Cablevision's high-definition dead parrot
"Mate, this satellite service wouldn't Voom if you put 10 million volts through it! It's bleedin' demised!"
"It's pining..."
"It's not pining, it's passed on!"
"It's hopped the twig. It's shuffled off this mortal coil. It's run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibule. Vis-a-vis the metabolic processes, it's had its lot. All statements to the effect that this is an active satellite service, are henceforth inoperative. It's f'in' snuffed it!"
Every blog needs a Monty Python reference. Newsier bits over here, at betanews.com.
In March of 2004, I'd corresponded with a friend considering Voom's "too good to be true" high definition satellite offering. Subject line was "Voom, or kaboom soon?". I had a couple reasons for thinking something was wrong.
First, Voom is suddenly offering "FREE" hardware and installation if you order by end of April (buried fine print says the $0 upfront adds $9.50/month hardware fee, which means 50 months(!) before you should have bought receiver at their discount price).
Second, this is a quote from a buried footnote in their site: "The STARZ! and SHOWTIME PlusPacks are delivered on satellite capacity that is only temporarily available. Rainbow DBS's regulatory authority to use this capacity will expire on April 5, 2004. In addition, Rainbow DBS may be required to cease transmitting over this capacity earlier than that date. If you have any questions about this, please call us toll free at 1-800-GET-VOOM."
Hmm. Where's that satellite bandwidth going? DirecTV or Dish maybe?
I'd also suggested Voom was a tactical ploy by Chuck Dolan, and included a couple corroborating financial articles. A year later, this I suppose the most surprising thing is it took this long.