
2139 Replies
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927015 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Hard getting used to the new younger Gibbs, Mark Harmons son had the right look but I understand he didn't want the role.
Still I'm enjoying, pretty good job with Franks.
Still I'm enjoying, pretty good job with Franks.
64 Replies
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4191 views
Lon.TV
Time for another AWESOME video from Lon Seidman of LON.TV!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skcItfS1TLk
Direct YouTube Link - HP Googlebook 14 Review !
The Official LON.TV Website
Lon on Facebook
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skcItfS1TLk
Direct YouTube Link - HP Googlebook 14 Review !
The Official LON.TV Website
Lon on Facebook
0 Replies
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6 views
For quite a while now, people with a VIP211k have been losing their recordings on their activated external HDDs... even when there's nothing physically wrong with HDD. I believe this is an intentional and underhanded tactic that Dish is pulling in an attempt to force users away from the VIP211k.
They are obviously regretting that they ever let users have a "non-dvr" dvr in the first place. You would think they would be happy charging you a $40 one time fee... and then be happy letting the customer be the one responsible for HDD failures.
Dish clearly hates the 211k bitter-clingers. This recording deletion problem is intentional (IMO), and I think it is just one more tool that they are using. Hopper and a 2-year agreement... that's what they want you to have. Think about that... a 2-year agreement... with a company $30 Billion in debt (that's with a B). What happens when all that debt causes them to drop the channel that may have been your whole reason for having Dish in the first place? Guess who's stuck with a service that no longer suits their needs... for the remainder of the 2-year agreement.
On top of that, they don't want you to install it yourself. I purchased and installed all my equipment myself. That used to be common. Now, they lie to me and tell me that my dish must be updated to use a Hopper. Funny thing is... they don't even know what dish I have because they didn't install it, and I didn't tell them. If you ask what type of dish/LNBs the hopper needs... good luck getting an answer. All they know is that whatever you have needs to be upgraded by an installer.
It is quite apparent to me that they care much more about staying in their box, than they do working with the customer. That's too bad, because it hasn't always been that way. It's like they are totally unaware of the current business environment that they are trying to compete in.
I have been a customer since 2010. I will be cancelling my service before the next period. Yeah, I know, my $1,200 a year won't make a difference to them. It just seems like they have forgotten who needs who, especially when you consider the competition in today's streaming world. But hey, they will have succeed in forcing me off the 211k.
They are obviously regretting that they ever let users have a "non-dvr" dvr in the first place. You would think they would be happy charging you a $40 one time fee... and then be happy letting the customer be the one responsible for HDD failures.
Dish clearly hates the 211k bitter-clingers. This recording deletion problem is intentional (IMO), and I think it is just one more tool that they are using. Hopper and a 2-year agreement... that's what they want you to have. Think about that... a 2-year agreement... with a company $30 Billion in debt (that's with a B). What happens when all that debt causes them to drop the channel that may have been your whole reason for having Dish in the first place? Guess who's stuck with a service that no longer suits their needs... for the remainder of the 2-year agreement.
On top of that, they don't want you to install it yourself. I purchased and installed all my equipment myself. That used to be common. Now, they lie to me and tell me that my dish must be updated to use a Hopper. Funny thing is... they don't even know what dish I have because they didn't install it, and I didn't tell them. If you ask what type of dish/LNBs the hopper needs... good luck getting an answer. All they know is that whatever you have needs to be upgraded by an installer.
It is quite apparent to me that they care much more about staying in their box, than they do working with the customer. That's too bad, because it hasn't always been that way. It's like they are totally unaware of the current business environment that they are trying to compete in.
I have been a customer since 2010. I will be cancelling my service before the next period. Yeah, I know, my $1,200 a year won't make a difference to them. It just seems like they have forgotten who needs who, especially when you consider the competition in today's streaming world. But hey, they will have succeed in forcing me off the 211k.
164 Replies
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7296 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68493 Replies
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2670283 views
Supporting Founder
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
136 Replies
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1306 views
College Football Playoff nears agreement on 24-team expansion that could end title games
The College Football Playoff field is about to get much more crowded as the conferences near a deal to double the size of the field to 24 teams starting next year
www.cbssports.com
