Voom to vanish (in the US). This time for good.

[Ken H]

Rainbow Pulls Plug On Voom HD Service

Shutting Down Suite of 15 Networks

By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News

Rainbow Media Holdings, blaming a loss of carriage on Dish Network and the expected lengthy litigation stemming from that drop, is shutting down the domestic operations of its beleaguered Voom HD, its suite of 15 HD networks.

Dish Network had been the largest distributor of the Voom HD services, but it dropped them in May in a contract dispute with Rainbow. That left Voom HD with only one U.S. distributor, Rainbow parent Cablevision Systems Corp., which will replace the HD services, reportedly in late January when they go off.

Rainbow filed suit against Dish Network, seeking $1 billion for what it claimed was Dish’s violation of a 15-year carriage deal, and the tangled case remains in court.

In a memo to employees Thursday, Rainbow president and CEO Joshua Sapan blamed the suit and the scenario with Dish Network for leading to the demise of Voom HD domestically. The Voom HD operation, which includes two networks, will keep its international business running where it reaches 32 million subscribers in 36 countries.

“As you may have heard, Rainbow has made the difficult and painful decision to shut down the domestic operations of Voom, which regrettably will result in layoffs,” Sapan said in the memo. “Voom's domestic business was made possible through an affiliation agreement between Rainbow and EchoStar, which was established in 2005.”

“Unfortunately, earlier this year, a significant legal dispute arose with EchoStar (now known as Dish Network),” he added. “While that lawsuit is progressing, the expectation is that it will be at least a year before any sort of resolution is reached. Therefore, we have been evaluating different strategies and plans for Voom's domestic business.”

Said Sapan, “Unfortunately, as we analyzed the opportunities and challenges in the current environment and the lawsuit, it became clear that we can no longer operate Voom domestically, particularly without EchoStar fulfilling its obligations and providing its support. Some Voom staff will remain at Rainbow to manage the operation of Voom internationally, using our expertise in content development and the depth of our HD programming library to seek new distribution opportunities around the world.”

A Rainbow spokesperson confirmed that Voom’s domestic operation was being closed, but declined to comment further, or discuss how many employees will lose their jobs. But those staffers reportedly won’t have to leave for 60 days.

Cablevision will replace the 15 Voom networks with other HD channels, with that transition most likely coming in late January.

“We will replace these channels with other quality HD programming and there will be no reduction in the number of high-definition channels available to our iO TV customers,” a Cablevision spokesman said. “We currently offer 68 HD channels without any additional equipment or programming fees, unlike our competitors, and expect our HD lineup to continue to expand in the coming months.”

Earler this week, Scripps Networks announced that it had hired Voom HD general manager Greg Moyer as president of Scripps Networks International.

Glenn Oakley, senior vice president of business development at Voom, will take over the international operations for the HD service.

[Jim Shaffer]

Lies, all lies. Voom refused to uphold their contractual obligation to Dish, so Dish, not getting the programming it was paying for, dropped all but the most popular Voom channels. Voom then demanded that Dish remove those channels as well if they weren't going to carry the full suite. Voom then proceeded to sue Dish even though Voom was in the wrong, and it quickly became clear that Voom had no desire to resume carriage on Dish, only to attempt to extract money for nothing.

[fredfa]

I suspect the court will describe who is lying in this case.

But based on their behavior in recent years, it is hard to feel sorry for either of them.

And Dish's in court cases has been dismal this decade.

[DeathRay]

i don't get why it is that much more expensive to keep the domestic operations running if they are already doing it for international customers. unless they plan to just recycle existing content forever in foreign markets.

[Scott Greczkowski]

Originally Posted by Jim Shaffer

Lies, all lies. Voom refused to uphold their contractual obligation to Dish, so Dish, not getting the programming it was paying for, dropped all but the most popular Voom channels. Voom then demanded that Dish remove those channels as well if they weren't going to carry the full suite.

Bingo this is on the money. VOOM would still be alive and on Dish Network today if they let Dish carry the 5 channel suite that Dish wanted to keep. It should also be noted that Dish wanted the content from the other 10 dropped channels to be mxed in the remaining 5 channels.

VOOM did not want to change, and it cost them.

VOOM killed VOOM.

I miss Voom.

[Ken H]

Originally Posted by Jim Shaffer

Lies, all lies. Voom refused to uphold their contractual obligation to Dish, so Dish, not getting the programming it was paying for, dropped all but the most popular Voom channels.

I believe this is correct. As I understand it, Voom agreed to spend x dollars on programming when they did the original deal with Dish, and never came close to doing so.

