Great News - Voom Is Here To Stay!!

riffjim4069 said:
For this reason, I predict the FCC will deny the sale/transfer of VOOMs DBS frequencies to E*. I also predict E* will use Rainbow-1 to replace it's aging sat at 61.5. We'll have to see what happens at the FCC.

It would be very hard to see the FCC denying the sale of the satellite. VOOM does not have the finances to support the satellite and for the FCC to deny the sale could sink VOOM. It does not appear that there is another company chomping at the bit to buy the satellite and start up DBS service.
 
mike123abc said:
It would be very hard to see the FCC denying the sale of the satellite. VOOM does not have the finances to support the satellite and for the FCC to deny the sale could sink VOOM. It does not appear that there is another company chomping at the bit to buy the satellite and start up DBS service.
I agree. I doubt they can deny the sale of Rainbow-1, that's why I predict E* will eventually use it to replace its aging sat at 61.5. However, I've read through a fair number of FCC filings, comments, papers and orders and, after doing so, I am convinced the FCC wants a 3rd and perhaps a 4th major DBS service provider operating those frequencies. Why? In order to increase competition and better serve the public good. We shall see. I also predict VOOM will continue to use Rainbow-1 until they are ready to launch Rainbow-2. Again, only time will tell. @party
 
Rainbow 2 was supposed to be online in march (maybe they will take longer to go mpeg4 now since they are going to be tp limited for a while I would think)

That said they need to find funding to get those new lockheed birds up.... they could and will take over D* long term plans if they can make it long enough to get their spaceway system operation (and that has to be the plan now that they wont have rainbow1)

Should be interesting to see how they make the conversion to the new sat.... A mpeg4 dvr would be sweet though, trumping D*'s WHS.
 
riffjim4069 said:
For this reason, I predict the FCC will deny the sale/transfer of VOOMs DBS frequencies to E*. I also predict E* will use Rainbow-1 to replace it's aging sat at 61.5. We'll have to see what happens at the FCC.

The new Voom HD Corporation does not own any DBS frequency licenses. The new Voom HD corporation will be buying the remaining assests of Rainbow DBS from Cablevision. If the frequency transfer between Dish and Cablevision does not get approved by the FCC, Cablevision still owns the licenses to the DBS frequencies. Dish could still buy the Rainbow-1 satellite and the uplink center from Cablevision and then request from the FCC a swap of Dish's 11 frequency licenses at 61.5 W for Cablevision's 11 frequency licenses so they could use the Rainbow-1 satellite. I do not see what is so magical related to competition with DBS frequencies when obviously Charles Dolan is ready to try to compete with Dish and DirecTV without CONUS DBS frequencies. Voom HD appears to be also getting the 166 and 175 W DBS frequency licenses.
 
If Voom wants to survive they need more subscribers. If they advertised their sd channels as well as their hd some people would see that voom dosnt have to be just for people with hdtvs.
 
Was 61.5 part of future plans?

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.

Source

This is part of the PR for those KA-band satellites. Does it look like 61.5 was ever part of the future (Assuming there is a future)? Look at the orbital locations and 61.5 is not there.
 
10 Feb 2005 21:48 ET WSJ(2/11)Cablevision To Sell Remaining Voom Assets To Dolan

(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Peter Grant
In a last-ditch effort to save his cherished Voom satellite TV service, Charles Dolan, the chairman of Cablevision Systems Corp., has decided to acquire what remains of the service himself.

The move is the latest twist in a family and corporate drama that reached a climax last month when Cablevision board members joined Mr. Dolan's son, Cablevision Chief Executive James Dolan, in voting to stop funding the service. In the wake of that vote, Cablevision decided to sell Voom's satellite to EchoStar Communcations Corp.

A new company set up by Mr. Dolan and another one of his son's, Tom Dolan, has reached a tentative deal with Cablevision to acquire what EchoStar isn't buying -- Voom's 21 high-definition channels, customer agreements and satellite licenses, according to a statement released by Cablevision.

While Voom no longer owns its own satellite, it would be able to keep providing service by leasing capacity on other spacecraft. The service had 26,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter.

Charles Dolan's decision to keep Voom going himself raises new questions about whether his struggle to save the satellite service could lead to the breakup of Cablevision, the country's sixth-largest cable operator and the owner of cable networks, Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks and Rangers professional basketball and hockey teams.

