Cablevision said in its statement that the agreement with Charles and Tom Dolan to keep Voom operating expires on March 31, 2005. A company spokesman declined to comment on what options would remain for the service if no agreement to keep Voom alive is reached by that time.
The NEXT HURDLE - 3/31/05
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I guess it is an excuse these day to continue the service when just a few days ago, some were dancing on Voom's grave and the Voom customers were lamenting that their website was gone.
It seems some us do not understand that decisions like this are not made on a couple of hours as there too many parts to the puzzle. Yes, it is another extension but unlike the first extension, this one is coming from Charles Dolan who has committed his money to continue service. Voom will not be running like today without him.
Take the other scenario if he hasn't negotiated this temporary agreement. Would anyone (except for those that have been praising the death of VOOM) prefer the death option instead? no more channels, layoffs, no new orders, nothing... nada. It may all end on 3/31/05 but this agreement tells me that there's a bigger commitment than before. We'll see again what happens on 3/31/05.
Disclaimer: not stating that it would not end on 3/31/05 but this is better than shutdown VOOM today for those who care.
It seems some us do not understand that decisions like this are not made on a couple of hours as there too many parts to the puzzle. Yes, it is another extension but unlike the first extension, this one is coming from Charles Dolan who has committed his money to continue service. Voom will not be running like today without him.
Take the other scenario if he hasn't negotiated this temporary agreement. Would anyone (except for those that have been praising the death of VOOM) prefer the death option instead? no more channels, layoffs, no new orders, nothing... nada. It may all end on 3/31/05 but this agreement tells me that there's a bigger commitment than before. We'll see again what happens on 3/31/05.
Disclaimer: not stating that it would not end on 3/31/05 but this is better than shutdown VOOM today for those who care.
On the contrary Sean... we understand full well what another extension means. It means that they still don't have a deal. It's great Chuck is paying the bill himself, and I do see that as a positive step. But I continue to be troubled by the fact that it will apparently take a deal with E* to pull it off, and that things still seem so up in the air. Just my opinion.
Sean...you are being so careful and I can see why. Events just seem to turn at every corner to be absolute at this point. It is a big step that has been taken. Not the definitive but there are a lot of loose ends. Still Echostar seems to still be a player. One way or the other, Chuck has to find a solution.
madpoet said:
E* has been thrown into all of this by mere speculation. Could this turn to be right? it may be. But let's not jump to that conclusion either. It is not yet all known what the significance of alll of this. Too many variables in place and yet there are moving parts that have to be moved. Let's wait for more information.
It seems to me that even those who want voom to live tend to become doubters over time until a press release reassuring everyone. Those that don't care about voom or the voom doomers out there are probably pissed off now do to the fact that cablevision is willing to work with Charles & Tom to sucessfully seperate voom from cablevision without shutting it down and cablevision incurring additional losses. I belive this is why Charles brought in these new board members. They like money and don't intend to lose any of it, and since they're all media moguals then they know what it's like to run a media business like cablevision/voom. For those who become doubters over time after way to much thought is put into the matter, look at history. Everytime Voom could have been shut down in the middle of the night, Charles Dolan stepped in. History, good history will repeat itself and it has the right to. This is going to work out, in my opinion no matter HOW DARK IT GETS.
How many Corporate finance experts on the Forum? How many of you have put together deals involving hundreds of millions with similar comlpicated scenarios?
I'm just trying to get an understanding of your timeline perspectives. Seems the negative comments come from folks who feel deals of this size should happen almost overnight and I'm curious about their points of reference.
I'm just trying to get an understanding of your timeline perspectives. Seems the negative comments come from folks who feel deals of this size should happen almost overnight and I'm curious about their points of reference.
Sean Mota said:
Cablevision was going to shut down Voom on 3/31/05 as previously announced on the Voom website. The 3/31/05 date is still the shutoff date if Dolan doesnt get a deal done. The end point is the same. Same hurdle, same problem.
cfarm said:
I don't know about a deal involving hundreds of millions of dollars, but a partnership of mine just closed a deal with another partnership to sell about $2.5MM worth of land we had. It took weeks and weeks of discussions, negotiations, faxing back and forth paperwork and "due diligence" research, etc. And that is small change compared to this deal.
