Now here is a read...

[Pepper]

Is it me or is Gameplay the most worthless HD channel on Voom?

I really would rather watch paint dry in HD then someone else playing video games.

It's just you

There have been several instances where I'd catch something on GamePlay, my reaction would be "wow, I gotta get that game" - I've never, ever, had that reaction to a game demo in SD.

Plus the fact that I'm an "old" guy, at least the twenty-somethings in my office think I am, so in some cases it's nice being able to see what a real gamer's experience is like, vs. my gameplay which most closely resembles that of someone wearing a non-bullet-proof-vest that is instead highly magnetized and has big glowing bullseyes on it so as to quickly attract as many bullets as possible.

 

[Rangers484]

It's just you

There have been several instances where I'd catch something on GamePlay, my reaction would be "wow, I gotta get that game" - I've never, ever, had that reaction to a game demo in SD.

Plus the fact that I'm an "old" guy, at least the twenty-somethings in my office think I am, so in some cases it's nice being able to see what a real gamer's experience is like, vs. my gameplay which most closely resembles that of someone wearing a non-bullet-proof-vest that is instead highly magnetized and has big glowing bullseyes on it so as to quickly attract as many bullets as possible.

Thanks for the response. So you're the guy I've been hearing about. I also heard there is a colony in Vermont... Oh wait, that was in the movie "I Am Legend".

You are the first person I have encountered that takes advantage of this channel.

I have tried to watch but with my Xbox 360 sitting nearby I usually fire it up when the urge strikes to play.

And I would categorize my level of play as similar to yours. It may be jealousy thing...

 

[sratson]

It seems to me that this is all just a ploy by Dish to get Voom to agree to the re-tiered price structure.. basically they are saying if you don't agree to the re-tiering, we are going to put you out of business, and the court will let us.. I think Voom will cave and we will continue to see Voom channels and not have to pay any more for them as the original pricing structure shows.

 

[Bradp56]

It seems to me that this is all just a ploy by Dish to get Voom to agree to the re-tiered price structure.. basically they are saying if you don't agree to the re-tiering, we are going to put you out of business, and the court will let us.. I think Voom will cave and we will continue to see Voom channels and not have to pay any more for them as the original pricing structure shows.

I have to agree I cant see Voom not agreeing now that the court has given Dish the right to terminate the contract. I hope Voom realizes that they need Dish to survive.

 

[gkjdc24]

I hope Voom realizes that they need Dish to survive.

They should realize it. That is as long as the same monkey's that are running DISH, arent running VOOM

 

[Bradp56]

Lets all hope, like I said before if they move things around I am all for that I just hope they keep MonstersHD and Equator I watch these two the most. The picture is amazing.

 

[sratson]

I have to agree I cant see Voom not agreeing now that the court has given Dish the right to terminate the contract. I hope Voom realizes that they need Dish to survive.

Since the court brief clearly states they believe the termination would cause irreparable harm.. I think they get it..

 

[8bitbytes]

I would rather see Voom get the hint that they need to improve their programming offerings, which I think is beginning to happen. The problem with combining channels is that most people will NOT get the channels they wanted to watch. Your three or four steadies are not mine and vice versa. There is always something on every channel I watch, just like BSG and SGA on SciFi are really the only reason I turn that channel on.

If you want to combine Voom channels and don't see my point, how about an example I would like to see:

VH1, MTV, GAC, and CMT need to all be on ONE CHANNEL. We are WASTING serious bandwidth to LOOK AT MUSIC??? Every two hours a different style of music can be played. I don't watch any of these so one channel is all I would like to see wasted on this programming.

Oh, wait. That's different because you like those channels? Too bad for me but not you?

Yeah, right.

As was said months ago when the MORE HD discussions were reaching a frenzy:

Let's have more HD but not at the expense of any other HD channels already existing.

I can easily name 15 channels I don't ever see the need for in HD much less SD. But I'm not the only one watching so I accept that and live and let live. It would be nice if that sentiment was a little more common in the Dish community.

What say ye?

 

[FitzAusTex]

The thing is that the other channels like Discovery and History repeat very often, but they air newly produced shows fairly often, too. Voom also airs newly produced shows, but much more infrequently. Voom obviously doesnt have the budget that a company like Discovery Communications has. Maybe this will change, maybe not. Maybe Voom will take off, and become more well known, maybe not. I hear from Scott that Smithsonian has very good programming, but is as repetitive as Voom. These start-ups need to start somewhere...

Also, I dont know that Voom is starting to produce anymore new programs as a result of the E* lawsuit, I 'think' it is just the natural cycle of a 'new season' for them. I've noticed that Voom has new show bursts about 4 times a year, and I'm sure this could be said for Discovery Communications channels, too.

