Voom Goes Bust

[Gregg Lengling]

Cablevision has decided to suspend its Voom satellite service, which
included several high-definition channels, but had only a modest
25,000 subscribers by the end of Q3 2004. Voom was the cornerstone of
Cablevision's spinoff Rainbow Media Enterprises, which also included
IFC, WE: Women's Entertainment and AMC networks. The new entity was
originally slated to spin-of in 2003, delayed twice, most recently to
Q4 2004. Voom was down by $75.3 million in Q3 2004, on revenues of
just $5.9 million. Cablevision filed this statement with the SEC
regarding Voom: "The board of directors has decided to suspend
pursuing the spinoff of its Rainbow Media Enterprises subsidiary, in
its previously announced form, and instead to pursue strategic
alternatives for its Rainbow DBS business." The news had a positive
and immediate effect on the Cablevision stock, which closed at $25.06
yesterday, up by 13.3%