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 $$$ for good service. There may not be all that many of us, but we are very a desirable demographic to any provider.
We can pretty safely assume that Chuck D. has a renewed vigor to not only stomp all over Ergen, but also to prove Jim D. and most of the Cablevision stockholders that he was right all along, and they were just a little too antsy.
We've been told that the HD-DVR, which I think most of us will agree is the "killer app" that could have really brought Voom mainstream with some legs, is just about ready to come out of the oven.
Now, do we really think that Chuck D. is going to meekly fade into the background, given what's happened? The man was like Captain Ahab chasing Moby Voom.
I know we haven't heard so much as a peep about "what's next" officially, but consider that that may well be a condition of the shutdown. Until the service is discontinued and the Rainbow DBS division is dissolved, perhaps there's a gag order in place to alleviate any perception of continuity or connection with Cablevision for a future endeavor.
The customer database, the receivers in the field, the existing contracts with content providers, the HD-DVR development... is it not logical to assume these assets will be liquidated? And I wonder who the prospective buyers might be.
This brings me to my point (finally)... it may be many times cheaper for a new, independent entity like, say, Voom HD, LLC to acquire the liquidated assets of defunct Rainbow DBS circa 5/1/2005 as opposed to purchasing it as an existing, viable business.
Oh yeah... my glass is half-full. But I think we haven't heard the last from Chuck on this, one way or another.
We know that Cablevision as an organization wants to shed Rainbow DBS completely, severing all ties.
We know that there are ~50,000 customers with equipment in the field, most of whom are high-end customers willing to pay serious $$$ 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.