[Rocka2]

I guess I am in the minority, but I sort of appreciated Voom the way it was. I am not a rocket scientist that is for sure, but if everyone appreciated Voom the way I did, it's programming would still be available to enjoy. Therefore I do not understand the critical attitude about Voom. I appreciate Dish Network for what they provide and because Voom could not survive as a stand alone service and it existed on Dish after it stopped existing as a stand alone service. Voom stand alone service did not have Dish's DVR, but Voom on Dish did. Right now without Voom, Dish has very little HD programming that differentiates it from cable, in fact Dish is missing about seven channels that are now on cable. Now Dish is just boring in the HD department and I have gotten where HD is the only thing that is enjoyable on TV to me anymore. What Dish has that is not on cable is probably less than five channels and two of the five outright suck. Though those numbers might not be exactly right I think they are close. I appreciate Dish because just think what it would be like without Dish we would really be in trouble. I do not like Direct TV. My feeling is Voom provided a lot of HD. I strongly disagree with what I keep hearing of as Dish's determination of what were the most popular Voom channels and keeping them and also people keep commenting that it would have been good to consolidate Voom. That would mean that when I wanted to watch what I wanted to watch I would Have to wait and hope it would get a turn on a limited number of channels. I would have fewer choices to pick from at any given time. Some of Dish's five most popular were my least popular so the concept of keeping their five really sucked and I must not have been considered in the selection process. I liked more channels. The whole idea of not appreciating Voom has resulted in the loss of a lot of good pay HD in my opinion.

[JimP]

Both satellite companies want to boast that they have the most HD and Voom was Dish's vehicle into making that claim. Once they got other HD channels going, they took the opportunity to cut cost by dropping Voom. Dish may have done this regardless, but Voom not putting the dollars into programming sure made it easier for Dish to have a justifiable reason for breaking the contract. I wonder how this affects the deal on Voom's 61.5 satellite that was turned over to Dish?

[btokars]

Originally Posted by Scott Greczkowski

...
I miss Voom.

As one of the original charter subscribers of VOOM, I knew this day would come. VOOM, when it started, was a bright and shining star in the emerging HD world. But it was doomed from the beginning for so many reasons - all of which have been discussed many times here on AVS.

VOOM was unique. VOOM had some wonderful programming. VOOM had great PQ (as a DBS service). VOOM was a never-ending soap opera of corporate and family struggles. VOOM is still missed in this household.

RIP, VOOM.

[Xylon]

When VOOM was on Dish years ago and transmitting at 1920 x 1080 17 mbps I spent a lot of money buying hard drives to archive their programmings. MonsterHD was my favorite.

[NetworkTV]

Originally Posted by Xylon

When VOOM was on Dish years ago and transmitting at 1920 x 1080 17 mbps I spent a lot of money buying hard drives to archive their programmings. MonsterHD was my favorite.

I'm pretty sure Voom was never a full 1920x1080 on Dish. However, for a while, the bit rate was well into the teens, so it still looked quite good. This was, of course, in contrast to D8 at the time, which was downrezzing AND bit starving - the combination of which really made for a poor product.

[CloudKind]

Is there any legal way of getting the Voom international feed in the US?


One of those huge sat dishes?

[NetworkTV]

Originally Posted by CloudKind

Is there any legal way of getting the Voom international feed in the US?


One of those huge sat dishes?

Probably not even with that. The feed is likely encrypted.

[JimP]

Wonder if you have one of the old Voom receivers and a 61.5 satellite dish?

Which raises another question. Whose satellite is Voom using?

[dfergie]

Originally Posted by JimP

Wonder if you have one of the old Voom receivers and a 61.5 satellite dish?

Which raises another question. Whose satellite is Voom using?

Dish network took control of Rainbow 1 at 61.5...

[Jim Shaffer]

Originally Posted by CloudKind

Is there any legal way of getting the Voom international feed in the US?


One of those huge sat dishes?

Bell ExpressVue, one of the Canadian DBS companies, used to carry a few channels. I don't know if they still do. You can apparently pick them up if you're far enough north and can get someone to lease you a Canadian address.

[spongyfungy]

Is it just me or does dish network have a 1000 lawsuits on its hands all the time?

[Ken H]

Originally Posted by CloudKind

Is there any legal way of getting the Voom international feed in the US?


One of those huge sat dishes?

Most likely not. Rainbow uplinks from North America, but the downlinks would be overseas. And this does not address possible encryption.

[Ken H]

Originally Posted by JimP

Wonder if you have one of the old Voom receivers and a 61.5 satellite dish?

As noted, the old Voom sat is now owned by Dish Network.

[HDMe2]

Originally Posted by Ken H

I believe this is correct. As I understand it, Voom agreed to spend x dollars on programming when they did the original deal with Dish, and never came close to doing so.

That's my understanding as well... but not only that, Voom was making single channel agreements with international customers who clearly did not want all 15 channels... but in the US they were only negotiating carriage of all 15. Only Dish and Cablevision, each part-owners, ever agreed to that. Dish actually wanted to keep some of the popular channels, but Voom took the "all or nothing" stance which also had kept them off DirecTV and other cable companies.

Voom needs to look in the mirror before they pack that up for storage.

