Voom: D-Day & Beyond?

[cracka]

We all know what Chuck D. thinks about Voom's ultimate viability; he really put his business and reputation on the line fighting for it. His track record of bucking the "smart money" isn't bad, either.

We know that Cablevision as an organization wants to shed Rainbow DBS completely, severing all ties.

We know that there are ~50,000 customers with equipment in the field, most of whom are high-end customers willing to pay serious $$$ for good service. There may not be all that many of us, but we are very a desirable demographic to any provider.

We can pretty safely assume that Chuck D. has a renewed vigor to not only stomp all over Ergen, but also to prove Jim D. and most of the Cablevision stockholders that he was right all along, and they were just a little too antsy.

We've been told that the HD-DVR, which I think most of us will agree is the "killer app" that could have really brought Voom mainstream with some legs, is just about ready to come out of the oven.

Now, do we really think that Chuck D. is going to meekly fade into the background, given what's happened? The man was like Captain Ahab chasing Moby Voom.

I know we haven't heard so much as a peep about "what's next" officially, but consider that that may well be a condition of the shutdown. Until the service is discontinued and the Rainbow DBS division is dissolved, perhaps there's a gag order in place to alleviate any perception of continuity or connection with Cablevision for a future endeavor.

The customer database, the receivers in the field, the existing contracts with content providers, the HD-DVR development... is it not logical to assume these assets will be liquidated? And I wonder who the prospective buyers might be.

This brings me to my point (finally)... it may be many times cheaper for a new, independent entity like, say, Voom HD, LLC to acquire the liquidated assets of defunct Rainbow DBS circa 5/1/2005 as opposed to purchasing it as an existing, viable business.

Oh yeah... my glass is half-full. But I think we haven't heard the last from Chuck on this, one way or another.

 

[DevOne]

We already heard from Chuck. He voted "Yes" to shutdown Voom. The deal CVC made him was as sweet as it gets. He couldn't get the funding. He wasn't about to risk his own money despite many rumblings. He decided to end it all before he had to pay dime 1 out of pocket. In the end, The Dolan/Voom saga provided a story more compelling than any piece of content on Voom21 or other networks for that matter. Sad to say, many great employees who poured the hearts into Voom were left to rot by the wayside.

I don't know what Rainbow Media plans to do with Voom21, but I know it will NOT exist in its current form. No MSO is going to provide the bandwith needed to a channel that is essentially looping two HD movies. I really loved RAVE-HD, Equator-HD, and WorldSport, but the content is covered somewhat by HDNet and inHD. I bet Voom21 folds before getting a single carry. I mean, not even CVC themselves committed to Voom21 carriage.

I don't like it either. However, stick a fork in it. Voom in all forms is done. I just hope HDNet Films does a project on this story. I'd pay $10 to see the real dirt.

 

[BLW]

I would not stick a fork into C. Dolan being done as an independent High defintion DBS provider until the FCC allows the transfer of the frequencies that Echostar is trying to purchase from CVC. If the FCC denies the sale, the satellite sale is quashed as well. C.Dolan is on record at the FCC of opposing the sale. I think he was silent or voted yes (less likely) to shut down Voom because he is willing to see the outcome of the FCC decision before he moves forward. This may be wishfull thinking on my part, but I still think that everyone is overlooking, the yet to come outcome of the FCC decision on the sale. Do remember that the FCC has a placed a 4 year moratorium on Echostar from acquiring the other frequencies at the 61.5 location. I am by no means an expert , or for that matter even remotely familiar with this area of ferderal law. I am just kind of tired of no one really thinking that the FCC may NOT AGREE with sale going forward and if they do not, what are the possibilities of a new dbs provider stepping forward, perhaps C.Dolan with his loyal son Tom.

 

[DevOne]

Charles Dolan petitioned the FCC to block transfer of said transponders prior to CVC and Voom LLC's announced shutdown. By the time the FCC rules on the transfer of assets, Voom will have been long gone, and Dolan's petition will be moot. Echostar merely needs to point out Charles Dolan *himself* voted to cease operations. Seeing as there are no competitors to challenge Echostar's bid, I expect the FCC to unanimously approve this sale. Who else can/will buy it? Chuck had his chance and went as a dog with a lot of bark, but zero bite.

Had Time Warner let Charles Dolan bring his idea to fruition, Home Box Office would have died the moment the MPAA protested. Good thing Time Warner did it on their own.

 

[cracka]

Charles Dolan petitioned the FCC to block transfer of said transponders prior to CVC and Voom LLC's announced shutdown. By the time the FCC rules on the transfer of assets, Voom will have been long gone, and Dolan's petition will be moot. Echostar merely needs to point out Charles Dolan *himself* voted to cease operations. Seeing as there are no competitors to challenge Echostar's bid, I expect the FCC to unanimously approve this sale.

Doesn't matter.

My point was that the shutdown of Rainbow DBS's Voom operation could be seen as beneficial for an independent entity that wants to acquire those assets.

The obvious argument against my suggestion is that you're alienating your existing customers by putting them through this shutdown ringer without any mention of picking service back up by "new management" shortly thereafter.

However, it also makes it much easier to make a fresh start of things. New company, new brand, new marketing strategy, and a slew of expensive lessons learned by the marketing and occasional technical fiascos the first time around, all for much lower cost of entry, since you're acquiring liquidated assets and not an operating entity. You also have a head start on "starting up", since some percentage of the previous customer base will gladly sign up again because they had made their choice previously of the other players in the market, and chose none of the above.

The approval or denial of sale of Rainbow 1 has no bearing on this potentiality. The new venture would send a tech out to each prior lease customer's address, where he would either uninstall & pick up the equipment, or simply re-aim the existing dish to AMC-6. Oh, and slap a new logo on it, perhaps.

Is this a lark? Yes. But there is an opportunity, lark or not.

 

[Truggy]

I sure hope so, that thought does ease me a little.
I would jump on something like that. Hell I would turn that damn thing myself, if I were going to get similar Voom Service.....Sign me up!....(please)...LOL