My message:
Folks:
Please don't start reading this then send me that flimsy form letter that says what channels I can look at that sort of replace Voom. Those channels don't even come close.
It is now almost a week since the take down of the first 10 Vooms and a day less since the remaining 5 went away. Just the fact I know this shows I watched them alot.
My favorite channel the last few years was MonstersHD. Totally unedited horror movies and commercial free. Chiller is SD with commercials and very edited for space and content. Not even close as a replacement but I might watch some things there when it becomes available in HD later this year.
RaveHD was a close second. Commercial free and they played much more that I like than MHD does. Truly a great channel.
I occasionally watched Family Room HD, HDNews, Film Fest HD and RushHD and only once in a great while the others. I was starting to look at Voom Movies but we only had that a couple of weeks.
I understand that there are now legal problems between Voom and Dish Network as Voom was not spending enough on new programming. Yes, I agree it was bad from November 2007 bit it got better in April 2008. MonstersHD was doing 2 movies for a day or two before the movies would change. Yes we should be somewhat mad about that and I hope this whole mess is just a temporary thing. Voom did need a good swift kick in the a** over this!
I wouldn't mind a condensed version of the suite of channels but MonstersHD and RaveHD need to come back just as they were but with more programming and more premieres.
After a few days I just had to downgrade my service from HD Ultimate to HD Essentials as the only thing left there that I am somewhat interested in is HDNet Movies, MGM-HD and Universal HD. I know there are a few more totaling 7 channels but this level of channels are not worth $10.00 a month for me. Add Voom back and it would be worth it.
Most of the new channels are horrible. They are mostly HD upconverts of SD I rarely watch. CNN-HD and Sci-FiHD were good additions and I am looking forward to TWC-HD's real HD launch next month in their new studios.
Voom made Dish Network different from the rest of my TV provider options here in the NYC DMA. Cable would give me not only the "big 4" but add WWOR (MNT), WPIX (CW) and WNET (PBS) along with YES (both SD and HD), MSG, MSG+ both in HD and a full time SNY-HD (this channel does do HD 24/7). I found Voom to be more important to me than this and that is also why I recently upgraded to a ViP722 (I love this DVR) but I would have never done it if I saw this coming. Now I am locked in to a DIU agreement that won't expire for another 13 months.
The way you did it was a dirty trick to subscribers as well. No warning and no mention of anything. The only thing I could think of doing was first I called, then I e-mailed the normal contact us way on the Dish Network site, I did the same to Voom and got their response that it was your decision to remove them and then I e-mailed the remainder of the channels at the Ultimate level about this group of channels not being worth $10.00 extra to me but I did occasionally watch them.
Don't let DirecTV make you think about "the channels you never heard of". I heard of them before they even came to Dish and I was considering the switch but then they went belly up only to be picked up by Dish in a condensed form. I think it was 21 Voom original channels went down to 10. Can the 10 come back? Even that was great! Even 5 if MonstersHD and RaveHD came back in the same form.
May I suggest ideas for the rest?
1. Voom Movies - combines Film Fest, World Cinema, Kung Fu (at night) and what the new Voom Movies was starting to do.
2. Voom Family - combines Animania, Family Room, Rush and Game Play and maybe a 1 hour news show in the morning and early evening replacing HDNews. World Sport on weekends maybe?
3. Voom Lifestyles - combines Gallery, Treasure, Equator and Ultra could be combined.
Add MonstersHD and RaveHD and here are 5 channels. I am sure this would satisfy all the Voom fans and if what they wanted to watch wasn't on when they wanted it, hey, isn't that what DVR's are for?
Again, I hope this is just a temporary thing as has happened with a few channels in the past. Please bring Voom back and bring them back soon. Please.
XXXXX XXXXX
Liberty, NY
Their response..
Dear Customer,
Thank you for your e-mail. A formal complaint has been recorded.
We understand that this was a channel that you enjoyed and now it is unavailable. Just like any major network show, which can be canceled or discontinued based on ratings; we have to assess programming value from time to time.
Your feedback will help determine what new HD channels we launch in the near future. We have an aggressive plan for 2008, and part of this transition is bringing you over 100 HD channels in the coming months, the programming possibilities in our HD line-up are endless.
Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you.
Sincerely,
DISH Network E-Care
