2 New Channels added

brainiac said:
No need to flame, but your "facts" don't tell the whole story. There's been quite a substantial legal Latino/Hispanic population in the US for a long while. Cubans, Mexicans, Nicaraguans, Ecuadorans, etc. I live in Northern Virginia, and I was amazed at the size of the Latino community in this area when we got here 14 years ago. Believe me, if the numbers didn't support it, none of the providers would be making the Spanish language channels available. So, in effect, the real business case facts don't support your "facts".
I dont doubt the size of the Latino community. I was just stating that the simply saying they are the largest minority group doesnt tell the whole story.
 
The H said:
It really amazes me how short-minded some people can be.

May I remind you that a lot of 'real' (for a lack of a better term) american people come from expatriate families that came through the same borders you're talking about.

According to you, it means that a very large number of latino expatriates that are now part of our society here in the US are here illegally and that they are what, second class people? I beg to differ... I would say a very large majority of them are here legally and provide our communities with many, many valuable and wonderful things that we were missing before.

Myself (being a guy from Venezuela) and whole lot of other latinos and foreigners pay the same taxes you pay and make as much money as you do (and even more), so I don't know when and how you concluded that being latino/foreigner = not being able to pay for a service like Voom.

It's really a pitiful thing to be a witness of stuff like this... I thought a lot of people had gotten over 'this' issue a long time ago... but apparently, I was wrong.

You can disagree, but dont call me short-minded. I'm just stating that fact that if you are going to count illegals as part of the population then the numbers are skewed.. My greatgrandfather was from brazil, so I am not anti-hispanic, nor 'short-minded' about the subject.
 
mdonnelly said:
You gotta start somewhere. Hispanics are the largest minority in CA now, and the fastest growing minority nationwide. They look at who meets their needs, just like you do. If you ignore them, E* gets them all, and VOOM can't afford to forfeit any subs. So go ahead, Chuck, add some more like Telemundo, HBO Latino, Univision...

Not just CA but FL TX AZ NM NYC and Chicago. The latin market is huge (bigger than any other minority), why do you think GE bought a majority stake in Telemundo?? And you can't get them to watch unless you add a few Spanish Channels. Esp in Miami we latinos are picking up HDTV's at Brandsmart and Best Buy like they are going out of style.
BTW Illegal or not if they buy a sub they are paying into the system For business purposes their legal status is irrelavent.
(I'm 1st gen Cuban American BTW)
 
Threv said:
BTW Illegal or not if they buy a sub they are paying into the system For business purposes their legal status is irrelavent.
You can see it anyway you wish. I'm all for adding subs and channels, my point had nothing to do with that. My point was that most illegals probably arent subscribing to VOOM.
 
Threv said:
Not just CA but FL TX AZ NM NYC and Chicago. The latin market is huge (bigger than any other minority), why do you think GE bought a majority stake in Telemundo?? And you can't get them to watch unless you add a few Spanish Channels. Esp in Miami we latinos are picking up HDTV's at Brandsmart and Best Buy like they are going out of style.
BTW Illegal or not if they buy a sub they are paying into the system For business purposes their legal status is irrelavent.
(I'm 1st gen Cuban American BTW)

Just to clarify even more...
There are now 39.9 million Hispanics living in the
United States, which accounts for 13.7% of the
population
• One in every seven Americans is of Hispanic origin
• By 2010, nearly one person out of every six living in
the U.S. will be of Hispanic origin
Hispanic Americans have become the biggest minority
in the nation

Source: The U.S. Census, updated as of July 2004

Why Are Hispanics Valuable
Consumers?
Hispanics have an estimated buying power of
$686 billion as of 2004.
• California alone has a Hispanic buying power of
$198.5 billion
• Texas follows, with $119.3 billion
• Florida has $63.7 billion
• New York has $56.6 billion
• Illinois finishes out the top five markets, with $31.3
billion in Hispanic buying power
Source: The Selig Center for Economic Growth, Terry College of Business,
The University of Georgia, May 2004

