VOOM Satellite Service to Dramatically Increase to Over 70 HD channels by March 2005

[Bruce]

http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1289606/000095012304013096/y01114a4e10v12bza.txt

Ok,this is what it said in the last SEC report 11-5-04:

We originally contemplated transferring to MPEG-4 compression technology in
the first quarter of 2005 for standard definition programming and in the fourth
quarter of 2005 for high definition programming. That timing is now under
review. We currently anticipate that we will obtain additional capacity from
further advances in MPEG-2 technology beginning in the first quarter of 2005. We now expect to transition to MPEG-4 compression no earlier than September 2005 for standard definition programming and sometime early in 2006 for high definition programming.

Then it said this:

The additional transponder capacity we have acquired through our lease on
Americom-6 will give us the capability using MPEG-2 compression to offer 27 high-definition and 116 standard definition channels, or some similar
combination of standard and high-definition channels.

now this:
over of existing customers to the new larger antennas or the addition of a
second antenna. We have placed an initial order for 5,000 of the new larger dish antennas. We have not yet specified, or sought proposals from manufacturers

If 30,000 Voom subs needs to see the bird for all these new channels why only order 5000?
And who did they order them from if they have not "sought proposals from manufacturers"?'

 

[techweb]

All of this "pie-in-the-sky" sounds great, but------IMHO. no single stationary dish can pick up multiple sats spread from 69 deg all the way over to 129 deg.

Maybe they intend 129 for the left coast since getting 61.5 is iffy now.

 

[CraziFuzzy]

That is what the press release implies, that they will have whole country coverage. The extra bandwidth on the Americom-6 (Rainbow-2) sattelite will provide for extra channels in approximately the same direction, this is the claim of 70+ in March '05. The other Sats they are ordering for production in the coming years, are for more whole country coverage, operated in beam mode (so different areas recieve a select beam, with set locals in that area and such.) keep in mind these are just my interpretations of the press release, and not actual plans.

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

now this:
over of existing customers to the new larger antennas or the addition of a
second antenna. We have placed an initial order for 5,000 of the new larger dish antennas. We have not yet specified, or sought proposals from manufacturers

If 30,000 Voom subs needs to see the bird for all these new channels why only order 5000?
And who did they order them from if they have not "sought proposals from manufacturers"?'

They ordered 5,000 because they are in "limited testing" of the big dish and 5,000 is likely a minimum order. They will test to see how well it works and deals with rain fade. If it seems like a go, then they will contact manufacturers for a bid to make the dishes.

 

[slacker9876]

That is great news for Voom and Voomers! I (like others) would like to know where they plan to crap and additional 30 channels from in 4 months but I am sure just like Senator Kerry ... they have a plan. LOL! I had to get that in.

This would be huge for the entire HD spectrum including Dish and Direc. Someone has said RSN's, and that makes the most sense since that is all that is really out there. For people like me live sports provide the best HD value anyway. I mean It is nice that Law & Order is in HD, but sports are the king to TV. If they were to add say Cinema 11-30 (chuckle) they had better plan on getting some good movies to run.

Competition would be great ... HD in to the limelight

 

[Ricknau]

What I'd like to see (and I don't think anybody ever talks about this) is better SD picture quality. I love my HD but sometimes (a lot of times) you have to watch SD. My set can freeze frame the picture which allows me to count the horizontal lines. Almost all the SD channels look like they are 240 lines of resolution with blurring tricks used to fill everything in. If they now have more bandwidth how 'bout using it to make the SD look better.

 

[FredOh]

Voomer's WOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHS! continues. Gee a company on the verge of closing it's door per some of the posters here sure had alot of nerve smokin D* and E* again. Thanks Mr. Dolan.

IN other news, D* counters with another shopping channel, and Univision2. Sarcasm

 

[DarrellP]

IN other news, D* counters with another shopping channel, and Univision2.

OMG! Forget Voom, I'm signing up with D* tomorrow. Gotta have those Espanol & Shopping channels, you know! :shocked

 

[Walter L.]

OMG! Forget Voom, I'm signing up with D* tomorrow. Gotta have those Espanol & Shopping channels, you know! :shocked

I'm a spanish language speaker. I guess they're trying to get me to switch. BTW, the correct word is Español, not Espanol.

 

[The Stone Man]

Caramba. No sueno, hombre.

 

[pinkey2u]

Very Interesting

Well, this is a big move for Voom if this happens this coming March. I also agree with some of you that have mentioned that E* may try to buy out Voom. If both happens come next March or before next summer and D* does not have the added LIL HD top 50 plus their suggested gains in overall HD, I may drop my subscription with D* and pick up Voom, Voom-E* or E*...or whatever it becomes. It just depends on what becomes of this by next summer. As far as D*, I am getting tired of the rumors I keep getting about their HD plans for the future.
Here North of Seattle we do not have O&O network TV stations and could only get a couple of HD stations OTA the last time I tried about three years ago and that means no national HD stations are available to us.

