Chris Blount
03-18-04, 04:22 PM
Five months after launching a nationwide satellite TV service, Cablevision Systems Corp. is about to take the training wheels off Voom.
But doubts remain about the service, which stresses high-definition programming.
Voom, which extended a free-trial program by two months as it battled technical problems and programming gaps, will begin charging its original customers a monthly subscriber fee April 1.
In another change, instead of charging a hefty $749 for the required equipment, as it did originally, Voom has begun offering a satellite dish and set-top box for $9.50 per month.
And next month, Cablevision plans to file regulatory documents to spin off Voom, along with three of the company's Rainbow Media cable channels including AMC, as a separate company with its own stock.
But Voom, which ran behind in making deals to carry such key channels as CNN, CNBC, HBO and Bravo, is still missing some of the most popular ones.
Those include ESPN, Fox News, USA, Lifetime, Sci-Fi, Food Network and Home & Garden TV.
"The major holes that were missing from our lineup have been filled with the exception of ESPN," said William Casamo, executive vice president at Voom. "We are in discussions with ESPN and we hope to have it on shortly."
The incubation period has not been easy or cheap.
By the end of last month, Voom signed up only 1,627 customers. Its satellite competitors, DirecTV and EchoStar Communications, have a combined total of more than 21 million subscribers and each adds more than 300,000 per quarter.
Full Story (http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzvoom183711479mar18,0,3024879.story?coll=ny-business-headlines)
But doubts remain about the service, which stresses high-definition programming.
Voom, which extended a free-trial program by two months as it battled technical problems and programming gaps, will begin charging its original customers a monthly subscriber fee April 1.
In another change, instead of charging a hefty $749 for the required equipment, as it did originally, Voom has begun offering a satellite dish and set-top box for $9.50 per month.
And next month, Cablevision plans to file regulatory documents to spin off Voom, along with three of the company's Rainbow Media cable channels including AMC, as a separate company with its own stock.
But Voom, which ran behind in making deals to carry such key channels as CNN, CNBC, HBO and Bravo, is still missing some of the most popular ones.
Those include ESPN, Fox News, USA, Lifetime, Sci-Fi, Food Network and Home & Garden TV.
"The major holes that were missing from our lineup have been filled with the exception of ESPN," said William Casamo, executive vice president at Voom. "We are in discussions with ESPN and we hope to have it on shortly."
The incubation period has not been easy or cheap.
By the end of last month, Voom signed up only 1,627 customers. Its satellite competitors, DirecTV and EchoStar Communications, have a combined total of more than 21 million subscribers and each adds more than 300,000 per quarter.
Full Story (http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzvoom183711479mar18,0,3024879.story?coll=ny-business-headlines)