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Cablevision VOOM HDTV Service Shutting Down

Cablevision announced today it will shutdown the VOOM HDTV satellite service and sell most of the assets to Echostar for $200 million in cash. VOOM was the first HDTV focused satellite service, which offered more HDTV programming than any other offering on the market. However due to high initial startup costs and poor marketing, the company was only able to acquire 26,000 subscribers. It is estimated Cablevision spent over $500 million on VOOM before deciding to give up.

Echostar is going to buy VOOM's lone satellite for $200 million, which isn't a bad deal considering it cost $250 million to put it into orbit.

It's a sad day for HDTV fanatics. Although I don't live in an area where satellite usable (too many trees), I sure was looking forward to trying VOOM after I moved. It was the only place to get dozens of HD programming channels. The thing that killed it was the high initial set-top costs (almost $1000) and quality of programming. After they cut the price later on, it was too little too late.

For the time being, the company will continue VOOM service; but subscribers should probably be ready to call DirectTV or Echostar soon to switch. [Discuss]