R
Robert
Guest
Original poster
Voom's on pic boom
Sun Nov 7,11:15 AM ET
John Dempsey, Variety Staff
Chuck Dolan's high-definition programming service called Voom has
bought exclusive high-definition rights to 193 movies from Miramax
Films and its Dimension Pictures sibling for a total license fee of
$10 million-$15 million.
Voom offers its subscribers 38 HD channels, including 10 movie
services featuring a range of content from Westerns to foreign films
to black-and-white classics.
The movies in the deal include 64 martial-arts pictures starring
such action veterans as Jet Li, Jackie Chan (news), Bruce Lee and
Chow Yun Fat (news - web sites). Foreign-language titles make up 28
more movies, led by "Amelie" and "Farewell My Concubine."
Four pictures are listed as representative of the English-language
grouping from Miramax/Dimension: "Clerks," "Prophecy II," "The
Picture Bride" and Woody Allen (news)'s "Celebrity."
Profit in doubt
Despite the deal, many Wall Street analysts are skeptical of Voom's
profit-making potential. Voom's parent company Cablevision Systems
is still planning to spin it off into a separate operation along
with AMC, WE: Women's Entertainment, IFC and a batch of regional
sports networks, all of which are part of Dolan's Rainbow Media
Enterprises.
The reason analysts have doubts about Voom is that only 28,700
households have signed up for the service in the past year,
according to Cablevision, which said Voom lost $72 million in the
second quarter alone.
People aren't feverishly signing up for Voom because the
installation and rental of the satellite dish can cost as much as
$499. That's only for starters. Voom sets its monthly rental fee for
the digital box at $9.50, and the combination of 21 HD channels and
85 basic-cable networks cost subscribers an additional $49.90 a
month. The full package, encompassing all of the HD channels, has an
$89.90-a-month pricetag. (Among the ad-supported networks not
available to Voom customers are Lifetime, the Weather Channel, HGTV,
Food Network, TV Guide Channel, Golf Channel and National Geographic
(news - web sites) Channel.)
Other outlets
Since DirecTV and EchoStar are adding lots of high-def services to
their offerings, Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Fulcrum Global
Partners, said satellite customers don't need Voom to satisfy their
hankering for HD programming.
But Rick Sands, chief operating officer of Miramax, said the
naysayers have underestimated Cablevision in the past.
"Chuck Dolan is a creative visionary who has the guts to compete in
the early stages of what will be a great concept," Sands said. "High-
definition television has proven to be the most desirable medium
through which viewers can enjoy a filmmaker's vision as it was meant
to be seen."
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/EyMolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VOOM/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
VOOM-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Sun Nov 7,11:15 AM ET
John Dempsey, Variety Staff
Chuck Dolan's high-definition programming service called Voom has
bought exclusive high-definition rights to 193 movies from Miramax
Films and its Dimension Pictures sibling for a total license fee of
$10 million-$15 million.
Voom offers its subscribers 38 HD channels, including 10 movie
services featuring a range of content from Westerns to foreign films
to black-and-white classics.
The movies in the deal include 64 martial-arts pictures starring
such action veterans as Jet Li, Jackie Chan (news), Bruce Lee and
Chow Yun Fat (news - web sites). Foreign-language titles make up 28
more movies, led by "Amelie" and "Farewell My Concubine."
Four pictures are listed as representative of the English-language
grouping from Miramax/Dimension: "Clerks," "Prophecy II," "The
Picture Bride" and Woody Allen (news)'s "Celebrity."
Profit in doubt
Despite the deal, many Wall Street analysts are skeptical of Voom's
profit-making potential. Voom's parent company Cablevision Systems
is still planning to spin it off into a separate operation along
with AMC, WE: Women's Entertainment, IFC and a batch of regional
sports networks, all of which are part of Dolan's Rainbow Media
Enterprises.
The reason analysts have doubts about Voom is that only 28,700
households have signed up for the service in the past year,
according to Cablevision, which said Voom lost $72 million in the
second quarter alone.
People aren't feverishly signing up for Voom because the
installation and rental of the satellite dish can cost as much as
$499. That's only for starters. Voom sets its monthly rental fee for
the digital box at $9.50, and the combination of 21 HD channels and
85 basic-cable networks cost subscribers an additional $49.90 a
month. The full package, encompassing all of the HD channels, has an
$89.90-a-month pricetag. (Among the ad-supported networks not
available to Voom customers are Lifetime, the Weather Channel, HGTV,
Food Network, TV Guide Channel, Golf Channel and National Geographic
(news - web sites) Channel.)
Other outlets
Since DirecTV and EchoStar are adding lots of high-def services to
their offerings, Richard Greenfield, an analyst with Fulcrum Global
Partners, said satellite customers don't need Voom to satisfy their
hankering for HD programming.
But Rick Sands, chief operating officer of Miramax, said the
naysayers have underestimated Cablevision in the past.
"Chuck Dolan is a creative visionary who has the guts to compete in
the early stages of what will be a great concept," Sands said. "High-
definition television has proven to be the most desirable medium
through which viewers can enjoy a filmmaker's vision as it was meant
to be seen."
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/EyMolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VOOM/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
VOOM-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
