DISH Network finishes off VOOM, removes last 5 channels
Well, that was quick. In the midst of adding 22 new HD channels and reporting less-than-stellar Q1 results, DISH Network has now removed the only five remaining VOOM channels from its lineup. If you'll recall, 10 of the 15 went dark yesterday, but now reports are flooding in saying that the last of 'em have also vanished. Yeah, we know the VOOM networks weren't the most watched or anything, but knocking your HD lineup down by 15 doesn't sound like the greatest of moves either. Unless it's planning on adding 15 way more desirable options, that is.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DIRAN ONI @ May 14th 2008 10:34AM
Instead of adding 22 channels, Dish has a net addition of 5 nationals and 2 RSNs losing about 300 hours per day of actual HD content.
vinovelo @ May 14th 2008 7:11PM
I am NOT happy about this. The Voom channels were among
my most watched. EQTR, HDNEWS, RAVE , quality programming.
I will begin looing for an alternative as of today!
cholke @ May 14th 2008 10:56AM
I loved the RAVE channel. MHD or whatever they have replaced it with is crap.
Brent @ May 14th 2008 11:17AM
mHD has always been there. There were *several* times that both mHD and RAVE were playing the same exact show (albeit sometimes different episodes). However, losing KungFu and MonsterHD SUUUUUCKS. MonsterHD was the only compelling reason to finally make the DVR upgrade, but now it's going to take a whole lot more to convince me. Those niche channels may not have been watched by the masses, but they were part of what made DishHD unique. The chance to get to watch the original The Fly, The Thing, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, The Lost Boys, etc in 1080i 5.1 was fantastic. Now we're not really any different than dTV, except they currently get more channels.
Richard David @ May 14th 2008 1:13PM
I totally agree Brent. maybe they'll change their minds when they realize how many people were disappointed over this. Can't they add channe;s without removing others?
man_rob @ May 14th 2008 11:25AM
You guys keep repeating the same error. DISH DIDN'T ADD 22 CHANNELS ON MONDAY. They added 17...Then promptly dropped 15 others. They are scheduled to add 2 regional sports network channels today, but the net gain is only 4 HD channels.
DIRAN ONI @ May 14th 2008 11:38AM
Will they be replacing Voom with:
FX
SPEED
MTV
VH-1
COMEDY CENTRAL
FOX BUSINESS
SPIKE
NICKELODEON
Johnny Venom @ May 14th 2008 12:02PM
Though they only played the same three movies over and over again, I liked Kung Fu. Their movies were really old, but I have yet to find a channel that will give me those samurai movies in high definition! Equator wasn't bad, I like watching nature and travel shows. I wish they updated their programming, reading on this whole issue, it does seem to be Voom's fault. Dish said they needed to upgrade their programming or else. As for the remaining upgrades, I'm not a sports buff outside of hockey and soccer, so the RSNs don't do much. And many of the new channels are stretch-o-vision stuff.
G-house @ May 14th 2008 12:13PM
That's the final straw for me. Rave was the best channel on Dish. mHD is crap. I'm dumping Dish as soon as i get home.
Bye Dish, you can continue to suck without me.
Richard David @ May 14th 2008 1:14PM
I think this new programming sucks too. I loved monsters HD. I think I'll dump dish network too.
Paul @ May 14th 2008 1:20PM
+22 -15? boo
Joe @ May 14th 2008 1:21PM
VOOM was what made Dish unique over everyone else. I loved a lot of the voom channels. This was not just a bad decision, but a colossally bad one. This totally stinks.
Tim @ May 14th 2008 1:26PM
U-Verse here I come. Especially since I can get 2hd streams in OKC now
Brent @ May 14th 2008 1:35PM
Guys, the issue goes far deeper than Dish just replacing some programming. Apparently there was a lawsuit where Dish didn't feel Voom was holding up to their end of the bargain by reinvesting $100M per year into programming. Dish then felt that they could sue and get out of their contract with Voom in order to use the funds to secure more HD channels. In short, from what I understand, Voom reneged on their end of the deal and Dish cut them off. Pretty simple. Now the word is Voom will be dissolved completely within the year, as they are down to only 1 carrier.
