Mass Exodus from Voom to DirecTV in October?

[Seawaves]

Where is the announcement about HD channels like: Starz, Encore, Cinemax, TMC, TNT?

Sean,

I did not say there was one. But you and I both know, that now that DTV is taking Voom serious, there will be an HD announcement from DTV soon enough.

The real quiestion is, what is Voom's annnouncement going to be? The HD DVR at 499.00? Inhd 1 & 2? HDnet and HDmovies? Every good shot must be returned if the Voom ship is to continue sailing. Otherwise, the Voom will be sunk. (Sorry- I watched Master and Commander last weekend.)

 

[devildogg]

DO you have any clue about what you are saying? Directv signed up 455,000 subs this quarter, locked into 12 month contracts, and over 400,000 last quarter. Last time I heard we hadnt even reached 40,000 subs total since Oct 2003? I think you need to rethink your position.Voom isnt even a bleeding pimple on D*'s a$$ yet.
Furthermore, If anyone thinks that the free Tyson fight was a good thing they should think again. It was an indication of just how low our subscription rate is. We must have so few subs that showtime didnt care, or so few that voom could afford to foot the bill.

Of course, they were all HD customers. I could give a rats a$$ how may new subscriber's they have. The gain I'm sure was for the LIL's. Yup, Voom should just cut their losses sell to D*. Then D* can provide locals to BF Idaho!

P.S. No offense to our Idaho Voomers!

 

[Sean Mota]

Sean,

I did not say there was one. But you and I both know, that now that DTV is taking Voom serious, there will be an HD announcement from DTV soon enough.

The real quiestion is, what is Voom's annnouncement going to be? The HD DVR at 499.00? Inhd 1 & 2? HDnet and HDmovies? Every good shot must be returned if the Voom ship is to continue sailing. Otherwise, the Voom will be sunk. (Sorry- I watched Master and Commander last weekend.)

Nope. I do not know that D* (DTV=Digital TV) is coming out with an HD announcement soon. I have been hearing about the big D* announcement since January 2004. First the deadline was March; then moved to May; then moved July; Now moved to august-september. And yet the question I asked has not been responded. The hopeful keep hoping (nothing wrong with that). Hopefully it won't be moved to December 2004.

V* 's plan were outlined in the form 10 filing for the next 6 months. I do not have to speculate about that since they have made them known.

1 - HD DVR (no pricing was released yet)
2 - Lease Satellite at 72 degrees (all customer will be upgraded free as a consequence).
3- Moved to MPEG4/WM9
4- As a consequence of 2 and 3 more channels to be added. To be determined and pending contractual agreements.

 

[barth2k]

fiscally, V* is about as significant to D* as AmigaOS is to MS. ("35,000 subs? haha that's so cute. We take oh, a whole week to get that") BUT, V* IS a problem for D* from a marketing/perception point of view. As long as V* is around, D* can't plausibly claim to be the HD leader when they have obvious gaps in their HD lineup. I also think that the exclusive channels, whatever you think of them, ARE significant, b/c no other cable/sat company is doing that. Of course if D* adds every HD channel that's out there, and it's unclear now how soon they can do that, V* will be more and more irrelevant.

 

[Seawaves]

fiscally, V* is about as significant to D* as AmigaOS is to MS. ("35,000 subs? haha that's so cute. We take oh, a whole week to get that") BUT, V* IS a problem for D* from a marketing/perception point of view. As long as V* is around, D* can't plausibly claim to be the HD leader when they have obvious gaps in their HD lineup. I also think that the exclusive channels, whatever you think of them, ARE significant, b/c no other cable/sat company is doing that. Of course if D* adds every HD channel that's out there, and it's unclear now how soon they can do that, V* will be more and more irrelevant.

Excellent point, a thorn in ones sides does have to kill you cause much pain. Voom has changed the HD landscape for all it's problems it has lit an HD fire under DTV. Dish is just useless.

 

[vurbano]

I see no fire under D*. I think you all overestimate Vooms influence on D*. There is none. All I see D* doing is adding locals to gain more subs. Then planning to add distant HD feeds and finally HD LIL in years to come. All geared at gaining the most subs as fast as possible. Voom has NOTHING to do with it. The HD population is just not big enough for D* to be really concerned with. Think long and hard about it. D* adds 400-500 thousand subscibers a quarter. Thats 3 months people. Voom adds 40 thousand every 10 months? OCt 03- August 04?.

