# VOOM--anything on??



## Link (Feb 2, 2004)

Is it just me, or do the VOOM channels not have that great of programming? Sure its HD, but the channels usually have nothing of interest. Since we got the HD package a month ago, the only channel we have watched on VOOM is the RAVE channel. Otherwise I don't even care to have them. I wish we could just get the good HD channels like ESPN, ESPN 2, Discovery, Universal, HDNet, TNT, and HD Movies for $10 like on Directv.


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## richiephx (Jan 19, 2006)

I am in total agreement. Most of the VOOM channels are worthless. The same programming is replayed over and over. I would think that, the majority of people who subscribe to HD programming would prefer MOVIES, SPORTS and other unique VARIETY programs. I would rather have QUALITY instead of QUANTITY. I guess the programmer who makes the sweetest deal with Dishnetwork takes the bandwith. I guess it doesn't matter what WE want.


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## Link (Feb 2, 2004)

I'm surprised customers haven't complained about having the VOOM channels forced upon them with the $20 package price. It is too bad more people don't cancel their HD packages until Dish makes a change in this.


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## markyd21 (Mar 28, 2006)

Link said:


> I'm surprised customers haven't complained about having the VOOM channels forced upon them with the $20 package price. It is too bad more people don't cancel their HD packages until Dish makes a change in this.


I have been saying this to people for a year. That the companies (DISH) awe us with HD programming that often we don't even stop to see if what is in HD is worth watching in the first place!


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I go back and forth... because while I don't have ESPN2HD or UniHD... UniHD didn't impress me much during the time we had it in preview mode for the Olympics... and ESPN2HD mostly has baseball right now that I don't care about. During college basketball season my answer would possibly be different.

Once NBA season winds down, I won't be watching much ESPNHD either until NFL season starts after the summer.

I do watch Monsters and FilmFest about as much I think as the ESPNs as it turns out.

I do, however, agree that more variety would be nice and less repetition. The weird thing about some channels like Monsters is what they choose to repeat.

I keep missing Willard, for instance... it will come on twice on one day during the month and then not again for another month... but Silence of the Lambs will be on a couple of days a week!

There's a happy medium in there somewhere to get more variety and less repetition.


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## liferules (Aug 14, 2005)

I couldn't agree more with you guys. Voom channels are 80% worthless programming as far as my interests. They do have some pretty pictures, but there are far better channels that need to be HD rather than Egypt explorations or NY Runway Models, etc...

I've said it before...if I could do it all over again, I'd strongly consider buying the 622 (especially now that its so cheap) and subscribing to a non-metal package with locals. At this point, there aren't enough good HD channels...

:soapbox:


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## Link (Feb 2, 2004)

I don't know why E* even decided to buy VOOM. I guess they saw it as a way to get more HD channels over Directv and are now charging $20 for HD packages to pay for buying VOOM. They should have realized since the VOOM service itself failed, it wasn't the best investment! Now I can see why VOOM didn't make it.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Link said:


> I don't know why E* even decided to buy VOOM. I guess they saw it as a way to get more HD channels over Directv and are now charging $20 for HD packages to pay for buying VOOM. They should have realized since the VOOM service itself failed, it wasn't the best investment! Now I can see why VOOM didn't make it.


It is probably worth mentioning a few things...

DiscoveryHD was $7.99 as an a la cart from Dish.

When they added HDNet, HDNet Movies and ESPNHD the package price for all 4 channels was $9.99. Eventually TNTHD was added and no price increase.

The first 5 Voom channels were added as an optional $5.00 at first.

So we are at $14.99 prior to Feb of this year.

On Feb 1st, Dish added 5 more Vooms + ESPN2HD + UniversalHD and bundled everything together for the $20 now part of those Metal packs.

So... we really don't know what the $5 extra is for... it could be most of it goes to ESPN2HD and UniversalHD.

The biggest difference is the forced bundle of all HD for the $20, and no way to get the old $9.99 pack anymore.