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 14th 2008 10:36PM
Of course VOOM wasn't spending money on programming. It's pretty much against their business plan of running cheap content repeatedly.
Admittedly, making HD content isn't cheap, and that's why it's taking time for channels to come up with enough to fill their airtime. But we've passed the point where quantity of cheap programming (VOOM) is enough to hold of quality of programming from other channels. The real HDTV transition has begun, and it's time to make room for this new programming.
Randy @ May 14th 2008 1:47PM
Screw waiting till I get home, I'm on the phone with Dish right now canceling my services. What could they possibly be thinking to make such a stupid move? Either way, I really feel sorry for all the Voom employees.
nathan @ May 14th 2008 1:48PM
Yeah this is a sad day: Film Fest, World, Monsters, and Kung Fu may have repeated films often, but they still had the best selection of movies in HD anywhere -- in OAR, and 24/7. The transfers and quality were second only to HD NET and far surpassed the premium channels in terms of quality and selection and maintaining the original aspect ratio.
Alex @ May 14th 2008 2:00PM
Good riddance. Those channels had nothing but crap on them anyway. Dish probably didn't have to pay much for the channels and basically just used them so they could say they had a lot of HD content. Good to see them focusing on the quality of the channels instead of just the quantity. I've been happy with the recent national additions and the addition of HD locals (although they only added 4 out of the 6 or 7 locals in my area).
Justin @ May 14th 2008 2:14PM
The net gain is only 2 channels unless you live in an area where you get ONE (not both) of the two RSN's.
People calling Voom crap and celebrating stretch-o-vision plus upconverts need to stop looking at their 32" LCD's and stop watching the cropped movies that Cinemax, HBO and TNT pass off as HD. People complain about Voom repeats. Cinemax has shown Transformers how many times this week?
Pete @ May 14th 2008 2:29PM
Yes I agree that Voom would repeat the same 2-3 movies all day but NO ONE is/was showing these movies.. Monsters HD had on From Hell It Came which has never been released on DVD and it look like it was filmed yesterday. Just because you might not be in to Horror or Asian films doesn't make them bad channels. The only reason I signed with D.N was for Monsters and Kung Fu HD. Why should I keep a service that doesn't supply me with what I want?
mjpd1 @ May 14th 2008 2:36PM
Extremely upset about this... The Voom channels provided some excellent HD content that you just couldn't get anywhere else. EquatorHD was one of my FAVORITE channels, not just of the Voom channels, but all of them. Now I wish I had DVR'd the "Eye Over Italy/Greece/France/etc" shows so I could watch them over and over again.
I'm still sticking with Dish, as I have the DishHD package at $29/month, and there just isn't anything else comparable available through any other provider. And I have to think that they wouldn't have nixed the Voom channels unless they have other channels lined up to replace them with, and soon.
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 14th 2008 10:33PM
I had enough "Eye over Greece" during the 2004 Olympics. When the SD feed went to commercial, the HD feed usually went to Eye over Greece.
jjmisterx @ May 14th 2008 3:04PM
i hope people will wise up and not get drawn in with this hd bull#$@#!All the companies are relying on the consumers cluelessness to buy there products.So do research and use your commonsense and don't get led around like a dog!!!!!
FatWhale @ May 14th 2008 3:16PM
I have dish over $100 a month, the only reason that I have such expensive plan was because I couldn't find anywhere else with VOOM HD Channels. My contract with Dish left two more month, I will sure kick Dish out of my house by then!
gizmo @ May 14th 2008 5:07PM
Why wait?
I am not a lawyer...
but....
If they add 22 channels and remove 15- isn't that a material change of the service covered in the contract? In many places it seems to get people out of early termination liabilities...
