Everyone
who follows the VOOM story knows that Cablevision chairman Charles
Dolan looks at the HDTV satellite service as his own pet project. Now
Dolan reportedly is really putting his money where his mouth is. Dolan
told FCC officials that he will make a $400,000,000 personal commitment
to save the struggling satellite provider and Cablevision has plans to
raise even more money to keep the project afloat. The catch is that
Dolan wants the FCC to nix the deal that would have sold VOOM’s
satellites to Dish Network.
HDTV today is a concept that mainstream America understands and wants,
yet most consumers have yet to convert over to the vastly improved
television system. The Consumer Electronics Association reports
HDTV-ready sets are selling at the rate of more than one million per
month. VOOM’s draw to consumers is the amount of HDTV programming they
offer when HDTV content can be hard to come by for those who own sets
and HD receivers. With more capital, VOOM will be afforded the chance
to offer improved equipment, possibly the addition of the TiVo service
for the DVRs, local network channels and more to their consumers. This
improved-value proposition is sure to win VOOM many more subscribers,
and fast.