[BeachComber]

Originally Posted by NetworkTV

I'm pretty sure Voom was never a full 1920x1080 on Dish. However, for a while, the bit rate was well into the teens, so it still looked quite good. This was, of course, in contrast to D8 at the time, which was downrezzing AND bit starving - the combination of which really made for a poor product.

Yes it was....or I should say, 3 channels were.

The only one that mattered was MonstersHD.

The other 2 no one cared about.

[Mr Magic]

Originally Posted by Rocka2

The whole idea of not appreciating Voom has resulted in the loss of a lot of good pay HD in my opinion.

No kidding. All the people that wanted VOOM off of Dish are now watching repeats of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and DOG THE BOUNTY in stretch-o-vision on their fancy plasmas and lcds. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[RemyM]

They already pulled the plug on VOOM HD News. According to my guide channel the rest of the VOOM channels will go away on 1/20/09.

[dm145]

Originally Posted by BeachComber

Yes it was....or I should say, 3 channels were.

The only one that mattered was MonstersHD.

The other 2 no one cared about.

just your opinion
everyone had there own favorite channels
mine was not MonstersHD
they were FilmFest and VoomMovies

We need to get over the misconception that everyone loved MonstersHD!

[NetworkTV]

Originally Posted by BeachComber

Yes it was....or I should say, 3 channels were.

Thanks for the clarification. I was pretty sure there was talk around here about how, despite them looking so good, they (or at least the majority of them) were running at something like 1440x1080.

It more or less made the case that bit rate was way more important than the actual resolution when it came to image quality.

[Bradock]

As a dish network subscriber, I got screwed as I made a two year commitment to Dish HD to get the HD DVR when they had excellent programming with the 15 Voom HD networks. Now I am left with crap! Contray to some of the people cheering the demise of Voom HD, I enjoyed their network. On Voom, I saw breathtaking photography and original programming not available anywhere else. Many of the so called HD channels now have bars on the sides of the picture, the programming is really SD and they carry the same old content. I wish Dish would get rid of the 50 or so networks that they have that just carry ads / infomercials and instead get some channels with worth while original content. However, they are too greedy. When my term is up, I am pulling the plug. Good luck to Voom / Rainbow on their lawsuit!

[dm145]

Originally Posted by Bradock

As a dish network subscriber, I got screwed as I made a two year commitment to Dish HD to get the HD DVR when they had excellent programming with the 15 Voom HD networks. Now I am left with crap! Contray to some of the people cheering the demise of Voom HD, I enjoyed their network. On Voom, I saw breathtaking photography and original programming not available anywhere else. Many of the so called HD channels now have bars on the sides of the picture, the programming is really SD and they carry the same old content. I wish Dish would get rid of the 50 or so networks that they have that just carry ads / infomercials and instead get some channels with worth while original content. However, they are too greedy. When my term is up, I am pulling the plug. Good luck to Voom / Rainbow on their lawsuit!

You went with Dish cause of Voom? Are you pulling the plug on your HDTV?

[BeachComber]

Originally Posted by dm145

You went with Dish cause of Voom? Are you pulling the plug on your HDTV?

I was about to sign up for the Dish HD @ $29. I had virtually all the other HD channels through better looking suppliers - just not Voom. I had a ViP IRD in place and there was no term contract as the equipment was mine, I was about to have it turned on, but that week they started their war with Voom, which ended badly for both imo.

So yes, they lost me as a potential sub to their HD Package when they dropped Voom.

Over the last 2 Quarters since they have dropped Voom, E* has made DBS history for loosing net subs in each quarter. Coincidence?

[sneals2000]

Originally Posted by Ken H

Most likely not. Rainbow uplinks from North America, but the downlinks would be overseas. And this does not address possible encryption.

Voom have a channel "Rush HD" which carries Extreme sports (mainly wintersports?) on the Sky Digital platform in the UK (it originally carried "Voom" branded content during testing)

There is also a "Voom HD" channel on the Canal Digital Scandinavian pay-TV platform - this time Voom branded.

Both are likely to be uplinked from within Europe. It wouldn't surprise me if Voom had subcontracted playout deals from Europe to do this - rather than playing out in the US and front-hauling to Europe via satellite/fibre. (I don't know if the 60i stuff is converted to 50i on playout or prior to transmission. Suspect the latter - cheaper to convert source tapes, fly them to Europe and playout from Europe? Or FTP/File transfer 50i video files from the US to Europe in non-real time?)

[Rammitinski]

Originally Posted by BeachComber

So yes, they lost me as a potential sub to their HD Package when they dropped Voom.

Same here. I was just about to upgrade to HD (Absolute) before they dropped VOOM.

The only reason I would be interested now (February, actually) is for a little better PQ and to save a few bucks (if it's still that way come February - but only if they still give you the SD equivalents for the majority of them like they have been, so I don't have to put up with that stretch-o-vision cr*p if I don't feel like it).