[justlgi]

Liberty Media (DIRECTV) looking at Rainbow Media TV (VOOM)

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/05/liberty-media-open-to-buying-rainbow-media-tv/

 

[TheRatPatrol]

Interesting. Months ago D* said they had no interest in VOOM, now all of a sudden they do?

Maybe a good idea for the long run, but right now I think D* needs to focus on getting more national HD channels launched before they use up all the bandwidth on these channels.

 

[RAD]

Interesting. Months ago D* said they had no interest in VOOM, now all of a sudden they do?

They have an interest in Rainbow media, which owns a number of mainstream cable networks besides Voom.

 

[wjanowski]

Interesting. Months ago D* said they had no interest in VOOM, now all of a sudden they do?

Maybe a good idea for the long run, but right now I think D* needs to focus on getting more national HD channels launched before they use up all the bandwidth on these channels.

Read the article. They would consider buying Rainbow Media, not just carrying VOOM. Owning Rainbow would also give them AMC and Sundance. This would be a move into content ownership, not finding new channels to carry.

 

[Jason Whiddon]

Putting Voom up would get a lot of people from E*.

 

[cforrest]

If Malone ever purchased Rainbow Media, assuming Cablevision spins it off seperately, Malone would probably cease VOOM operations but as mentioned earlier would want Rainbow for AMC, Sundance, IFC & We TV. The first three channels are worth over $500 million each. At least according to articles I read yesterday on Cablevision's board authorizing the Dolans to increase sharholder value with a dividend and/or sale of assets. Also WSJ said Rupert Murdoch expressed interest in some of the channels, for those with a subscription:

"The company, based in Bethpage, N.Y., has a market value of about $8.3 billion, and it's likely to try to spin out the content assets, which could raise as much as $5 billion, said Thomas Eagan, an analyst at Collins Stewart. He estimates Madison Square Garden could bring $1.2 billion, AMC $1.5 billion and IFC $500 million. The company recently paid $500 million for the Sundance Channel, which could also be sold...

...On Tuesday, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said he might be interested in deals for some of Cablevision's cable-TV networks."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121794258217213351.html

 

[Richard King]

Putting Voom up would get a lot of people from E*.

I would have a hard decision to make. I have been with Dish since day 1, literally. If Directv got Voom I would probably change it they set up their packages properly.

 

[wmj5]

I don't know what Rupert Murdoch wants with voom, he can't or won't even get fox news in hd. I don't know why he worked so hard to buy D* and in no time let it slide, he must be like me getting too old.

 

[Bobby H]

I thought Fox News had a HD channel. It's just that none of the satellite companies are carrying it.

 

[RAD]

I don't know what Rupert Murdoch wants with voom, he can't or won't even get fox news in hd. I don't know why he worked so hard to buy D* and in no time let it slide, he must be like me getting too old.

Rupert doesn't own DirecTV anymore, hasn't for months.

 

[gregjones]

Voom would make a good HD content addition to the VOD offerings. The other Rainbow channels would represent a chance to own those end-to-end.

More relevant than buying Dish outright is another strategy: buy the best things about Dish or make them pay more for them. Owning several of the channels they share puts DirecTV at an advantage. Picking up VOOM (in a limited format) could provide a bump in subscriber numbers.

Keep in mind that when comments were made about them not wanting VOOM, the landscape was somewhat different. VOOM comprised 15 channels at that point and DirecTV was lacking in capacity. They now have capacity and several different delivery methods.

 

[Newshawk]

Another possibility is that Dr. Malone might do the right thing and cut Voom from 15 channels to a lesser number, thus increasing its value as a content provider. I think the Dolans (specifically Chuck, IIRC) have too much emotional involvement in Voom to pare it down. Malone would just treat it as another asset.

 

[gregjones]

Another possibility is that Dr. Malone might do the right thing and cut Voom from 15 channels to a lesser number, thus increasing its value as a content provider. I think the Dolans (specifically Chuck, IIRC) have too much emotional involvement in Voom to pare it down. Malone would just treat it as another asset.

Voom might do better with 1 channel and a ton of HD VOD content.

 

[Grentz]

Awesome news!

Guys, Directv has plenty of bandwidth now and this would be a great move. We watch IFC all the time so that would be amazing if they purchased it and hopefully got an HD version.

 

[gully_foyle]

DirecTV has channels to fill and VOOM has content. In actual unstretched high definition. Certainly VOOM is more compelling -- this year -- than, say, BravoHD or HistoryHD.

And then there is the matter of sticking it to DISH:

I would have a hard decision to make. I have been with Dish since day 1, literally. If Directv got Voom I would probably change it they set up their packages properly.

 

[hdtvfan0001]

They have an interest in Rainbow media, which owns a number of mainstream cable networks besides Voom.

That's a much more accurate depiction of the situation.

There are other "properties" that they would most likely want far and above Voom. In fact, that may actually terminate Voom's existence once and for all - as Chase Carey previously indicated many of their channels didn't "seem to add much content value".

 

[flipptyfloppity]

Please no crappy Voom channels eat up bandwidth. I'll promise to stop *****ing about Animal Planet HD (Animal cops!) if you do swear off Voom, D*.

 

[ub1934]

I thought Fox News had a HD channel. It's just that none of the satellite companies are carrying it.

Thank God for that :hurah:

 

[FitzAusTex]

While 15 channels may be too many, only having 1 Voom channel woudnt cut it. Could reasonably cut it from 6 to 8.

If D* did start carrying 6 to 8 (or all 15), I'd have to switch from E* to D*.

 

[JLucPicard]

Just curious - for those saying that if DirecTV got Voom they might have to switch:

Is the only thing keeping you with Dish the fact that they have the Voom channels? Or maybe better stated, the only thing keeping you FROM DirecTV is the fact that they DON'T have the Voom channels?

And I don't think if this were to happen that it necessarily means that Dish would lose the Voom channels - they'd just have to be paying DirecTV for them rather than Cablevision.

I do agree, though, that the main reason for this would not be acquisition of the Voom channels but of the other "assets".