Hispanic Buying Power
Growth 1990-2009
• Between 1990 and 2009, Hispanic buying power is
growing at an annual compound rate of 8.2 percent
• This is almost double the non-Hispanic buying power
growth rate of 4.9 percent
• Projected Hispanic buying power by 2008 will be
$923 billion
• By 2009, Hispanics will account for nine percent of all
U.S. buying power, up from 5.2 percent in1990
Source: The Selig Center for Economic Growth, Terry College of Business,
The University of Georgia, May 2004

It's a great thing that Voom has finally started to add content for these loyal consumers...!!! Granted these alone won't push the needle to far but it's a start. I for one am thrilled that they have added CNN and ESPN Deportes...these plus OTA Univision and Telemundo (owned by NBC) is what they need to grab more subs.

Good going Voom...!!!

BTW thanks Voom4ME for your comments...yep we posted about this before!!!
 
truqui said:
Just to clarify even more...
There are now 39.9 million Hispanics living in the
United States, which accounts for 13.7% of the
population....

So what? If you look at extraction numbers, the largest group in the US would be Germans. By your logic, there should be 50% German programming.

The official language in the US is English. Broadcasting in Spanish is pandering, and probably to a market much less likely to have HD sets than for example the sports crowd (and I don't watch sports). Two channels is fine, any more is stupid. Dish already covers that market (in SD) and I don't see most Spanish speakers jumping to buy HD sets and subscribe to Voom because Voom has added 3-4 channels. A lot of that market is covered OTA anyway.
 
I normally don't respond to any of these postings. I am an avid reader of the posts and if I have a question, I will post one. I was just astounded at some of the things that were being said and I thought that I should voice my displeasure with some of the items. I am a loyal VOOM subscriber, and I sure hope that it lasts more than just a few days. Not only am I a VOOM subscriber, but I am also an open-minded American, as well as being a Spanish teacher. Even if my students don't end up being great at speaking Spanish, I want them to have learned even something of far greater importance. My job as a Spanish teacher is to open up their minds and eyes and to value all people regardless of race, nationality, etc...America has always been known as a "melting pot," why now, do so many Americans have to bash the immigrants that are coming here to experience our great nation? I want VOOM to succeeed and in order for them to succeed they have to offer as much as the other companies and more. So, to some extent it is pandering(to HDTV owners, to sports fans, to home-improvement lovers, and now possibly to Hispanics). How is this bad? Just because you might not want the channels does that mean that VOOM should pander to only you and not to the other masses. I don't have one ounce of Hispanic blood, but I welcome the opportunity to see Spanish channels. I don't want these channels just because I am a Spanish teacher, but because I want to be a well rounded individual and not a close-minded American. I just came back from a satellite shop inquiring about an FTA system, so that I could receive many foreign stations.
 
GreatMac said:
So what? If you look at extraction numbers, the largest group in the US would be Germans. By your logic, there should be 50% German programming.

The official language in the US is English. Broadcasting in Spanish is pandering, and probably to a market much less likely to have HD sets than for example the sports crowd (and I don't watch sports). Two channels is fine, any more is stupid. Dish already covers that market (in SD) and I don't see most Spanish speakers jumping to buy HD sets and subscribe to Voom because Voom has added 3-4 channels. A lot of that market is covered OTA anyway.
Look at it this way. Suppose that wave of German immigrants had come over 30-50 years ago. Now their kids are self-sufficient, well integrated into American culture and the English language. They have their well paying jobs and HD television, but they still have parents alive, that are either living with them or come over to visit. Those parents and relatives like to have some entertainment in their own language.

Well, that isn't the case with Germans now (but 100 years ago you would have found German and Yiddish language newspapers in immigrant communities), but it is with Hispanic immigrants. And those 3 or 4 channels DO make a difference. The choice has been going with a provider that has SOME Spanish channels (E*, D*), or until recently, NONE (V*).
 
