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SkyFILES: What Killed VOOM?
by Michael Hopkins mhopkins@mediabiz.com
The service enrolled only 40,000 customers in a year and a half of operation. It bled lots of cash for its parent company. And Wall Street certainly was no fan of the satellite-based pay-TV platform coming from an established cable operator and entering a mature business that had two aggressive services already with tens of millions of customers.
But were those the only challenges that doomed VOOM?
Certainly, the idea behind Cablevision-backed VOOM - delivering a comprehensive lineup of high-def programming to consumers - was ahead of its time. There are bullish prospects floating around about how HD will capture the hearts of millions of TV viewers in the coming years. And more consumers everyday are checking out what's considered the future of television.
But was VOOM too way ahead of its time?
People are buying HD sets, but according to recent research from Ipsos-Insight overall consumer interest in high-def is flat.
The firm conducted a survey in October that found 72 percent of consumers labeled HD sets as "too expensive." The Ipsos-Insight survey also discovered that only one-third of respondents say they are somewhat likely or very likely to buy HD sets in the near future.
But consumer concerns about buying a TV set for the same price as a used compact car wasn't the only nail in VOOM's coffin. There also are questions about VOOM's programming strategy.
The 21 HD originals VOOM offered its customers were a hit. Whether it was "Monsters," which offered HD horror films, or news in high-def, the attempt to deliver original HD fare was a noble feat by VOOM and Cablevision's Rainbow programming unit.
But VOOM's programming lineup missed the one key ingredient: Local TV channels.
When VOOM launched in October 2003, DirecTV and EchoStar's DISH Network already had dozens of local TV markets locked up for its customers. Facing severe spectrum limitations, VOOM decided to go with an off-air antenna for reception of local channels, and that could've been a fatal misstep by the service.
Consumers flocked to the small dish by the hundreds of thousands after November 1999 when satellite TV gained the ability to deliver local TV channels. Those viewers proved they didn't want to receive local TV channels via rabbit-ears. They want their locals via satellite.
There's no doubt observers will debate for months - maybe even years - about what went wrong at VOOM. And there's no question some will ponder VOOM's decision not to go local, among the other gaffes that eventually will put VOOM to rest on April 30.
by Michael Hopkins mhopkins@mediabiz.com
The service enrolled only 40,000 customers in a year and a half of operation. It bled lots of cash for its parent company. And Wall Street certainly was no fan of the satellite-based pay-TV platform coming from an established cable operator and entering a mature business that had two aggressive services already with tens of millions of customers.
But were those the only challenges that doomed VOOM?
Certainly, the idea behind Cablevision-backed VOOM - delivering a comprehensive lineup of high-def programming to consumers - was ahead of its time. There are bullish prospects floating around about how HD will capture the hearts of millions of TV viewers in the coming years. And more consumers everyday are checking out what's considered the future of television.
But was VOOM too way ahead of its time?
People are buying HD sets, but according to recent research from Ipsos-Insight overall consumer interest in high-def is flat.
The firm conducted a survey in October that found 72 percent of consumers labeled HD sets as "too expensive." The Ipsos-Insight survey also discovered that only one-third of respondents say they are somewhat likely or very likely to buy HD sets in the near future.
But consumer concerns about buying a TV set for the same price as a used compact car wasn't the only nail in VOOM's coffin. There also are questions about VOOM's programming strategy.
The 21 HD originals VOOM offered its customers were a hit. Whether it was "Monsters," which offered HD horror films, or news in high-def, the attempt to deliver original HD fare was a noble feat by VOOM and Cablevision's Rainbow programming unit.
But VOOM's programming lineup missed the one key ingredient: Local TV channels.
When VOOM launched in October 2003, DirecTV and EchoStar's DISH Network already had dozens of local TV markets locked up for its customers. Facing severe spectrum limitations, VOOM decided to go with an off-air antenna for reception of local channels, and that could've been a fatal misstep by the service.
Consumers flocked to the small dish by the hundreds of thousands after November 1999 when satellite TV gained the ability to deliver local TV channels. Those viewers proved they didn't want to receive local TV channels via rabbit-ears. They want their locals via satellite.
There's no doubt observers will debate for months - maybe even years - about what went wrong at VOOM. And there's no question some will ponder VOOM's decision not to go local, among the other gaffes that eventually will put VOOM to rest on April 30.
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Scott,HDwonderer said:You also have to understand the factor of supply and demand. Power cost money. And in New York state, we have the HIGHEST f' taxes in the nation. Shoot they are even talking about taxing Toilet Paper here. So any broadcaster with any mind does not want to power up to full until the government mandate. They don't have any need to. They know that all the local people can still watch them on the SD channels. If Dish has HD or SD local the broardcasters don't really make that much more. Sure there is some incentive for the select special events or shows in HD. But that may not be enough.
As for Links. Here are two that I know of. One is national for list. The other is Western NY for listing and power.
http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
http://www.capitalgold.org/dials.html
-scott
In time it will all come together. I guess we here are just a little ahead of time. Yet because of all of us here we move the future closer.