Examples have included mobile phone plans who change rates, etc...
The value of the service has changed. Many channels focusing primarily on uncut, commercial-free movies have been removed.
I am worried about the day that they add 12 new high-def shopping channels and remove HBO-HD.
Mark @ May 14th 2008 3:50PM
Equator, Gallery and treasure were GREAT channels which makes me to start looking for alternatives to dish
Toolate @ May 14th 2008 4:42PM
I just talked to customer service to cancel my service and Dish stated that the VOOM channels would be back on within 2 days. We'll see.?!?!
mugatu @ May 14th 2008 6:13PM
@TooLate
You work for Dish Network right? Charlie, is that you? YOU SUCK CHARLIE, STOP POSTING LIES ON THE INTERNET. Your fake 22 New HD Channels press release was enough lying for one week.
Darth_Tubbie @ May 14th 2008 4:59PM
Brent and Johny Venom are correct. It appears Voom doomed themselves with not meeting Dish's demand one new programming so the fault here does not lie entirely with Dish. Though it would have been nice for subscribers to be warned about yanking the programs entirely.
I'm having withdrawal from the Kung-Fu and Monsters HDs already. So sad. Guess, I'll be spending more time with Niko Bellic for a while.
So sad.
Rick @ May 14th 2008 5:28PM
All Dish has done by this move is angered their customers. They've removed some very unique quality channels and replaced them with crappy cable channels we were already getting. The only difference is that they are now in HD. Which really doesn't say much when the content wasn't in HD to begin with. Those Voom channels were the only reason why I subscribed to Dish to begin with. I'll be leaving Dish Network for another provider now.
Darth_Tubbie @ May 14th 2008 5:36PM
Toolate.
Are you putting us on? Or is this for real?
I hope this is for real. Two days, eh?
DIRAN ONI @ May 14th 2008 6:36PM
Dish Network: Bring Back MonstersHD! Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/monsthd/petition.html
Pete @ May 14th 2008 7:08PM
Signed the petition.. I need my Monsters and Kung Fu HD..
BTW Toolate I really hope you weren't joking.
tony @ May 14th 2008 7:40PM
Whether it does anything or they block my ip or whatever, i'm flooding their mailboxes with this link, and i'm waisting my own time just to mess with their reps on their Live Chat Customer support.
http://www.petitiononline.com/monsthd/petition-sign.html
mntwister @ May 14th 2008 8:16PM
First off, I don't think Dish gave us crappy new channels. They gave us new national networks that now have high definition versions. Don't knock them for trying to keep up with the national HD channels, it is not Dish's fault some of the content is stretch-o-vision. I applaud them for adding the channels they did. If they didn't add them you guys would be bitching that you don't have them and you know it. Don't put a company down for keeping up with the blooming amount of hd channels.
What I object to totally is taking away the Voom channels. This was 24 hour a day commercial free pure high def content. I loved Monsters HD and Film Fest and Voom Movies, and I also watched the Voom News channel all the time, everything was high def, even feeds from around the world. Watched it much more than any other news network. I think they made a MJOR blunder today and I am willing to bet they are up to their necks in complaints and I would not be surprised to see Voom return very soon if not in the next few days. I don't think they realized the value of these exclusive networks (meaning exclusive to Dish and not Directv). While there was alot of repeat, I found many programs each month that were new. I watched Voom alot.
newoldtymer @ May 14th 2008 8:50PM
Gallery, RAVE, and Equator were the channels that got 90% of my attention. I'm very upset. If I can go elsewhere to get VOOM, I'm going there.
newoldtymer @ May 14th 2008 9:08PM
The only other way to get VOOM at this time is via Interactive Optimum, a premium service from Cablevision available only in NY, NJ, and Connecticut.