GAWD! Now someone will want an Ebonics language channel. When I was in Japan for 2 years, I listened to TV in Japanese, it even helped me learn some of the language. I myself resent spanish billboards and advertising everywhere. If you want to live in the USA, which is an English speaking country, you should learn the language.
 
SactoCal said:
GAWD! Now someone will want an Ebonics language channel. When I was in Japan for 2 years, I listened to TV in Japanese, it even helped me learn some of the language. I myself resent spanish billboards and advertising everywhere. If you want to live in the USA, which is an English speaking country, you should learn the language.

When in Rome be like a Roman!
 
The latino influence is huge in the Southwest part of the U.S. Just look at the Radio Station ratings for Houston, TX and Phoenix, AZ (Houston is listed at this link http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRRa...PER=26.3&OPER=&NSD=3/31/2005 12:00:00 AM&CE=0 ) The number 2 radio station in both of these markets are Spanish, which means BIG advertising $$$$!! Don't underestimate the buying power of the Latino community for radio or television entertainment!!...
 
mekoerner said:
... .... but because I want to be a well rounded individual and not a close-minded American.

I did say that a couple of channels may be O.K., more would be misguided, since there is limited bandwidth (and Voom's forte is in HD, and not in ethnic packages, where Dish is way ahead) As I said, it appears that most of the Latino audience is covered by OTA (and radio).

Not to debate a policy issue here, but if you have travelled at all, you would have noticed that English is the de facto Lingua Franca of the 21st century. To be well rounded and have broad access to information, you MUST be able to speak English, whether you live in China, Chile or Portugal (and yes, in the USA as well). Spanish television in the US is not there to make people well rounded, but because too many do not speak English. For some, it may make sense profit-wise (but I am not convinced it does for Voom), but in the long run, it hurts and marginalizes the very people you are concerned about.

Just my 2 centavos and I will shut up now on this topic :shh
 
GreatMac said:
So what? If you look at extraction numbers, the largest group in the US would be Germans. By your logic, there should be 50% German programming.

The official language in the US is English. Broadcasting in Spanish is pandering, and probably to a market much less likely to have HD sets than for example the sports crowd (and I don't watch sports). Two channels is fine, any more is stupid. Dish already covers that market (in SD) and I don't see most Spanish speakers jumping to buy HD sets and subscribe to Voom because Voom has added 3-4 channels. A lot of that market is covered OTA anyway.

First of all...this is not "MY LOGIC" like you say. It's facts from quoted sources (as you can see if you read my post)

Please read the post becuase all your issues are answered right there.

Where is your source that states that the Hispanic market is less likely to have an HD TV set?

I stated that two channels won't push the needle but more will and yes sir there will be more, I can assure you. You might not be interested in them and Voom will likely put these Spanish language channels in a different tier like the D*, but they will offer more and in doing so will become a real player in the Sat. Broadcasting arena.

So who is the Military Channel pandering to? Food Network? HGTV? MTV? Rush? Rave? WE? ESPN? All these are for people with specific viewing habits and fit their profiles...not yours maybe but Spanish language (any language for that matter) is just that...for a specific audience!!!

And yes OTA is covering this audience and if you look at Nielsen ratings you will see that in many dayparts they do better than than NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox (sometimes better than these combined)

As you can see from the stats I provided i the previous post, their is a huge growth potential for Voom with this demographic and it makes good business sense to go after it.
 
SactoCal said:
GAWD! Now someone will want an Ebonics language channel. When I was in Japan for 2 years, I listened to TV in Japanese, it even helped me learn some of the language. I myself resent spanish billboards and advertising everywhere. If you want to live in the USA, which is an English speaking country, you should learn the language.

Guess what ... it is called Marketing and the people which own the billboards and those that advertise on these billboards are ANGLO companies...!!! Why? because it makes them money. They know that recent arrivals and first generation Hispanics prefer consuming Media in their language.
 
truqui said:
...
Where is your source that states that the Hispanic market is less likely to have an HD TV set? ...

Maybe the fact that statistically the education and income level of the average Hispanic is below that of the average American, and way, way below than that of the average NE Asian or Indian immigrant. Hispanics are a large market for many things, but maybe not for HD sets. Thus, maybe not for Voom.
 
