Voom With A View
Remember the Voom Satellite Service? It was an all-HDTV service intended to compete for viewers with DirecTV, Dish Network and local cable systems. Owned by Cablevision and the Dolan family, they built and launched the Rainbow 1 satellite in 2003. I remember the launch had a rocketcam and they produced the video in HD, of course. Here’s the launch clip (action begins around 1:30):
Unfortunately, the service shut down in 2005 and all subscribers were transitioned to Dish Network, who bought the satellite, which is now a.k.a. EchoStar 12. Fortunately for those looking for HD content, they’re still broadcasting the 15 Voom HD channels — many with original content — to Dish and Cablevision subscribers. Neither DirecTV nor Verizon FiOS offer those channels. I just upgraded my service to HD and I dig those Voom channels, in all its 1080i glory, 24×7 and commercial-free. There’s content for kids, like Flipper from the 60s and UFO from the 70s, a cartoon channel called Animania and for those crazy kids, Rush HD — featuring extreme and action sports. The program they put together on downhill skiing was very well done:
THE THIN LINE: Life on the Edge – HD Trailer from VOOM HD on Vimeop>
Seeing how HDTV is really catching on in the marketplace. Now that the Super Bowl is over, expected prices to drop:
Missed a great deal on an HDTV this past week? Don’t sweat it. Analysts over at Pacific Media Associates say we can expect a 15.6% drop on flat panel display prices this year. According to the research company, last year they saw a 14.7 percent price drop on HDTVs, which increased sales by 41 percent. If their estimates are correct, over 113 million displays were sold worldwide instead of the 80 million units they had predicted.
If you think about it, the idea was ahead of its time. Demand for HD content will continue to increase, and Voom offers good, differentiated content — designed for and originated in HD.
And Voom sees growth outside the U.S., too. An international Voom HD channel is available in Northern Europe on Thor 2 (1° West, transponder 15, 11434V, SR 25000, FEC 2/3) and Southeast Asia on Measat 3 (91.5° East, 3752V, SR 13330, FEC 2/3) — both in MPEG-4, and HD, naturally.