Carney @ May 16th 2008 8:54AM
I was within days of ordering Dish for the first time. Had been getting by on OTA and AppleTV. It took months time to convince the wife subscription TV was worth it, but Gallery HD was a major weapon in my arsenal (the other is HGTV HD, which is only HD for a fraction of the day). Now they kicked it off their lineup for stretch-o-vision . Good job shooting yourselves in the foot, geniuses.
kcmurphy88 @ May 14th 2008 9:40PM
Hard to get people to move from cable when they want SciFIHD, and all you got is "Monsters." VOOM never quite caught on and Charlie has to fight DirecTV and Comcast for customers. When the satellite failed, push came to shove and VOOM was the only thing they could cut.
rogersarkansas @ May 14th 2008 10:05PM
I really, really liked Voom TV. Why? Quality, commercial-free programming and the best in hi-def. Sort of like public television without the fundraising appeals. We liked everything from the Red Bull Air Shows to Fashion Week.
We spend $150+/month on Dish programming - thats over $1800/year. Two years of service totalled $3600 and growing. Maybe we'll just flip over to Cox Cable since it's the same "me-too" programming as Dish, and pocket the savings.
P.S. No notice from Dish -- surprise! I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out what happened and finally googled "Voom" only to end up here to learn the fate of Voom.
why not the LS2LS7? @ May 14th 2008 10:30PM
Victory at long last.
HD bandwidth is a scarce resource, especially on DISH. It's good to see the early "bandwidth grab" gimpy HD channels fall by the wayside to make room for channels that content people want instead of just trying to transform simply being in HD into a value worth having a channel for.
phatbuddha @ May 14th 2008 11:16PM
yeah, quality hd content like wfn! I guess quality is in the eye of the beholder. I would take GalleryHD, RAVE, World Sports & equator over wfn anyday. Granted, you make a good point about making room for quality or national HD content, but clearly some of these channels were just filler.
mntwister @ May 14th 2008 11:33PM
well, I hope you are happy then with Cartoon Network and some of the other channels that don't have ONE single hour of high def programming per day. Ridiculous. Voom was HD 24 hours a day. Get real. What is was replaced with was alot of stretched and upscaled garbage.
HAHAHA @ May 14th 2008 11:10PM
@ why not the LS2LS7?
You're an idiot. Nice try troll!
Cheng @ May 15th 2008 12:17AM
We are very disappointed with Dish Network's recent decision by deleting Voom HD programing (from ch. 9470-9485) and replacing 22 virtually useless HD channels (e.g., MGM, ABC Family, CNBC, etc.). For us, those deleted channels were our most watched channels, including Equator (9471), Gallery (9472), Treasure (9473), World Cinema (9475), Ultra (9478), Film Fest (9480), HDNews (9482), etc. Those were true HD programs that are excellent, not just regular programs broadcast in HD format.
Dish Network: Please put those Voom HD programs back; or we will leave you very soon.
dl @ May 15th 2008 1:53AM
The bottom line is dish net's satellite failed, there was pressure to compete with the other hd providers to provide gumball programing for the masses, and voom was dropped. And the way Charly handled the situation was to drop the voom programming without informing any of its subscribers of their intentions. This left little room for us subscribers to make an informed descion. What little respect they have for their customers. I called customer service wanting to drop dish net for another provider but they are going to charge me $ 13 a month until my contract is up. When I signed up for dish net they charged me an additional $9 for the Voom package. Now that it's gone they won't refund the additional $9. What a disrespectful way to treat you customers.
UDNC @ May 18th 2008 11:11AM
In response to "dl":
Be persistent with Dish and they will let you out of the contract. I recently upgraded to HD programming including an upfront $200.00 charge for a new receiver. I called last night to find out why the Voom channels had been removed and why I was not notified of this upcoming change when I upgraded two weeks ago (typical of Dish Network). After demanding to talk with a supervisor and then being transferred to an "account specialist", I was offered a full refund of my $200.00 and an additional $20.00 credit each month for the next six months to remain a Dish customer keeping my new receiver with no change to my "upgraded" programming. He also said he was authorized to cancel my service without penalty but that I would have to pursue the $200.00 receiver charge separately. The specialist also stated that some of the Voom channels may be added back by the end of the year. As a long term Dish customer who has seen many things handled poorly by Dish, I no longer trust anything they say! Whatever the reason, I'm very disappointed that Dish would drop true HD programming and I have very little interest in the new additions. One thing I have learned over the years, Dish customers need to be very persistent when they have a problem. Good luck.