For folks like me, though, that were buying everything... it wasn't a big price increase for the 7 additional channels that come with it. Of course I'm not on a ViP yet so I'm not paying for the Metal pack or new channels at this point.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Perhaps now that the TV season is ending other channels will become popular again. I don't like to admit how much TV I watch is OTA while I pay for sat service.


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## mwsmith2 (Nov 15, 2004)

I find myself watching:

Family room: UFO, Thunderbirds
Monsters: Some good BW films there
Rave: Also, some great concerts
Rush: Mountain biking/rock climbing, etc
Equator: Cool to see places that I'll most likely never go
Anamania: What's better than cartoons? HD cartoons!

Michael


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## Link (Feb 2, 2004)

HDMe said:


> It is probably worth mentioning a few things...
> 
> DiscoveryHD was $7.99 as an a la cart from Dish.
> 
> ...


At least the VOOM channels used to be optional. If the regular HD channels were $10 and the VOOM ones were $10, I bet not many HD subscribers would would subscribe to the VOOM channels.

I can't think it really helps Dish by having VOOM and having more HD than Directv when the channels aren't that popular. Directv will likely gain more HD subscribers with their $9.99 HD package and if they end up adding more channels like HDTV, National Geographic, Food Network, Starz, Cinemax, and TMC in HD.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

Personally, I think MonstersHD alone is worth the price of VOOM. It may be a bit repetitive (has gotten better), but the stuff they show cannot be found anywhere else. These classic horror/scifi flicks used to be found on the little independents,...unfortunately they're all gone. 

No Godzilla, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon.. etc, etc marathons found on D* or any other cable system.

Anyway, VOOM may be repetive, but it is unique. BTW everytime I check HBO, SHO etc, the same crap is played over and over again also (and there is Nothing unique about what they play).

So, if your idea of a "Classic" is something from 1995, then VOOM is not for you.


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## tomcrown1 (Jan 16, 2006)

Dish gets the voom junk and nothing on Star HD Cinamax HD and PBS Hd local or national.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

Link said:


> They should have realized since the VOOM service itself failed, it wasn't the best investment! Now I can see why VOOM didn't make it.


Voom did not necessarily fail because of the programming. Could be they were just too far ahead of the technology curve. The service was marketed purely to HD customers. Until very recently, few people had HD TVs. Not enough potential customers to make the service viable.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

Nice to see some new concerts these days on Rave. 

This weekend we watched the Soundstage America, Robert Plant and the Robbie Williams Live at the Royal Albert Hall. My wife who never watches any of the Voom channels watched that one from start to finish.

Since Soundstage doesn't repeat on PBS except for once or twice Rave is about your only option to catch all those shows you missed this Winter.


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## kmcnamara (Jan 30, 2004)

LtMunst said:


> Personally, I think MonstersHD alone is worth the price of VOOM. It may be a bit repetitive (has gotten better), but the stuff they show cannot be found anywhere else. These classic horror/scifi flicks used to be found on the little independents,...unfortunately they're all gone.
> 
> No Godzilla, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon.. etc, etc marathons found on D* or any other cable system.
> 
> ...


I totally agree. MonsterHD is about the only Voom channel that I regularly watch. They frequently show movies that I used to watch as a kid on late Friday nights. Good stuff!


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

I love all the Voom channels I've viewed and getting hooked on channels, I never thought I'd view. Long live Voom


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## GeeWhiz1 (Dec 6, 2005)

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who loves the Voom package. Sure there is stuff that I don't watch. But there is a lot that we watch frequently.

I have to laugh because one of the reasons that we went to E* originally was so that we could get the SciFi Channel. Ever since, that's been the channel she heads to when there isn't something else she wants to watch. Well, the weekend that we first had our 622, MonsterHD had the Creature from the Black Lagoon on. That's her favorite. So, now we head to MonsterHD first. SciFi is now second on her list. :lol:


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## leestoo (Mar 23, 2002)

I like most of the VOOM channels. World, Filmfest & Monsters are my favorites. I also enjoy UFO on Family, the concerts on Rave & the car auctions on Treasure.

I think they are a great complement to the other HD channels.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

HDMe said:


> The first 5 Voom channels were added as an optional $5.00 at first.


