VOOM DBS INSTALLATIONS NEARING 1,000
Cablevision’s Rainbow DBS operation is “just days” away from hitting 1,000 installations of its new Voom satellite service and is working to resolve software glitches in its set-top receiver, Exec. Sales & Mktg. Vp William Casamo told us in an interview Thurs. at the SkyForum conference in N.Y.C.
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In the first days following the Voom launch, Rainbow discovered some bugs in the Motorola-built satellite receivers, including problems locating the on-screen guide and the speed at which the channels could be changed. But in the last 5 days, “90% of them have been fixed” through software downloads to the set-top, Casamo said. Voom will be in a beta test phase with its initial 21 HD channels through Feb., when its lineup is expected to expand to 38 channels, he said. Voom programming will be free through Feb., when monthly packages will start at $39. It also will have 88 standard definition and 18 digital audio channels.
In addition to downloading the software fixes to the satellite STB, Rainbow is moving to improve its retail training, Casamo said. “The most difficult thing we have to overcome is to educate the consumer about ATSC,” he said. In rolling out Voom, Rainbow will focus at the start on major markets in Northern and Southern Cal. as well as Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami and N.Y.C., he said.
Cablevision plans to spin off Rainbow DBS between the first and 3rd quarters of 2004, pending the outcome of an SEC probe into accounting practices involving the company’s Rainbow operations, Cablevision Chmn. Charles Dolan said at SkyForum. Analysts have said Cablevision is expected to spend upward of $1 billion to launch. Dolan wouldn’t disclose Cablevision’s investment, but said $1 billion in the cable business would be enough to build out Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island. He said the same expenditure would buy Voom coverage in a territory stretching from the Caribbean to Hawaii and “if we get 2% penetration, that would be wonderful,” Dolan said. EchoStar CEO Charles Ergen referred to Cablevision and Rainbow when he told SkyForum that he “hopes they force us to get better,” but said “the jury’s still out from a business perspective.”