GreatMac said:
I did say that a couple of channels may be O.K., more would be misguided, since there is limited bandwidth (and Voom's forte is in HD, and not in ethnic packages, where Dish is way ahead) As I said, it appears that most of the Latino audience is covered by OTA (and radio).

Not to debate a policy issue here, but if you have travelled at all, you would have noticed that English is the de facto Lingua Franca of the 21st century. To be well rounded and have broad access to information, you MUST be able to speak English, whether you live in China, Chile or Portugal (and yes, in the USA as well). Spanish television in the US is not there to make people well rounded, but because too many do not speak English. For some, it may make sense profit-wise (but I am not convinced it does for Voom), but in the long run, it hurts and marginalizes the very people you are concerned about.

Just my 2 centavos and I will shut up now on this topic :shh

GreatMac, I don't want to make this a debate over language but let me pose this question to you. If you had to move to, let's say Taiwan, wouldn't it be great to watch your favorite shows in English? Or maybe your baseball team play? Spanish language TV gives them a chance to watch their soccer team play, shed tears with their beloved "novela" (soap opera)...in their language! It has nothing to do with "well rounding" anything....

I haven't been to Taiwan but I'm sure you can get English language TV...
 
GreatMac said:
I did say that a couple of channels may be O.K., more would be misguided, since there is limited bandwidth (and Voom's forte is in HD, and not in ethnic packages, where Dish is way ahead) As I said, it appears that most of the Latino audience is covered by OTA (and radio).

Not to debate a policy issue here, but if you have travelled at all, you would have noticed that English is the de facto Lingua Franca of the 21st century. To be well rounded and have broad access to information, you MUST be able to speak English, whether you live in China, Chile or Portugal (and yes, in the USA as well). Spanish television in the US is not there to make people well rounded, but because too many do not speak English. For some, it may make sense profit-wise (but I am not convinced it does for Voom), but in the long run, it hurts and marginalizes the very people you are concerned about.

Just my 2 centavos and I will shut up now on this topic :shh
I thought adding the Outdoor Channel and RSNs were far more important than adding ethnic programming. However, I live in Arizona and the majority of programming is not handled by OTA nor radio. The majority of Latino's either have Cox Cable or a lot have Dish network. There was a Mexican person coming over my house this weekend to buy an HD set I was selling. He said he had Dish. I told him about VOOM and he asked about the spanish channels.

Turned out he decided he did not really need HD but just a large pojection and didn't want to spend the extr $$$ on an HD set.

A big thing here is being able to buy Dish Network reveivers with cards to sell in Mexico. I don't believe Dish uses cards anymore, but I sold a 6000 for $500, a 505 (the free pvr) for $400 and regular receivers for $300.00. The wil sell for twice the price in Mexico whe the cards are hacked.

There is a huge deman for Ethnic programming on satellite, but I am not sure about ethnic HD. Also a few ethnic channels are not going to make a big difference. Cox cable here has sports, movies and otheres in spanish. I am not dismissing the spanish market or any other ethnic market but VOOM should be concentrating at his time on other channels they are missing and then move into the international programming area in HD where they would be the leader.

Still would like to see

0) RSN's
1) HDnet
2) Inhd1 & 2
3) The Outdoor Chanel
4) 5star MAx
5) OuterMax
6) All th Starz Movie channels
7) The two other TMC
8) West feed of Disney (I believe they are airing the East Feed)
9) West feed of Nick ( I believe they are airing the East Feed)
 
truqui said:
... If you had to move to, let's say Taiwan, wouldn't it be great to watch your favorite shows in English?...

Maybe, if my first language was English, but it is not....

In any case, if I moved there to live, I would make an effort to learn Mandarin Chinese and within a few years would be able to communicate within the native culture, just like any other immigrant.
 
Could someone please re-post this into a new topic and have it all posted in spanish please. If you don't, someone may not be able to read this and they will feel left out.
 
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