Make that the first ten Voom channels.

For myself, I like watching the martial arts ballets on Kung Fu. I'd prefer they leave the Chinese gangster movies and the artsy Japanese movies out.


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## vinobabu (Mar 13, 2006)

http://www.avrev.com/news/0406/12.voom.shtml


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

harsh said:


> Make that the first ten Voom channels.
> 
> For myself, I like watching the martial arts ballets on Kung Fu. I'd prefer they leave the Chinese gangster movies and the artsy Japanese movies out.


Sorry about that... In my head I was thinking 10... but for some reason typed 5... Guess I had "5" on the brain. I should know better since I have all 10 of them!


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

Link said:


> Is it just me, or do the VOOM channels not have that great of programming? Sure its HD, but the channels usually have nothing of interest. Since we got the HD package a month ago, the only channel we have watched on VOOM is the RAVE channel. Otherwise I don't even care to have them. I wish we could just get the good HD channels like ESPN, ESPN 2, Discovery, Universal, HDNet, TNT, and HD Movies for $10 like on Directv.


I'm glad some else said this first.... I thought it was just me. What a total waste of bandwidth. Give me $2.00 a month off and they can keep it.

I guess I can see why VOOM died a quick death!


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

tommiet said:


> I'm glad some else said this first.... I thought it was just me. What a total waste of bandwidth. Give me $2.00 a month off and they can keep it.
> 
> I guess I can see why VOOM died a quick death!


I understand not liking and not wanting Voom... we all have our favorites... but I think I would want more than $2 back given that the old package of 10 channels cost $5, so you gotta figure the new Voom-15 is worth at least the $5, maybe $7.50-$10 even back if you were able to separate it out and cancel it.

If you only figure it is costing you $2 per month... then I'd have to say it is easily worth $2 per month!


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## rbyers (Jan 15, 2004)

I do agree there are a lot of repeats on Voom. But, there are also lots of repeats on HBOHD and SHOHD and HDNet Movies. The biggest difference is the repeat pattern. Voom will repeat the shows in a 3 program cycle for a couple of days, then move on to something else. HBO, for example, repeats using a much longer cycle time. So, the repeats are far less obvious. And, HBO has a lot of stuff that I just won't watch. They want to be cutting edge, but a lot of it offends my wife. Voom is more family oriented. I'm not hung up watching voom, but watch it about as often as I do anything other than OTA during the football off-season.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

vinobabu said:


> http://www.avrev.com/news/0406/12.voom.shtml


Sweet!!!! Classic Bond in HD....that's what I'm talking about.


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

rbyers said:


> I do agree there are a lot of repeats on Voom. But, there are also lots of repeats on HBOHD and SHOHD and HDNet Movies. The biggest difference is the repeat pattern. Voom will repeat the shows in a 3 program cycle for a couple of days, then move on to something else. HBO, for example, repeats using a much longer cycle time. So, the repeats are far less obvious.


Actually, MonstersHD is up to about 8-9 distinct movies each day (way up from just a few months ago). HBO runs roughly 10-11.


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## Buffalo Bill (Apr 5, 2006)

I love Gallery. When I want to take a nap on the couch...


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## LtMunst (Aug 24, 2005)

Buffalo Bill said:


> I love Gallery. When I want to take a nap on the couch...


The fishtank on HD Demo is good for that.


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## alfbinet (May 19, 2002)

LtMunst said:


> Personally, I think MonstersHD alone is worth the price of VOOM. It may be a bit repetitive (has gotten better), but the stuff they show cannot be found anywhere else. These classic horror/scifi flicks used to be found on the little independents,...unfortunately they're all gone.
> 
> No Godzilla, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon.. etc, etc marathons found on D* or any other cable system.
> 
> ...


Agreed. And the pic quality is very, very good.


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## UTFAN (Nov 12, 2005)

Link said:


> Is it just me, or do the VOOM channels not have that great of programming? Sure its HD, but the channels usually have nothing of interest. Since we got the HD package a month ago, the only channel we have watched on VOOM is the RAVE channel. Otherwise I don't even care to have them. I wish we could just get the good HD channels like ESPN, ESPN 2, Discovery, Universal, HDNet, TNT, and HD Movies for $10 like on Directv.


