Over the years, the TV audience has come to accept 'channel swapping' as part of doing business, although there have been occasional protests from small groups loyal to one channel or another.
But the days of quiet acquiescence have come to an end.
Dish Network's decision this week to eliminate 15 special-interest Voom channels from its high-def lineup has provided fresh evidence that once you add an HDTV channel, you can't take it away.
Not without howls of protest, anyway.
Internet message boards, including the Readers Forum at TVPredictions.com, are overflowing today with comments from irate Dish viewers threatening to cancel their subscriptions.
"We canceled Dish today because we miss kungfuHD & monstersHD; we very, very mad on dem (sic) for spoiling our favorites by makin' dem invisible," said one poster named 'bigtech.'
While some posters say they won't miss Voom, the overwhelming majority are expressing the sentiment that Dish Network has betrayed them by eliminating Voom. Many say they subscribed to Dish specifically because of the Voom channels. The fact that Dish Network added 20 high-def channels when it eliminated Voom is cold comfort.
"This is a truly deceptive enhancement that Dish pulled on its HD customers. Dish Network exchanged Voom, which was HD commercial free and with unique channels like, World Cinema, Equator HD and Animania, with commercial saturated channels like the ABC Family, Cartoon Network HD, Weather Channel, etc." said poster 'Armand.'
Why are people so upset? More upset than viewers who may have lost an analog channel in years past?
Despite spending thousands of dollars on a new set, the average HDTV owner has had fewer than 10 high-def channels in his/her cable or satellite lineup until the last 12-18 months. But most HDTV owners have been very patient, realizing that cable and satellite operators needed time to rebuild their systems to create more high-def capacity.
So now that the capacity has expanded, the high-def viewer wants to be rewarded for his/her patience. They want more channels, not less -- and they certainly don't want channels to be removed. That's the ultimate insult.
Dish Network and Rainbow Media, Voom's corporate parent, are now engaged in a court battle over the elimination of the 15 channels, among other issues. But Dish execs would be wise to tell the attorneys to take a break while they work out a peace treaty with Rainbow. Dish needs those Voom channels back on the air to restore confidence with the high-def audience.
The satcaster may not have room for Voom on its satellites at this time. However, the company is expected to have two new satellites up and operational later this year. If it doesn't have room now, Dish should issue a press release saying Voom will be returned to the air when those satellites are ready.
Dish, you need to bring back Voom.
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Phillip Swann is
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