However, I think the biggest thing to look at is the fact that Dolan is putting up his own money. This man did not build an empire by throwing tens of millions of dollars away. If anybody thinks you become as rich as him by doing something that stupid, raise your hand right now.
No?
Didn't think so.
There are obviously logistical problems to be worked out, but to commit that kind of money--FROM HIS OWN POCKET--shows that he is extremely confident that Voom will live in a profitable and QUALITY form.
But that's just my opinion.
James and the board virtually doomed Voom by selling its Bird, No Bird, No Voom. Dish got a great deal, and I would be surprised to see Dish let it go. They may be nice
and let Charles lease space on it for a bit, but this is a direct competitor, so I doubt it.
James might of sealed Vooms fate as he wanted. If Charles Dolan and Charlie Ergen are good friends, something might happen, otherwise, I think the end is near.
I am expecting an install this week, and I will go through with it, I hope things work out, but things do not look real good.
Without help, I do not see Charles able to foot the bill for this long. Even if he sells CVC.
and let Charles lease space on it for a bit, but this is a direct competitor, so I doubt it.
James might of sealed Vooms fate as he wanted. If Charles Dolan and Charlie Ergen are good friends, something might happen, otherwise, I think the end is near.
I am expecting an install this week, and I will go through with it, I hope things work out, but things do not look real good.
Without help, I do not see Charles able to foot the bill for this long. Even if he sells CVC.
cfarm said:
Overnight????, Hell, they were pissed when they didn't have an answer Monday @ 4:30.
Totally agree with this post. The selling of the bird is the biggie. Maybe to Jimmy it was the flipping of the bird.sprintcarcrazy said:
vurbano said:
True
vurbano said:
This is your interpretation. It could be an outcome but it is not the ONLY one!
Sean Mota said:
where is the announcement stating that Voom will be operating in April? There isnt one. There could be but there isnt one yet.( using the word yet in the previous sentence may be a little optimistic too). But thats all speculation. All we know for sure is that the cutoff date is officially 3/31/05.
sprintcarcrazy said:
This is a valid point. However, let’s not forget that sale is still pending and requires FCC approval. And approval of the sale is not a certainty.
vurbano said:
vurbano- I've seen you post this pessimism over and over and over in many threads. It is obvious that with repeated explanation, you just don't seem to grasp the difference. So, let me try with an analogy-
There is a switch on a VOOM light that is to be thrown to off position with a timer set to trigger on March 31st 2005.
Now in case 1 the timer was set and NOBODY is allowed to mess with the timer to prevent it from shutting down on March 31st. This is a guaranteed event.
In Case 2 the same timer is accessable now to Charles and Tom Dolan to go in with a plan to stop that timer from shutting off the light on March 31st.
I agree with you that the date and timer is still there and ticking away. But you need to understand that there is a significant difference in that now, two people have the opportunity to prevent that timer from tripping.
The hurdle is indeed different because now Dolan's have the blessing of the Board to go after a plan with vigor while before they had to risk doing this without the boards permission which looked like a conflict of interest and not doing what the board decided. That was the point of the letter last week. For the next 3 weeks Dolans may do what they need to do without interferrence from the Son James or the other board members.
Will they be able to pull it off? Now that is a question worth discussion but your fixation that there has been nothing different with this new plan is just not so. If you still can't figure this out then I suggest you take leave of this forum for about 21 days and just go watch your VOOM channels, come back and find out what happened.
________________
To those who are fixed on the misconception that VOOM is DOOMED because E* has an agreement to buy the uplink and bird and get the licenses- Consider this- You have no clue as to the satellite technology and options that are possible. You don't know how to think creatively a.k.a. out of the box. You are in the same camp as those a few years ago that claimed D* could not squeeze any more HDTV channels than their PPV and demo channel. Back then you people couldn't think creatively and you still can't today. But not to worry, there are plenty of creative thinkers that will keep the planet spinning for you so why not just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their gift to you and stop worrying that the last innovation possible was thought up yesterday!
