CSR info - 6/29

[deArgila]

I talked to a CSR today trying to get my parents set up for Voom. He seemed pretty knowledgeable and told me a few interesting things ...

1. DVR due out at the end of the 3Q. He said Sept/October
2. current customers will be contacted prior to that and be informed of the details - which he said he didn't know right now.
3. there will be a DVR "fee" in addition to the box rental/purchase.

4. Sci-Fi and USA will be added to the SD line-up very shortly. He wasn't sure when - but said shortly.
5. HGTV and Lifetime were next closest - but they're further behind in the process.
6. INHD, INHD2, HDNet, HDNEt Movies = no sign. Though he did say the just "sprung" TNT-HD on them at the last minute and he had no head's up about it.

 

[Sean Mota]

Pretty much what we have been hearing... Good Posting. Dissapointing that INHD and HDnets are such a major problem to sign.

 

[DarrellP]

Dissapointing that INHD and HDnets are such a major problem to sign.

I could save myself $17/month to drop Dish but I have to have HDNET, it's 90% of my TV time, well, OK, maybe 50%.

 

[Neutron]

I have heard that HDNET will be a long shot since Mark Cuban doesn't like Cablevision's CEO.

 

[DarrellP]

I have heard that HDNET will be a long shot since Mark Cuban doesn't like Cablevision's CEO.

That really disappoints me with Mark Cuban, he's such a Maverick (no pun intended) and he is practically cheer-leading the HD movement all by himself. I'd think he'd want HD in as many homes as possible.

 

[vurbano]

I could save myself $17/month to drop Dish but I have to have HDNET, it's 90% of my TV time, well, OK, maybe 50%.

Darrel, Jess said for you to stop watching bikini destinations and Hotlines so you cant take that viewing time down to 20%.

 

[Neutron]

Got a response back from HDNET. Yall won't like it. I deleted out the non important parts of the e-mail, not pertaining to Voom.



"No, sorry

Don't see it happen"



> Mark,
> I know a lot of us Voomers have been wanting HDNET to be
> available on Voom. Can you make that happen?

 

[bryan27]

The thing with INHD is that they tote "only on cable" on their logo, onscreen watermark, etc... is exclusively available on cable, and isn't uplinked to satellite.

Not being uplinked is very important because if it is uplinked on satellite then it must be made available to competitors, as per FCC common carrier rules.

There is no way for VOOM to get INHD. If INHD wanted to be on DBS they would have droped the "only on cable," uplinked a feed to satellite, and would probably already be up on one of the 3 providers.

Sorry to dash anyones hopes, but they are a cable exclusive and has every right to limit availability.

 

[vinnyv07]

Then it looks like Voom is going to be in my house with DirecTV...because no one provider currently supplies everything that I want. I don't understand why INHD isn't on already. Even with not being up linked to sat...its a chance for their ch to shine on an HD service. You think they would love that kind of exposure.

 

[Neutron]

Same goes for HDNET. You would think Cuban would love to have his channels on an HD satellite company.

What's the beef with Cuban and Dolan anyway?

 

[vinnyv07]

Dont know what the beef is between them...but I feel that CUban has done so much for HD and now that there is a HD Sat service around he turns his back on it because of its owners. I am in no way a fan of the Dolans....but this is the type of in fighting that goes on with people that have more money than they know what to do with. I know one thing is for sure...the only losers in this are the viewers. The only thing that I could possibly think of is that the Dolans own the Garden and the knicks....and Cuban owns the Dallas Mavs....maybe some bad blood. Cuban is a sports nut...especially for his team.

 

[Neutron]

I'm a big Mavs fan and did let him know that. The Mavs don't really have a heated rivalry like my Rangers do with the Yankees, at least none that I know of, maybe the Spurs.

You're right, us viewers are the only losers here.



I wonder how many e-mails Cuban gets from Voomers asking when HDNET will be available to us?

 

[occammd]

Maybe Cuban won't do it because he doesn't want the quality reduced by low bit rate.

 

[rkr0923]

Maybe Cuban won't do it because he doesn't want the quality reduced by low bit rate.

Guess he hasn't seen Equator-HD, looks much better than HDnet.

 

[FrankJo]

Equator HD isn't one of Vooms' bright spots. The programming is probably its best. But, there is a slight pixelization that is always there. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty good. But their news channel has the sharpest picture of all the channels.

 

[occammd]

I would think that overall Cuban's channel on cable or OTA at full bitrate surpass VOOM's HD. They just don't have the bandwidth.

Not to say WM9 or other encoder/decoder upgrade wouldn't help a bunch though.

 

[DarrellP]

Guess he hasn't seen Equator-HD, looks much better than HDnet.

You need your eyes adjusted, what are you watching on a 27" Advent HD monitor? Try watching it on a 110" screen and you will not be making such a ridiculous statement. HDNET rocks! It is THE BEST HD ANYWHERE!

 

[DarrellP]

Darrel, Jess said for you to stop watching bikini destinations and Hotlines so you cant take that viewing time down to 20%.

Gladly, as long as Jess watches with me!

 

[barth2k]

Dont know what the beef is between them...but I feel that CUban has done so much for HD and now that there is a HD Sat service around he turns his back on it because of its owners. I am in no way a fan of the Dolans....but this is the type of in fighting that goes on with people that have more money than they know what to do with. I know one thing is for sure...the only losers in this are the viewers. The only thing that I could possibly think of is that the Dolans own the Garden and the knicks....and Cuban owns the Dallas Mavs....maybe some bad blood. Cuban is a sports nut...especially for his team.

sadly, if it's a personal thing, we won't see hdnet in the foreseeable future. let's face it: b/c hdnet is the premire hd channel, Voom needs hdnet more than cuban needs voom. if voom had hdnet, the voom haters wouldn't be able to say "yeah, we got hdnet, which is better than all your crappy exclusive channels". OTOH, with ~10K subs, Voom isn't going to be a huge boost to hdnet's bottom line. If Voom had 1M subs, I'm sure Cuban would smile and shake hands with Dolan and take the check. As it is, Cuban is getting a kick out of screwing Dolan over.

 

[Dvlos]

You know what who cares, if HDNet wants to be a-holes screw 'em. I'd rather see Voom start picking up other channels in HD, like USA, (Sci-fi woohoo!), Comedy Central, ESPN to have all their programming in true HD, TBS, and CourtTV. I know those channels won't happen anytime soon, but I like their programming and just wish it was HD, between CBS, NBC, ABC, and ESPN, all the sports they cover if it all was in HD it would be perfect. ESPN is starting to broadcast baseball games in HD, and you know playoffs and the World Series will be in HD. Having HDnet is a bonus, but what the hell I get all the sports I REALLY want to see in HD anyway.

Whenever it is Voom goes WM9 we will get probably better quality PQ, and probably more channels anyway. Maybe Voom's hoping it's subscriber base keeps growing by then and can entice other companies, or maybe even improve their own exclusive channel lineup and offer their own HD bikini freaking channels.