Mr. Dolan could have a difficult time obtaining financing for the new company given widespread skepticism that Voom has a viable business plan. Some analysts believe the most-likely way for him to finance the venture would be for him to sell a large stake of his stock in Cablevision. "This could be a step towards selling the company," says Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Fulcrum Global Partners.

In exchange for Voom's assets, Mr. Dolan's new company, Voom HD LLC, will pay no consideration to Cablevision other than assuming substantially all of the satellite service's liabilities. "The transaction will allow (Cablevision) to avoid various shutdown costs and other liabilities . . . which it would have incurred had it proceeded with its original plan to shut the service," according to the Cablevision statement. The statement says that the letter of intent to sell Voom's assets to Mr. Dolan's company was negotiated by a committee of the company's independent directors.

Cablevision said Voom HD is in the process of obtaining financing to support the service, which lost $75.3 million in the third quarter of last year alone. The deal reached between Voom HD and Cablevision expires if it isn't finalized by the end of this month, the company said.

Charles Dolan, one of the pioneers of the cable industry, has been trying to launch a satellite-television business for over a decade, and has refused to give up his dream despite a lack of support from the company, his advisers, and his son, James. He believes that satellite is a more-efficient way to deliver television signals than cable systems. But most analysts don't believe a third satellite service will be able to carve out sufficient market share given the intense competition that already exists between the two established satellite operators, EchoStar and DirecTV Group Inc., and the cable industry.
 
I share the same feeling as many of you. This is GREAT NEWS!!! I am a new subscriber and got on board with Voom regardless of all the writings in these forums. I know what all of you know. That is Voom is 5 years ahead of the industry and can see the big picture. This is why they lauched the service right? The fall of Voom was or wasn't going to happen. I felt in my heart the second because we have idealist, acheivers running the show. They continue to believe in this and for us to continue to speculate what is or isn't going to happen from this day forward is just water cooler chit chat.

The big question is this. How will Voom proceed? It's not a matter of broadcasting. Becuase just like the intension to purchase Voom. Broadcasting already has a plan in motion. This is why they want to buy it. Right? How will they grow outside of the current 26,000 subscriber base (rough est. from other forum posts). First let's ask ourselves where can you buy the service currently? Sears. Sears is a company who has been struggling for years. They don't support the consumer electronic foot traffic needed to lauch and support service of this magnitude. I'm sorry but, they don't. Because of this we can only guess why Crutchfeild doesn't sell it anylonger. Where should Voom also be able to be purchased? Best Buy and Circut City. I'm sure these avenues have been looked at somewhere along the line. I'm also bold enough to say that had they been in there sooner they would be looking at a customer base of 500,000 or so currently. When these two companies get behind something it BLOWS UP!! MSN, AOL, NetFlix, Satilite Radio are just a few examples. Best Buy added 1 million new subscribers to MSN alone. Both places pride themselves on cutting edge technology and competition. Who will be the first to carry Voom? My bet is on Best Buy. Now is the time to approach it again and I'm sure it has been or will soon be.

The reason I have probably stated what is obvious to some of you, is there's too much talk about what a great service this is and how sad we'll be to see it go and alot of hear say. Let's make sure we are showing our support by calling your Consumer Electronic Stores and Corperations Best Buy, Circuit City. Ask them when and where you can buy your Voom system from them. If anyone has corp. 800 numbers for either or direct numbers to their buyers at corp. Please share and let's get beind this. Thanks for listening.
 
Good points in my book...

remmy said:
I share the same feeling as many of you. This is GREAT NEWS!!! I am a new subscriber and got on board with Voom regardless of all the writings in these forums. I know what all of you know. That is Voom is 5 years ahead of the industry and can see the big picture. This is why they lauched the service right? The fall of Voom was or wasn't going to happen. I felt in my heart the second because we have idealist, acheivers running the show. They continue to believe in this and for us to continue to speculate what is or isn't going to happen from this day forward is just water cooler chit chat.