Let me get this straight...your taxes are astronomical therefore it's totally acceptable for your DTV stations to be underserving the local community???
Also, you claim to live in a tech-savy area yet your digital broadcast services are way behind the times...and you defend your broadcasters decision to provide minimally acceptable services without violating FCC orders???
Sorry, but I receive programming from DC (55+ miles), Richmond (51+ miles), Charlottesville VA (53+ miles) and Baltimore MD (90+) miles. Almost all stations in these DMAs have been at full-power for 2 or more years. IMO there is simply no excuse for your local broadcasters not being at or near full authorized power at this late date and people in the Rochester area should be very upset. You were correct when you mentioned this was a Supply and Demand issue...until the people in your community Demand reliable digital television then your local broadcasters will continue to Supply you with substandard and antiquated service. It is this type of conplacency that got Xerox and Kodak into so much trouble and why people are now buying Canon copies and Fuji film.
Anyway, I hope you and your community receive better DTV service prior to July 2006.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z72cjoZP83E
Direct YouTube Link - AI Can Self-Replicate: Unplugging the Threat! #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z72cjoZP83E
Direct YouTube Link - AI Can Self-Replicate: Unplugging the Threat! #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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6 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/w5TOILSc_U8
Direct YouTube Link - AI Model Poisoning: The Hidden Threat on Hugging Face #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/w5TOILSc_U8
Direct YouTube Link - AI Model Poisoning: The Hidden Threat on Hugging Face #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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5 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....
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2670627 views
Supporting Founder
Several Dish offers showed up today in my account. Once you choose one the rest are removed. Offers were Showtime, Starz, AMC and others.
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Not for me, mines has no mention of how long aka the offer period and the Terms and conditions the $0.00 is good for. All I see is one can lose $5.00 if you decide to remove it before day 31 after you add it to the account.
Pub Member / Supporter
Cutting Edge
I created this thread on the original Edgecutter Cutting Edge Forums site. It's simply a place for those to review the latest software available for those using Windows 10 and Windows 11. To date it has received 112,559 views. I have been asked by staff to continue this thread here.
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To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything.
For niche use cases, yes I agree. Kali for ethical hacking and security testing, and running a Cacti server for network monitoring are the two things I have experience in. Plus thousands and thousands of other things, but for every day use I just can't see it. The owner of the GMRS repeater that I pay to access is changing the Tx DPL tones tomorrow, while Chirp is available on Linux, the software to program my MXT500 is not.To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything.
I run Fedora and Ubuntu in VMWare, honestly I don't care much for the UI of either of them and I don't feel like spending days/weeks to customize the UI to make it look Windows-like when I could just use Windows. The cartoonish dock at the bottom of the screen reminds me of Apple products.
As I said above, and, FWIW, I run Win11 Pro and Arch on separate 250 GB NVME drives, using F8 to select which I boot to, with a 1TB SSD for storage, accessible to both OSs and a third formatted Nvme I want to use to learn Kali. It was much faster to setup Arch than it was to strip down Windows. Windows still takes much longer to boot.
For some reason, the satelliteguys.us site is loading a lot slower than usual on both Chrome on my Asus laptop and Safari on my iPhone.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
I'm also seeing longer appearances of the blue bar at the top and the "3 blue bars" loading symbol.
Is anyone else also having the same problem? Thanks in advance.
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Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat. 
WTF… …What the Foxbat!Remember folks... just like DNS... its always Foxbat.
S
wow what a kick in the balls!!! the wife blames you when things don't work now scott's blaming youWTF… …What the Foxbat!
I know. Here's what Scott has in store for me if I get out of line:wow what a kick in the balls!!! the wife blames you when things don't work now scott's blaming you
Help, I'm a little confjused on the activation process.
I purchased the Joey 4 from Solid Signal and shipping box has Call 866 726-4282 to Avtivate new Receiver. That number is Solid Signals number.
I googled and that search said call Dish to activate. I assume that is correct unless this requires a 2 step process.
Please let me know.
Thanks
I purchased the Joey 4 from Solid Signal and shipping box has Call 866 726-4282 to Avtivate new Receiver. That number is Solid Signals number.
I googled and that search said call Dish to activate. I assume that is correct unless this requires a 2 step process.
Please let me know.
Thanks
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201 views
All good called Dish and new Joey 4 is activated and working.
Old Joey 2 deactivated and no need to return.
Old Joey 2 deactivated and no need to return.
S
i bought mine straight from dish as it was only $ 100.00 bucks!!! had the protection plan they came out removed and deactivated the 4k joey and activated and installed the joey 4.All good called Dish and new Joey 4 is activated and working.
Old Joey 2 deactivated and no need to return.
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
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S
. apple's been making money off of software and not hardware for a while
they all do that anyways.. ever notice your cell phone slows down when you come up for an upgrade..
. apple's been making money off of software and not hardware for a while
The new curated multiview is now live.
While on many of the sports channels and non sports channels there is a multi view option button. It will pull up a side bar with many different multi view options.
While on many of the sports channels and non sports channels there is a multi view option button. It will pull up a side bar with many different multi view options.
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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.
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