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This is not a rumor. VOOM themselves posted this as a press release.
Below is a copy of the release.

*VOOM Satellite Service to Dramatically Increase Channel Capacity*

*Bethpage, NY, November 22, 2004* -- Rainbow Media Enterprises, a
subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC), announced
today that its year-old VOOM satellite service will dramatically expand
in March of next year from its current 130 channels covering the
continental U.S. (conus), including 39 high-definition channels, to an
industry leading 350 full conus channels, including more than 70
high-definition channels.

"The increase in VOOM's HDTV channels from 39 to more than 70 will allow
us to continue to provide more high-definition video services than any
other cable or satellite provider," said Tom Dolan, CEO of Rainbow Media
Enterprises. "Our plan is to simultaneously add nearly 200 standard
definition channels." Mr. Dolan continued.

To facilitate the expansion, the VOOM service will utilize 16
transponders on the SES Americom AMC-6 satellite, which VOOM refers to
as "Rainbow 2," previously leased from SES AMERICOM, a SES GLOBAL company.

Mr. Dolan explained that all the programming transmitted by both Rainbow
1 and Rainbow 2 will utilize a new encoding system from Harmonic,
initially configured to run in MPEG-2 and software upgradeable to MPEG-4.

"Today's announcement is a step forward in our plans to advance VOOM to
MPEG-4 later in 2005. All VOOM customers have been provided with set-top
boxes capable of receiving the MPEG-4 signal and we remain committed to
offering more than 400 full continental US channels before the end of
2005," continued Mr. Dolan.

Adding further dimension to the company's capacity plans, Rainbow Media
disclosed that today it filed with the Federal Communications Commission
a recently completed contract with Lockheed Martin under which the
aerospace company will construct five Ka-band satellites for VOOM. These
high power satellites, the first of which is to be completed and
launched in approximately 34 months, will enable VOOM to increase its
channel capacity to more than 5,000 high definition channels when
operating in spot beam mode. This will enable VOOM to have spot beams
covering the entire United States including Alaska and Hawaii. With
these satellites, VOOM will be operating with virtually no capacity
constraints. These satellites will be operated at the company's orbital
locations at 62W, 71W, 77W, 119W and 129W.

*_About VOOM and Rainbow DBS_*
VOOM, provided by Rainbow DBS, Cablevision System Corporation's
satellite division, is the first television service to provide a
comprehensive array of high-definition (HD) programming for the rapidly
growing but underserved HDTV audience. With a lineup of 39 HD channels,
VOOM delivers more HD programming than any other satellite or cable
service provider. VOOM's HD lineup includes STARZ! HD, Encore HD,
Showtime HD, Playboy Hot HD, ESPN HD, HBO HDTV and Cinemax HDTV, as well
as an exclusive package of brand-new, commercial-free VOOM HD Originals
such as WorldSport, Equator and Animania. The service also includes 88
of the most popular cable channels in standard-definition (SD), 18
digital music channels, and free over-the-air digital broadcast channels
in HD, where available. VOOM is offered across the continental United
States through local Sears retailers; at BrandsMart USA stores; at
Electronics Expo stores; through leading online retailer, Crutchfield
Corporation; through O'Rourke Sales Company's independent electronics
retailers with approximately 10,000 locations in all 50 states; and
through The EDGE Group's 12 regional distributors, including Cutting
Edge Distributing, of Aurora, CO; Electronic Stockroom, of San Rafael,
CA; Electronic Lane, of Dallas, TX; Electronics Source, of West Palm
Beach, FL; BDC Distributing, of Bayside, NY; and Necessities, of
Norwell, MA. Customers can also purchase the service by calling
1.866.931.VOOM or by visiting www.voom.com <http://www.voom.com/>.

Best,
Dave

decurp wrote:

>
> Has anyone else heard this? A couple of weeks ago I spoke to a
> customer service rep @ VOOM (when I was thinking of canceling) and
> she said in March VOOM will be adding 70 HD channels.
>
>
>
>
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