Voom Goes Boom In U.S.; Rainbow Cancels HD Service
Back in 2003, Voom, the brainstorm of Cablevision’s Charles Dolan, was the future of HD—at least on paper: a dedicated HD satellite service that would be far ahead of cable operators and other satellite providers. When that didn’t pan out, Voom became a programming service with 15 HD networks. Now, five years, hundreds of millions of dollars and very few customers later, Rainbow Media Holdings has admitted defeat and will shut down the service in the U.S. Multichannel News reports that Rainbow president and CEO Josh Sapan blamed a failed deal with Dish Network that left it with only Rainbow parent Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) as a domestic client—and a still-pending $1 billion lawsuit against Dish. Meanwhile, Voom HD’s two international networks appear to be doing well in Europe and Asia, where it has 32 million subs in 36 countries.
The concept was grand but the execution was almost completely flawed from the start, down to introducing the high-concept service and expensive set-up with Sears as exclusive retail partner. When I went to check it out for Wired.com, the store was showing a DVD demo instead of a live broadcast. Cable analyst Bruce Leichtman told me then it was like selling BMWs at a Hyundai dealer.
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Comments (10)
Jan 20, 2009 8:19 PM
<<Voom, the brainstorm of Cablevision’s Charles Dolan>>
How is it that VOOM HD was never offered on Time Warner Cable?
Charles Dolan’s brainstorms must be incredibly cloudy, didn’t he give the NY Knicks to his son James Dolan, to turn the team into the laughingstock of the NBA?
VOOM was a fantastic channel, Kung Fu HD, Monster HD, RAVE (music) programming, Equator HD, just phenomenal shows that I would spend a large portion of my viewing hours watching. In a flash, and without warning, it’s gone.
Of course, huge companies like Time Warner and Optimum Online don’t offer ala carte programming, so you can’t order these shows separately, you have to take the whole kit and kaboodle for an outrageous monthly fee, you have to rent your cable box and remote on a monthly basis instead of buying them outright, and you can only get one cable provider in one area, due to the monopoly that cable programming has turned into, thanks to the republicans at the FCC.
Amazing, how when you finally find something worthwhile to watch, it gets taken away from you. Thanks Charles!
Jan 20, 2009 9:50 PM
This totally sucks. The Voom channels were great and an intelligent alternative to so many other channels with tons of reality shows. what’s happening now? is Optimum going to reimburse viewers? are these channels completely gone in the US? we tried calling the cable company and waited a half an hour with no response.
Jan 20, 2009 10:43 PM
Well, What can I say but thanks once again cablevision. You and your garbage service has failed to follow through on programming promises. You say you have “free” HD programming?? What programming? I think you will now see customers go to Verizon FISO. News12 only on cablevision - who cares
Jan 20, 2009 11:30 PM
I’ve never had a problem with Cablevision in the more than 30 years I have been a subscriber.Pricey,yes but reliable and great programming.You have sent me over to Fios,with the removal of the voom network.Mainly the Rave Channel.Fios will be available in my town by the end of the year.See ya cable,and News 12 is garbage.You can’t be happy destroying the Knicks and Rangers,you have to destroy your Programming too!Good Riddance.
Jan 21, 2009 11:10 PM
I must admit - I think this country is truly in a depression. I can understand a bank not knowing how to handle funds (joking) but a network broadcast with such a great lineup of shows go bust? sad and pathetic.
Jan 22, 2009 4:05 PM
this is very sad. I was a customer of directv for 12 years , now im not saying that they are
great but that was one of the reasons i changed to cablevision because of the services provided and the free high def channels etc but WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PROMISSES AND THE FREE HIGH DEF CHANNELS??? IS CABLEVISION GOING TO GIVE US ANOTHER 15 HIGH DEF CHANNELS? OR THEY ARE GOING TO CHARGE US LESS ???? PLEASE DONT MAKE US WAIT IN VANE OR GIVE US STUPID ESCUSES .
I HOPE YOU COULD FIX THE PROBLEM WITH VOOM CHANNEL BECAUSE IS A GREAT CHANNEL AND WONDERFULL HIGH DEF .
Jan 23, 2009 6:12 AM
( ( ( ((Now that Voom is out of the picture Cablevision “sucks”)) ) ) )
Gallery HD (GALHD) surly will be missed by all the art enthusiasts that watched it religiously “I can testify to being one of them”.Shows like (Move on Asia)(Behind the Camera) and (Art land) were my favorite and all I ever watched. Now that their gone ill certainly be looking around for something comparable. Voom brought the world to you, similar to traveling without moving like in the movie DOOM. If you have an hd/LCD/tv with 1080p and voom on it, you know what I’m talking about. Like milk and cookies it was very “SWEET” like eye candy. Voom made it worth dishing out the BIG BUCKS for a huge top of the line hd/lcd. Voom was interesting and innovative…
Jan 30, 2009 1:04 PM
Voom was the oasis in a desert of TV programing. The “Film Fest” channel opened our minds to the world with it’s foreign film content and eclectic programing. “EquatorHD” educated and thrilled us. “GalleryHD” set cultural standards for us. I feel lucky that we were able to spend some time exposed to all this; now all we can do is cherish the memory of the way things used to be…....................the good old days when TV lived up to it’s potential….........and move on to Fios.
Feb 9, 2009 10:12 AM
VOOM RAVHD and GALHD were my favorite chammels on cablevision. If I can find another cable provider with comparable programming I’m goin!.
May 16, 2009 12:02 AM
I just don’t understand why Rainbow/Cablevision would get rid of such an amazing network. VOOM HD was absolutely wonderful. My dad and I would sit and watch Equator HD and the other VOOM channels for hours on end. The programs were exactly what I wanted- intellectually stimulating, relaxing, and filled with out of this world high definition graphics. Watching these channels as I relax this summer after such a tough year in school was really high on my chillaxin list, and now I’m super ticked that I can’t even enjoy these channels because the boring, mind-numbing stuff has taken its place in the HD channels.