Link This |
Email this |
Blog This |
Comments (38)
VOOM GOES BOOM – All VOOM Channels Removed
May 14, 2008
On yesterdays earnings call Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen wasn’t joking when he mentioned that two thirds of the VOOM channels were removed and that Dish Network “will be taking down the rest as soon as we can.”
This morning at 12:02 A.M. Eastern Time the final five VOOM channels were removed off of Dish Network.
Other then a crawl which ran for a short time yesterday which stated “Dish Network is excited to announce the addition of over 22 new high definition channels which will provide our customers top rated programming in HD. As a result of these additions, we removed some channels that are less popular with our customers.”
Today however there is no crawl, no notification whatsoever to Dish Network customers that the VOOM channels are gone, they are just *poof* gone without a trace.
Indication came last night that Dish was going to remove the remaining 5 VOOM channels as the channel listings at DishNetwork.COM were updated with the last 5 channels removed.
While I agree with the reason why Dish dropped VOOM, I do not like the way Dish Network did it. Sure I know that the Dish Network channel listings that specifically states programming “subject to change without notice,” however Dish could have said something on their live Tech Forum broadcast, it would have gone over with customer much better then their pom-pom waving telling us how they are the HD leader when they knew damn well they were going to drop 10 (and finally 15) HD channels within 24 hour timeframe.
Despite any last moment legal maneuvers that the VOOM legal team can pull of, I believe that this spells the end of the VOOM HD Networks. While VOOM currently lives on some Cablevision system in New York, its contract with Cablevision expires on June 30th. Cablevision recently moved VOOM channels from regular distribution and moved VOOMS Distribution to SDV (switched digital video). This move made the channels unavailable to many of Cablevisions customers who were watching the VOOM service by using Cablecards.
VOOM was unique, but in the end it will be remembered by many as nothing more then great looking demo material. Farewell VOOM, some of us will miss you!
Team Summit
Dish Networks annual retailer conference will kick off tomorrow night in Nashville, TN. I will be headed down to participate in the festivities and am looking forward to going and seeing many longtime friends. If you are headed to Team Summit and happen to see me please stop me and say hello!
From Where I Sit
One of our “Satellite Dish” readers who goes by the alias of NightNinja wanted to know why I said the phrase “from where I sit” all the time.
The answer is “The Satellite Dish” is a blog about my views on the satellite industry, it is not meant to be a news source. The good folks at MultiChannel News asked me to write this blog because of my “calling it as I see it style.” I am not afraid to tell you my true feelings on the goings on in the industry. I am not afraid my comments will offend anyone or any company in the industry. Again I call things as I see them. So here at “The Satellite Dish” while I may break some news items the main goal is to give you my insight on the news I am mentioning.
I have been calling it as I see it for over 10 years now and enjoy telling it like it is. I thank the folks from MultiChannel for having me. Thank you NightNinja for your question!
Posted by Scott Greczkowski on May 14, 2008 | Comments (38)