Rainbow DBS Company
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| Voom HD Networks | |
| Private company | |
| Industry | Broadcasting, High-definition television |
| Fate | Ceased operations |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Defunct | January 20, 2009 |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Products | Television channels |
| Owner | Rainbow Media |
Voom HD Networks was a suite of 21 original high-definition television channels owned by Rainbow Media, a subsidiary of Cablevision. The channels were produced in Crystal Clear Hi-Definition with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and were the largest suite of HD channels in the world. As part of a 15-year agreement between Rainbow Media and Dish Network, these channels were available on Dish Network until May 12, 2008, when Dish walked away from the contract just over two years into the deal. Left without a national distribution partner, the channels were removed from Cablevision in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut on January 20, 2009.
The Voom HD Networks were originally part of the Voom DTH satellite platform launched by Cablevision and were operated by its subsidiary, Rainbow DBS Company. The original Voom DTH was primed as a competitor to the established DirecTV and Dish Network systems, with its goal to become the first television provider with a lineup consisting mainly of high-definition TV networks. As part of this endeavor, Voom launched in 2003 twenty-one original channels that were completely in HD.
Service was broadcast via the Rainbow-1 communications satellite, which was built by Lockheed Martin and launched on July 17, 2003. It continues to operate from the 61.5°W orbital location, over the Atlantic Ocean.
In early 2005, Voom's parent company Cablevision announced it would seek "strategic alternatives" for Rainbow Media Enterprises, the business unit that contained its Voom satellite service, leaving the future of Voom in question. Cablevision's board proceeded to shut the Voom satellite service down: The satellite service ceased on April 30, 2005, and Rainbow-1 and VOOM's spectrum allocations were sold to EchoStar.
Work on the Voom HD channels continued. In April 2005, Rainbow Media and Dish Network entered into a 15-year affiliation agreement whereby EchoStar’s Dish Network obtained the right to distribute the Voom channels until 2020 and agreed that it would pay Rainbow Media monthly subscription fees for the life of the agreement. The subscription fees started at $3.25 per subscriber in the first year of the agreement, and were to increase to $6.43 per subscriber by the year 2020. In a separate agreement, EchoStar’s Dish obtained a 20% ownership interest in Rainbow Media (the business unit that contained the Voom HD channels) and Rainbow agreed to invest $100 million into the Voom service each year for the first five years of the agreement. As a result, EchoStar's Dish Network announced that they would be adding ten of Voom's original 21 channels to their lineup starting May 1; the remaining channels were added on February 1, 2006.
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