The big question is this. How will Voom proceed? It's not a matter of broadcasting. Becuase just like the intension to purchase Voom. Broadcasting already has a plan in motion. This is why they want to buy it. Right? How will they grow outside of the current 26,000 subscriber base (rough est. from other forum posts). First let's ask ourselves where can you buy the service currently? Sears. Sears is a company who has been struggling for years. They don't support the consumer electronic foot traffic needed to lauch and support service of this magnitude. I'm sorry but, they don't. Because of this we can only guess why Crutchfeild doesn't sell it anylonger. Where should Voom also be able to be purchased? Best Buy and Circut City. I'm sure these avenues have been looked at somewhere along the line. I'm also bold enough to say that had they been in there sooner they would be looking at a customer base of 500,000 or so currently. When these two companies get behind something it BLOWS UP!! MSN, AOL, NetFlix, Satilite Radio are just a few examples. Best Buy added 1 million new subscribers to MSN alone. Both places pride themselves on cutting edge technology and competition. Who will be the first to carry Voom? My bet is on Best Buy. Now is the time to approach it again and I'm sure it has been or will soon be.

The reason I have probably stated what is obvious to some of you, is there's too much talk about what a great service this is and how sad we'll be to see it go and alot of hear say. Let's make sure we are showing our support by calling your Consumer Electronic Stores and Corperations Best Buy, Circuit City. Ask them when and where you can buy your Voom system from them. If anyone has corp. 800 numbers for either or direct numbers to their buyers at corp. Please share and let's get beind this. Thanks for listening.

...especially the last paragraph! :bounce The buzz is still hot, and the ball is rolling...let's help it get down the field!! :D Vicki
 
remmy said:
My bet is on Best Buy.


i wouldnt bet on that, cablevision used to use best buy as an outlet for the optimum online svc. That lasted for about 3-5months then cablevision droped them and the only retail stores you can get ool is from compusa or circuit city. Dont know the whole story behind why they dropped best buy, just that they did.
 
vurbano said:
When does Dolan sell cablevision and put that snot nose son of his out on the street.

Vurbano...You read my mind. I go out-of-town for a day and come back at 11pm at night to see this! Wow!!!
 
justalurker said:
He is selling what he owns of Cablevision - converting stock - but Cablevision will outlive the VoomHD deal.

Yes.

JL

You forget that Time-Warner has been wanting to buy Cablevision subs in NYC for years. Mr Dolan sold to them before and he can do it again. Cablevison, the board and James Dolan could all be gone with just a few strokes of a pen. Not saying that it will happen but majority stock in a company is meant to be voted, sold and proft taken to invest another day.
 
Gutter

I hope that happens so he Could fund Voom and Kick his son to the streets,these is not the end of the story. :D
 
justalurker said:
Vengence? Wow, a little bit of good news and wild speculation begins again!

JL

Sorry Justalurker...I am only stating what the media is even reporting as we write. I won't say more as I promised Sean that I wouldn't.
 
Alright! Went to the Seattle Flower and Garden show, then to a memorial service (bummer), came home, ate dinner, got on the net and read the great news (upper)!

Thanks go to Charles, Tom and all the VOOMers who took the time to post and email about their passion for HDTV via VOOM!

Still enjoying HDTV under clear Seattle skies, Gill
 
The issue is IF Mr Dolan sold his ownership in Cablevision to TW THEY would own RainbowDBS and could dispose of it any way they pleased.

Mr Dolan has a winning deal here. Think of it as a split. The new owners of VoomDBS give up a portion of their ownership of the rest of Cablevision to take full ownership of the rest of RainbowDBS' assets. They will probably be able to maintain some level of ownership in Cablevision. It will be up to Cablevison whether or not they remain independent of TW.

Spinning off Voom to the Dolans strengthens Cablevision making it both a stronger company that doesn't need a buyout to survive as well as a more valuable property to be purchased. So it is a win for the non-DBS portions of Cablevision as well.

Something petty could mess that up. Restraint would be good at this time.

JL
 
"Restraint" is a good word that we all could have followed 21 days ago without jumping to fast to conclusions. Even now we still don't have all the details as to how and what it means and when to the VOOM consumer. In our instant society we want everthing now. Now that there seems to be some light. "We want the DVR..Now. We want our big better dish....Now. We want our 70 channels of HD...Now."

This is a new course for VOOM and we as customers and it does change time tables. Patience is someting we will all have to re-learn.
 

WSJ: another cablevison-dolan article

Rumor: 14 New HD Channels in March!

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