And as for consolidating the Voom channels...if Voom IS able to start producing/purchase more new programming, a consolidation might actually get crowded, and blur the channel's identities. ok, ok, i know, a pipe dream, but dare to dream.

 

[Erosman]

Re - 8bitbites comment

The problem with combining channels is that most people will NOT get the channels they wanted to watch.

Oh this is so, so true! Satellite radio has proven it over and over again. SIRIUS used to have two of the best specific genre/music style stations ever in Swing Street and The Vacation Channel. Then they consolidated and told us "Swing Street listeners can hear swing music on the Sinatra Channel" and "Vacation listeners can hear their music on Margaritaville."

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! You'd have to listen for hours, 20 to 40 selections, on the Sinatra Channel before hearing anything that was played on Swing Street. To this day I have yet to hear any of the island music originals that the Vacation Channel played on the Margaritaville Channel.

VOOM provides a very special type of HD - no censorship, no commercials, and in the original aspect ratio. They may not be perfect. But, if we lose them, we'll lose something special - something that has kept me with DISH despite offers from other providers. I favor keeping VOOM and following 8bitbites live and let live advice.

 

[ronjohn]

If the programming remains the same, I am in favor of combining the Voom stations. If you want to watch Friday the 13th in HD, you can record it. It does not have to be repeated 12 times a day.

I don't know for sure, but I highly suspect that the Voom channels are watched mostly by techno-geeks. I used to watch the HD Demo channel because it looked good, but the great majority of people will not watch a fish tank just to see a high quality picture. For anyone other than techno-geeks, a channel must have content that people want to see. If your brother is playing in the NFL, but his game is in SD, would you watch a different game soley to see football in HD?

The number of stations and amount of content available in HD is growing. If Voom wants to remain in business, they have to be able to provide more than HD, they have to provide content that people will be drawn to.

As a side note, if Voom is removed from the HD Ultimate package, the $10 difference will be for what 2-3 channels?

 

[jansan]

The thing is that the other channels like Discovery and History repeat very often, but they air newly produced shows fairly often, too. Voom also airs newly produced shows, but much more infrequently. Voom obviously doesnt have the budget that a company like Discovery Communications has. Maybe this will change, maybe not. Maybe Voom will take off, and become more well known, maybe not. I hear from Scott that Smithsonian has very good programming, but is as repetitive as Voom. These start-ups need to start somewhere...

Also, I dont know that Voom is starting to produce anymore new programs as a result of the E* lawsuit, I 'think' it is just the natural cycle of a 'new season' for them. I've noticed that Voom has new show bursts about 4 times a year, and I'm sure this could be said for Discovery Communications channels, too.

And as for consolidating the Voom channels...if Voom IS able to start producing/purchase more new programming, a consolidation might actually get crowded, and blur the channel's identities. ok, ok, i know, a pipe dream, but dare to dream.

This is very similar how Discovery started. All their HD content was on one channel now called HD Theatre. Over time, started to change concepts like Planet Green and the new ID channel. Rainbow Media which owns VOOM has created some great channels over the years. Some channels work out and some are relaunched. I hope everything works out.

 

[RandallA]

"As a side note, if Voom is removed from the HD Ultimate package, the $10 difference will be for what 2-3 channels?"

That's what I said earlier, if they remove the Voom channels, they might as well get rid of the HD Ultimate package or add good channels to make it worth the extra $10.00.

According to the article below, the HD Ultimate package is not even their most popular package. What' the bulk of that package? The Voom channels. I think Dish Network made a good move by offering the two packages, at least the customer can now make a choice of having the Voom channels or not having them.

SkyREPORT.com - Satellite Industry Daily News, Information, Data and Research for direct-to-home, DBS, C-Band, Local Channel, Broadband, High Speed Data, PVR and Interactive Television.

 

[8bitbytes]

If the programming remains the same, I am in favor of combining the Voom stations. If you want to watch Friday the 13th in HD, you can record it. It does not have to be repeated 12 times a day.

I don't know for sure, but I highly suspect that the Voom channels are watched mostly by techno-geeks. I used to watch the HD Demo channel because it looked good, but the great majority of people will not watch a fish tank just to see a high quality picture. For anyone other than techno-geeks, a channel must have content that people want to see. If your brother is playing in the NFL, but his game is in SD, would you watch a different game soley to see football in HD?

The number of stations and amount of content available in HD is growing. If Voom wants to remain in business, they have to be able to provide more than HD, they have to provide content that people will be drawn to.

As a side note, if Voom is removed from the HD Ultimate package, the $10 difference will be for what 2-3 channels?

Techno-geeks? Please define. Maybe you are referring to a more educated audience with the ability to appreciate diversity and culture as well as enjoy programming reaching across decades of material and at the same time all age groups of viewers.