MorganB @ May 15th 2008 2:55AM
I am very upset about the removal of Zoom. As others have pointed it, VOOM was true HD, not stretch-o-vision! I wrote a complaint to Dish and here is their lame reply:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for your e-mail. Effective immediately the VOOM HD line-up can no longer be viewed by our customers. DISH Network continues to be the leader in providing the best movies, sports and entertainment in High Definition. In order to provide you with top quality entertainment, DISH Network continually evaluates and at times, makes changes to our channel line-up. We plan to use this opportunity to introduce exciting new HD channels offering a breadth and depth of programming that better complements our already robust HD offerings.
DISH Network understands it may feel like DISH is removing your favorite programming, but check out the comparable HD programming that is available!
VOOM Channel
Alternative Programming
Channel #
Monsters HD
Chiller (Only available in SD)
199
Rave HD
MHD
9469
Rush HD
Universal HD, HD Net
9427, 9422
Specific HD Movies
HD Net Movies, Universal HD, and Premiums in HD
9423, 9427
Also check out the following exciting new channels that will be available in the DISH HD Package!
· ABC Family HD (DISH Network Ch. 180)
· Biography HD (Ch. 119)
· Bravo HD (Ch. 129)
· Cartoon HD (Ch. 176)
· Cinemax 5 Star (Ch. 381)
· Cinemax HD West (Ch. 380)
· Comcast Sports Network Bay Area HD (Ch. 419)*
· Comcast Sports Network New England HD (Ch. 435)*
· CNBC HD (Ch. 208)
· CNN HD (Ch. 200)
· Disney HD East (Ch. 172)
· ESPNews HD (Ch. 142)
· Hallmark Movie Channel HD (Ch. 187)
· MGM HD (Ch. 385)
· Sci Fi HD (Ch. 122)
· Smithsonian HD (Ch. 374)
· Tennis Channel HD (Ch. 400)
· Toon Disney HD (Ch. 174)
· Travel Channel HD (Ch. 215)
· USA HD (Ch. 105)
· Weather Channel HD (Ch. 214)
· World Fishing Network HD (Ch. 396)
*Launch Wednesday, May 14
Watch for even more high definition channels over the upcoming weeks as DISH Network grows to over 100 national HD channels by end of year. For additional information please visit HYPERLINK "http://www.dishnetwork.com/HDupdate"www.DishNetwork.com/HDupdate. Thank you for being a DISH Network customer.
If you still wish to end your service, please know that for security reasons, we are unable to disconnect accounts via email. Please call 1-800-333-3474 to disconnect through a customer service representative, who will go over disconnection options and final disclosures with you.
Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please refer to www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email.
Sincerely,
DISH Network E-Care
Maff @ May 15th 2008 3:14AM
Hope this doesn't mean that Voom will go under, here in the UK we just got one of their channels in HD and we don't want to lose it, we only have about 15 HD channels in total!
jan @ May 15th 2008 5:54AM
I cannot believe they removed the exact stations I watch! Unfortunately, I have quite a few months left on my contract but I'll be shopping for new service. I hardly think we need yet 2 more cartoon channels, of lame family channel kid movies, or fishing 24 hours a day-what do they do on that for 24 hours??? or any of the other new junk they are offering.
Voom was the coolest and most interesting, high quality programming-it was what made me happy to have Dish...no more.
Is there a petition for voom channels other than the monster one I saw?? I watch RAVE, ULTRA, GALLERY AND TREASURE....