 

[Seawaves]

I see no fire under D*. I think you all overestimate Vooms influence on D*. There is none. All I see D* doing is adding locals to gain more subs. Then planning to add distant HD feeds and finally HD LIL in years to come. All geared at gaining the most subs as fast as possible. Voom has NOTHING to do with it. The HD population is just not big enough for D* to be really concerned with. Think long and hard about it. D* adds 400-500 thousand subscibers a quarter. Thats 3 months people. Voom adds 40 thousand every 10 months? OCt 03- August 04?.

Vurb- Certainly you are very right on- not only about the numbers but also to think that DTV is most worried about subs and locals. But don't you think a record number of HD TV's will be sold this Christmas. More subs there for DTV.

It might just be an ego thing that Voom has the HD trump card and DTV wants it. Just IMO.

 

[VewDew]

I think one way Voom could battle would be to somehow sign INHD 1 and 2 to combat DTV's HDNet availablity. I would like to see all of them on Voom someday but I guess Mark Cuban has an issue with Voom and Cablevision.

 

[andrzej]

Guys, what makes you think that if D* adds those HD channels (and, IMO, it can take years) they will not cut the bandwidth and sacrifice PQ? None of the moves that D* is making even suggest that they care about HD. And remember that probably 95% (or more) of D* customers don't give a damn about HD, which drives D*'s strategy. Are there any Voom subsribers who don't care about HD?

 

[TechCop]

What I'd be curious about is...

...Directv signed up 455,000 subs this quarter, locked into 12 month contracts, and over 400,000 last quarter. Last time I heard we hadnt even reached 40,000 subs total since Oct 2003? ...

How many of the 455,000 were HD subscribers? Let's face it, that's VOOM'S target customer. If they aren't interested in HD, they probably don't want Voom.

Another question: What is the percentage of growth per quarter for DirecTV or Dish? VOOM may only have 30,000, but they had NONE a year ago. I think they have doubled in the last 3 months. Has any of the competition grown that rapidly?

And as far as the premiums go, I have them all but playboy, and I watch the exclusives more than all premiums combined.

 

[keno]

DO you have any clue about what you are saying? Directv signed up 455,000 subs this quarter, locked into 12 month contracts, and over 400,000 last quarter. Last time I heard we hadnt even reached 40,000 subs total since Oct 2003? I think you need to rethink your position.Voom isnt even a bleeding pimple on D*'s a$$ yet.
Furthermore, If anyone thinks that the free Tyson fight was a good thing they should think again. It was an indication of just how low our subscription rate is. We must have so few subs that showtime didnt care, or so few that voom could afford to foot the bill.

Sure do. DirecTV has only 180,000 active HD subscribers out of 10.7 million subscribers. Sad. People do not subscribe to DirecTV for their HD. If you want HD, move to Voom.

 

[Seawaves]

Sure do. DirecTV has only 180,000 active HD subscribers out of 10.7 million subscribers. Sad. People do not subscribe to DirecTV for their HD. If you want HD, move to Voom.

Yet DirecTV, can double that in Q4 and Voom can't/won't hit 180,00 in the next two years. The amount of HD subs on DTV (or lack of) would tell you that DTV will target this segment.

Voom can't jump to xx amount of HD channels- they are stuck. When DTV ups 10-20 more HD channels Voom will be hurting. The price increases were a huge mistake, they should have gone for the year commitment.

 

[TechCop]

It's one thing to speculate

Yet DirecTV, can double that in Q4 and Voom can't/won't hit 180,00 in the next two years. .

That's not even speculation, that's pure fantasy. DirecTV will have to prove they care about HD to impress me- they have not done that yet. If VOOM doubles three more times (in 9 months) they are way past the 180,000. Not very likely, but definately possible.

Voom can't jump to xx amount of HD channels- they are stuck. When DTV ups 10-20 more HD channels Voom will be hurting. The price increases were a huge mistake, they should have gone for the year commitment.

Do you really believe this stuff you are selling? You take pure conjecture and distribute it as fact. You must be in sales...or maybe politics? Or maybe you have a crystal ball...or two? (Maybe they are not crystal at all, but brass?)

 

[TechCop]

Well put, Andrze...

Guys, what makes you think that if D* adds those HD channels (and, IMO, it can take years) they will not cut the bandwidth and sacrifice PQ? None of the moves that D* is making even suggest that they care about HD. And remember that probably 95% (or more) of D* customers don't give a damn about HD, which drives D*'s strategy. Are there any Voom subsribers who don't care about HD?

That's why most everyone here joined VOOM, because of their committment to HD.