I agree.... not much interests me on VOOM except for Rave. We have a 622 and HD locals and that's where we watch the most HD programming. ESPN a close second along with TNT HD.

HD is cool, but content still rules at our house.

I've been seeing pretty HD pictures are NAB for years. Nice to have them in the house as well. But I need more than Kung Fu HD!


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## bobukcat (Dec 20, 2005)

LtMunst said:


> Sweet!!!! Classic Bond in HD....that's what I'm talking about.


Ditto that one - this and RAVE will convince me the 622 and Gold upgrade where worth the $$!!

They could keep the Timothy Dalton movies but I may even watch them in HD. Too bad they couldn't get Die Another Day in there but I can understand why it's not.


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## bimmerboy750 (Feb 28, 2006)

Watched Raging Bull last night on VOOM. I land on RUSH often (I keep thinking I'm gonna see a Rush concert), and Rave (which seems very repeptitive.


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## dpd146 (Oct 1, 2005)

ibglowin said:


> Nice to see some new concerts these days on Rave.


Is anyone else having problem with EPG and Rave?

I have set it up to record a couple of concerts and ended up with something else. If I record Usher one more time I'm throwing the 622 in the lake.


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## dpd146 (Oct 1, 2005)

I have been a little dissapointed with Voom, but mainly because the constant replays. 

Kung-fu: No interest (just not my thing)
Monsters: Same as Kung-fu
Rave: Love it
Rush: Has potential if they would vary the programming and use it more as a HD showcase. I enjoy alot of the commercials and intros with the stunning vistas and music, but that is quickly ruined by some tool too baked to hold a conversation.
Equator: Like it
ESPN2: Will love it when football rolls around
UniHD: Haven't paid much attention
Family: Love it (kids)
HDNews: Decent (not alot of time invested in it yet)
Fashion, Game, and Treasure: Waste of bandwidth


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## rrfrey (Dec 1, 2005)

I've been comparing prices and Voom really puts E* at a cost disadvantage. For me, Voom doesn't have much compelling content after the novelty wears off. We tend to watch the five or six core HD channels that E* and everyone else carries.

I hear this year's Team Summit theme will be 'the Power of Choice'. Here's a suggestion - make Voom a seperate package and let me choose to buy it. Otherwise, I think I'm going to be choosing D* pretty soon.


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## chasby (Jan 9, 2006)

I have my Dish 811 feeding my HT projector and a Dish 501 DVR feeding my other HDTV. Since I can't get the HD channel guide on the 501 I used to have to turn on my 811 and projector to see what's on today. (I have essentially all MPEG2 channels: VOOM, SHOHD, HBOHD, NYCBSHD, +original DISH HD package.) 
At least 90% of the time I've found this was a total waste of valuable projection bulb time. 
I've solved that bulb time problem by subscribing to an on-line HDTV magazine that now provides me with a wonderful personalized daily HDTV listing which I can scroll through during my morning Internet session and write down my HD programs of interest for the day.
*GUESS WHAT? ON A BIG EXCITING DAY I HAVE A LIST OF TWO PROGRAMS!!!

MOST DAYS MY LIST IS EMPTY!!!!

HEY DISHNET, GIVE ME SOME CONTENT AND I'LL ORDER MY VIP622 INSTANTLY!
CHASBY*


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## mscroggi (Jan 22, 2006)

LtMunst said:


> Personally, I think MonstersHD alone is worth the price of VOOM. It may be a bit repetitive (has gotten better), but the stuff they show cannot be found anywhere else. These classic horror/scifi flicks used to be found on the little independents,...unfortunately they're all gone.
> 
> No Godzilla, Wolfman, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon.. etc, etc marathons found on D* or any other cable system.
> 
> ...


I agree completely..