 

[calikarim]

voom may buy dish is this happens

Forget Dish buying Voom, if voom gets 70 HD channels by March and 200 SD channels, the capacity for 5000 HD channels in 34 months, hell voom will get millions of subscribers and Voom may be buying Dish. Charlie Ergen may be on the unemployment line. Voom is a flower waiting to bud, when the revolution takes tread , millions will join voom, the HD revolution is only starting with millions of Americans just ready to buy HD sets. It will jump from 20 millions sets sold today to 70 million sets in 3 years. 50 million subscribers up for grabs.

 

[slick1ru2]

That would be indeed priceless slick1ru2. Unless you don't want much, where do you get what you want?

Well, right now at 9 AM I am watching House in HD on my Comcast DVR. Last week at this time, I was watching it in SD from my DirecTiVo. And yesterday I discovered the joys of VOD. So, maybe a little Tony Soprano next or some highlights from any of the NFL games from last weekend. Or, INHD's In Theater preview show I recorded last night. Priceless. Oh, and no contract and actually $10/month less then VA-VA-Voom (which I was combining with DirecTiVo at a total of $160/month). So when Hell freezes over, or Voom actually puts out an HD DVR and gets 700 gazillion channels, I'll just pick up the phone and sign up again.

 

[seandudley]

Hell already froze over when Fox went HD.

 

[Sean Mota]

Where are the Wall Street Financial Wizards?

I was wondering when the skeptics of Wall Street would chime in. Here's the first article that quotes the Wall Street brilliant minds of the Enron fiasco.

Source

Despite widespread doubts on Wall Street that the company will ever succeed, the Voom nationwide satellite TV service operated by Cablevision has signed a deal for Lockheed Martin to build five more satellites.

Voom, which launched one satellite and began service last year, also said Monday it will expand its current 39 high-definition channels to more than 70 next March and will expand its 88-channel standard-definition lineup by nearly 200 channels.

The first of the new satellites will be launched around September 2007, according to Rainbow Media Enterprises, a unit of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Meanwhile, Jericho-based Voom will use satellite capacity it leases from SES Americom to expand its channel lineup.

"The increase in Voom's HDTV channels from 39 to more than 70 will allow us to continue to provide more high-definition video services than any other cable or satellite provider," said Tom Dolan, chief executive of Rainbow. He said Voom will have more than 400 channels by the end of 2005.

Prudential Equity analyst Katherine Styponias questioned how Voom would pay for the new satellites, which she said would cost between $250 million and $300 million apiece. She said Voom, which has $1 billion in borrowing capacity, is burning through $75 million per quarter.

As part of its successful bid for satellite licenses, Cablevision was required by the Federal Communications Commission to have a deal by this month to build so-called Ka-band satellites. The Voom deal fulfills part of this requirement.

Voom, which has been battling technical and marketing problems, had 26,000 customers as of Sept. 30, compared with 28,700 on Aug. 31.

"We continue to be skeptical of Voom's viability," Styponias said in a research note.

 

[tdillon]

I already get PBS HD. So why would they ad a channel I already get?

Do you think that there MIGHT be somebody else that CAN'T get PBS HD and who might think it would be NICE to be able to get this channel? I really doubt that Voom decides what to offer their subscriber base based on what FreddyvsJasonvsAsh can receive off the air.

 

[Ilya]

Almost all the SD channels look like they are 240 lines of resolution with blurring tricks used to fill everything in. If they now have more bandwidth how 'bout using it to make the SD look better.

SD is always 240 lines. It's called 480 Interlaced!

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

Do you think that there MIGHT be somebody else that CAN'T get PBS HD and who might think it would be NICE to be able to get this channel? I really doubt that Voom decides what to offer their subscriber base based on what FreddyvsJasonvsAsh can receive off the air.

I didn't mean for it to sound rude or sarcastic. I was just asking. But it was answered already

 

[Sean Mota]

another spin to news...

Source: subscription required

Source -no subscription required

Cablevision Systems Corp. said today its Rainbow DBS satellite television unit will buy $740 million worth of satellites from defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.

Lockheed will construct five satellites for Cablevision and provide related equipment, software and training, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The satellites will be delivered over a period from 38 months to 50 months after the deal closes.

Rainbow DBS, which operates the VOOM satellite TV service, expects the cost for the five satellites to be $740 million, subject to certain adjustments and not including launch costs.

Rainbow DBS said existing cash on hand will be sufficient to make all required payments under the contract through the first year, estimated to be $48 million.

Rainbow DBS hasn't identified the funding sources it will use for the payments due after the first year, but the cable TV and entertainment giant Cablevision has said it plans to spin off the unit, which also includes the television channels AMC, The Independent Film Channel, WE: Women's Entertainment and the Mag Rack.

Source

Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Fulcrum Partners, has been particularly vehement in his criticism of Voom, calling it a "black hole" and a "money pit" in a recent report.

 

[FreddyvsJasonvsAsh]

maybe DISH is the source?