 

[calikarim]

We left Dish Direct to Go Voom why would we go back

This is the most nonsensical thread ever. I was a dish and direct Tv customer for 5 years. I joined voom because i saw a vision that they have their neither of the giants especially direct tv had. My $4500 Mistsubishi has never looked better . We have almost a dozen premium channels to enjoy HD not counting their exclusive 21 channels . We are promised almost 96 channels with WM9 in the next two to three years. WHY WOULD I GO BACK TO DIRECT TV IF THEY MAYBE HAVE 4 MORE CHANNELS BY NEXT YEAR. Seawaves you are very anti Voom, just forget about it and move on. Since i left Direct Tv i don't go to their chat rooms and gripe about the demise of 'Direct Tv. What makes America great is that there is something for everybody. Not everyone will subscribe to D* or V*, this country has 250 million people, enough subscribers for everyone, voom, dish , direct, they will all survive. 50 million people are switching to HD sets in the next four years, many will come to Voom, many won't, life goes on. Voom is great i love it no matter how some people constantly berate it and cry about its demise. They are trying something that no one has , a HDTV revolution for which i applaud them and support them

 

[riffjim4069]

50 million people are switching to HD sets in the next four years, many will come to Voom, many won't, life goes on. Voom is great i love it no matter how some people constantly berate it and cry about its demise. They are trying something that no one has , a HDTV revolution for which i applaud them and support them

I agree!!!

Yet DirecTV, can double that in Q4 and Voom can't/won't hit 180,00 in the next two years.

They can not survive with 180k subs!

I know there are numerous variables and undisclosed financial data, but based on VooM's announced plans along with CableVisions Form 10 filing, it seem to me that VooM will need to have approximately 1.2 million active subscribers by the end of 2006 in order to break even. New subscriber acquisition costs and churn (21%) are killing them. Assuming they currently have 40k subs, they would need to acquire 40k new subs each month for the next 29 months. It's no wonder the Wall Street pundits are not optimistic about VooM's future.

All I can say is I really like VooM and I hope they can get their financial, technical and logistical problems (Installs Inc. - oh, the churn!) in order to survive. However, the numbers don't look promising. Although they offer a wonderful product IMO and the VooM concept is top-notch, their biggest problems have been with Installs Inc. (nightmare) and poor marketing of the product - just look at the Sears debacle and the "try it for free" offer. The try it for free offer was a good idea, but what knucklehead would make this offer when they: a) are still missing some badly needed SD Cable Favorites (not that I want them). b) haven't worked out a number of technical difficulties (rain fade, OTA, etc.). c) placed their trust & faith in Installs Inc. who, up to that time, had a track record of horrible installs and OTA malpractice!

What they need is a realistic and affordable "Offer" to attract new subs and reduce churn. If they do, then perhaps they can survive with 800k subs going into 2007.

-Free rental equipment (up to 5 room and up to 1 DVR/Home Networking per customer)
-Free "professional installation" by VooM certified installers
-$5 mirror fee
-$5 DVR free
-1 year service agreement (gotta have subs - can't survive with 21% churn)
-Guaranteed pricing for 1 year
-Va Va VooM $59 for first 4 months or
-Voom w/free Plus Pack for first 4 months

Anyway, this is my opinion...

P.S. No mass exodus from this household. Adelphia, D* and E* all had their turn at the plate and all three failed to deliver!!!

 

[jgantert]

Are there any Voom subsribers who don't care about HD?

Just a guess, but maybe 33-50%. My wife could care less about HD. I'm sure there are lots of others out there who have Voom as well that don't care about HD, even if there is someone in the family who does.

-John

 

[andrzej]

Just a guess, but maybe 33-50%. My wife could care less about HD. I'm sure there are lots of others out there who have Voom as well that don't care about HD, even if there is someone in the family who does.

-John

Yes, my cat doesn't care about HD either. Sorry to be sarcastic but if there are primary subscribers to Voom (i.e., members of your family don't count) who don't care about HD they must be morons. There are better options that Voom for SD clientele. :shocked

 

[rkr0923]

I care about HD, that's why I tried Voom.............Very Disappointed
Mostly crap that I won't watch. Always end up watching SD but the PQ is so bad even that isn't enjoyable. Just beacuse they have 21+ HD channels doesn't make them a God.

 

[andrzej]

I care about HD, that's why I tried Voom.............Very Disappointed
Mostly crap that I won't watch. Always end up watching SD but the PQ is so bad even that isn't enjoyable. Just beacuse they have 21+ HD channels doesn't make them a God.

Very funny. Especially the God part.