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

Why Dish has Voom has only a small amout to do w/the programming that Voom carries. It had to do w/ a satellite slot positon in the sky. E bought Voom to get the 61.5 slot in the sky and the satellite located there. The channels of Voom came when they bought out Rainbow Media corp's investment in Voom. Rainbow (which was owned by a large East Coast cable TV company) sold the slot to get out from under debt that Voom was causing it. I know all of this because I'm a Voom legacy customer. If Voom had been able to market better and staid alive it would have been more competion in the satellite market place and then there would have been 3 satellite companies competing in the market place and maybe all of us would have been better off. BTW the Voom receivers were MPEG 4 from day 1 and picture was better due to less compression.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

whatchel1 said:


> Why Dish has Voom has only a small amout to do w/the programming that Voom carries. It had to do w/ a satellite slot positon in the sky. E bought Voom to get the 61.5 slot in the sky and the satellite located there. The channels of Voom came when they bought out Rainbow Media corp's investment in Voom. Rainbow (which was owned by a large East Coast cable TV company) sold the slot to get out from under debt that Voom was causing it. I know all of this because I'm a Voom legacy customer. If Voom had been able to market better and staid alive it would have been more competion in the satellite market place and then there would have been 3 satellite companies competing in the market place and maybe all of us would have been better off. BTW the Voom receivers were MPEG 4 from day 1 and picture was better due to less compression.


Only a couple of things wrong there...

Voom was not broadcasting in MPEG4 from day one. They had receivers capable of MPEG4, and the satellite they used was capable as well... but they were not MPEG4 from day one.

Also, Dish (Echostar) did not buy Voom. Dish bought the satellite in the sky... and then made an investment in the remaining Voom channel package... but Dish does not own Voom. Dish (Echostar) has a stake to be sure... but Voom can negotiate carriage with other cable/satellite companies and many expect this to happen in the future once they get their bearings.


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## Chandu (Oct 3, 2005)

WorldSport HD rules for LIVE La Liga and UEFA Cup coverage. But now both the La Liga and UEFA Cup seasons are over.

Equator HD rules, especially for original programming!!!

Also loved the fantastic John Mayall and Eric Clapton concert followed by interview on RAVE HD the other night.

Kids in the household absolutely positively dig Animania HD.

If you think there is nothing worth the money on VOOM, that's your problem.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

"They had receivers capable of MPEG4' - quite not true; Voom's Motorola DSR-550 did not had the capability, only had a PCMCIA slot for FUTURE modules, possibly included MPEG-4 type but NEVER been used it.


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## Rick_R (Sep 1, 2004)

My wife's two favorite channels in all of TV are Ultra and Kung Fu. I ocassionally watch Filmf. Out of the AT120 I have I have watched maybe 5 channels over the last several years. But that is just the way the cable TV businesss goes. Everyone watches only a few channels and everyone watches a different few.

Rick R


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

HDMe said:


> Only a couple of things wrong there...
> 
> Voom was not broadcasting in MPEG4 from day one. They had receivers capable of MPEG4, and the satellite they used was capable as well... but they were not MPEG4 from day one.
> 
> Also, Dish (Echostar) did not buy Voom. Dish bought the satellite in the sky...and then made an investment in the remaining Voom channel package... but Dish does not own Voom. Dish (Echostar) has a stake to be sure... but Voom can negotiate carriage with other cable/satellite companies and many expect this to happen in the future once they get their bearings.


That is what I said they bought it for the slot in the sky and the satellite. Sorry I got the MPEG 4 wrong. So shoot me (lol),


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

whatchel1 said:


> That is what I said they bought it for the slot in the sky and the satellite. Sorry I got the MPEG 4 wrong. So shoot me (lol),


You said Dish bought Voom... I was just pointing out that Dish did not buy Voom. Voom is still its own separate company, though Dish has a big stake in it.

Like when Bill Gates invested a bunch of money some years back in Apple. Microsoft doesn't own Apple... but Gates has a stake in the company now.


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## auburn2 (Sep 8, 2005)

The 15 (or however many) Vooms and Universal are just a bonus IMO.

I do watch Monsters, and Film festival but the real reason I did the upgrade to the metal package was to get ESPN 2 HD


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