Content? The Voom channels have a lot of content. The fish tank was not Voom and has been gone for some time. Your football example is not about content, it is about affiliation based preference.

You sir must not watch Voom.

I submit the following channels that can be considered "Niche" market content that repeats and could be combined, two already are, with something else in the opinion of more than a few subs:

Food HD
MHD
NFL HD
HD Theater
Animal Planet HD
NAT GEO HD
Golf / VS HD

 

[VinceT3]

Seriously.. HDNEWS blows.. if it didn't repeat a 15 minute recording for hours I would consider it worth while.. they can boot it and put the 15 minutes on some other channel..

 

[ronjohn]

Techno-geeks? Please define. Maybe you are referring to a more educated audience with the ability to appreciate diversity and culture as well as enjoy programming reaching across decades of material and at the same time all age groups of viewers.

Content? The Voom channels have a lot of content. The fish tank was not Voom and has been gone for some time. Your football example is not about content, it is about affiliation based preference.

You sir must not watch Voom.

Most people do not know what OAR stands for. Most people do not know the difference between 1920x1080, 1280x720, and 720x480. Anyone who watches television based soley on technical aspects of the broadcast, I would say is a techno-geek. I don't, but I would label myself as a techno-geek based on my love of gadgets.

I do realize that the fish tank was not Voom. The football example was trying to illustrate that most people watch for content that interests them, not anything with a good picture. Voom does have some good content, but at least on their movie channels, they play the same two movies over, and over, and over.

I do watch Monsters and KungFu.

There are other niche stations. Discovery has marathons of MythBusters. I can get up on Sunday morning and watch MythBusters from 9am to 9pm, but I am able to watch 12 different episodes, not 2 repeating episodes.

I currently pay for the Voom channels, and do not want them to disappear. My point is that with the explosion of channels and material in HD, Voom has to raise their level of content. It is not good enough any longer to just be HD. There are more stations with content more compelling to the average viewer that are also in HD. If I have a choice of watching Law and Order in HD or watching a Zatoichi movie for the fourth time, I will choose Law and Order.

 

[8bitbytes]

...My point is that with the explosion of channels and material in HD, Voom has to raise their level of content. It is not good enough any longer to just be HD. There are more stations with content more compelling to the average viewer that are also in HD. If I have a choice of watching Law and Order in HD or watching a Zatoichi movie for the fourth time, I will choose Law and Order.

Ok, I'm with you there. Thanks for the quality reply.

 

[bradley2]

Do consider the following...

Cablevision / Rainbow Media is Voom, AMC, IFC, and now Sundance, just to name a few of the movie channels in its folio. Most films shown on IFC and AMC are rotated through Voom. With the addition of Sundance to Rainbow Media there should be, given time, an influx of new films added to Voom's overall movie catalogue.

I think Dish's official announcement with intent to end its relationship with Voom is absolutely ridiculous. It's one of the sole reasons I have remained with Dish.

I contacted a Dish corporate executive this morning and voiced my concerns, including my potential intent to migrate to Direct if they did indeed drop the Voom line-up. I also discussed the aforementioned and potential issues with alienating Cablevision / Rainbow Media and jeopardizing their relationship regarding other Rainbow Media channels. They tried schmoozing me, but I made quite evident, once Voom is gone, Dish will no longer be unique to me, as far as HD programming.

Only time will tell.

 

[charlesrshell]

Do consider the following...

Cablevision / Rainbow Media is Voom, IFC, and now Sundance, just to name a few of the movie channels in its folio. Most films shown on IFC are rotated through Voom. With the addition of Sundance to Rainbow Media there should be, given time, an influx of new films added to Voom's overall movie catalogue.

I think Dish's official announcement with intent to end its relationship with Voom is absolutely ridiculous. It's one of the sole reasons I have remained with Dish.

I contacted a Dish corporate executive this morning and voiced my concerns, including my potential intent to migrate to Direct if they did indeed drop the Voom line-up. I also discussed the aforementioned and potential issues with alienating Cablevision / Rainbow Media and jeopardizing their relationship regarding other Rainbow Media channels. They tried schmoozing me, but I made quite evident, once Voom is gone, Dish will no longer be unique to me, as far as HD programming.

Only time will tell.

So what kinda vibes did you get from them about they are going to do?

 

[jeffmwknight]

Originally Posted by ronjohn
...My point is that with the explosion of channels and material in HD, Voom has to raise their level of content. It is not good enough any longer to just be HD. There are more stations with content more compelling to the average viewer that are also in HD. If I have a choice of watching Law and Order in HD or watching a Zatoichi movie for the fourth time, I will choose Law and Order.

See this is where the quote "different strokes for different folks" comes in. You would rather watch Law and Order and I would rather watch Zatoichi... even if it's the 10th time I've seen it. :>