I have to disagree with the author about this decision…Monsters HD, Gameplay, KungFu…where else can you find that programming in HD and commercial free. 

So why should I stay with a company that has limited HD offerings and now little to no distinctiveness to its line-up?  Such a huge disappointment! 

A Note to Charles Ergen, CEO:  You really should have looked at this in a broader context than simply number of people watching a channel.  You are giving away your competitive advantage by eliminating these channels. 

Now you will try to compete on the same playing field DirectTV owns…and you are nowhere near their level of offerings.  Rather than trying to look and feel like your competition, you should have been highlighting what makes you unique.  Now I am just disappointed with the same-old-programming I can get anywhere.  And frankly, I can get more of it from another provider.  Not a winning strategy, Charles.

Not sure why you disagree with me. I said I didn’t think it was a good move. However, I just think most (not all) Dish subs won’t notice. I did though!

The Voom channels are what made Dish Network unique.  Why didn’t they just keep the channels and ALSO add these 22 channels?  I would have gladly paid ANOTHER premium on top of the HD premium in order to continue receiving Voom channels.  I don’t care about a damn lawsuit.  What an immature reason to deprive thousands if not millions of customers of content they’ve come to love.  The reason behind the lawsuit is not satisfactory to me for this fascist cancellation of their channels.  They weren’t making enough money for Dish Network, weren’t spending enough on their own content?  I was highly satisfied with the content.  So we’ve lost 15 Voom channels with 100% no commercials, 100% 1080i broadcast, carrying unique content available nowhere else, with 22 garbage cable channels with commercials, 50% 480p broadcast, carrying content already available with other providers.  I’m cancelling my service and reporting my credit card stolen so they can’t change me a cancellation fee.

@dxg:  you say THEY are immature.. yet they told you that they can change the lineup.. so you cancel and report yoru card stolen?  ya, thats very very mature.  you’re a shining beacon of maturity. 

You complain that they add HD channels that are available on other providers? dont you think that makes sense, so people dont LEAVE them to get those channels?  would you rather they DIDNT carry channels that are on other providers?  those channels probably werent bringin in the money they need.  if they were profitable, they would keep them

The Voom channels were pretty much all I watched. They were listed on the program package I signed up for so to me Dish Network is in breach of contract with me. I got the dish ultimate package versus the dish essentials just for the Rush channel. I also LOVED MHD where I could watch concerts all day long. Now I just get espnnews and sci fi and travel channel. That stinks I could get that with cable. I know they werent in hd on cable but the Voom channels were the BEST thing Dish had going.

@buckeye: What I do with my money is none of your concern.  I was just expressing my outrage.

Not only am I pissed that something I loved was taken away from me, but I am looking at a bigger picture here.  The fact that these unique channels have been replaced with garbage channels (lesser picture quality, lesser content quality, excessive commercials) that are already available elsewhere is detrimental to our democracy.  It goes beyond doing what is best for the Exec’s/stockholder’s pocketbooks.  In fact, I own the airwaves like every other American and I do get a say in the matter.  I will be writing to the FCC regarding this and I encourage others to do so as well.  Greater choice of content = greater democracy.

I don’t subscribe to Dish, but I did before I got HD service. At the time, Dish had little HD, required anntena for HD locals (my area’s reception is spotty at best for digital OTA) & wanted several hundred $$ to BUY their HD box (non-DVR at the time). Went w/ Comcast for HD and stayed for a while.

Then one day (this was 2002-03), I get an offer in the mail for a new sat net called VOOM. Had all the basic cable/sat SD stuff I needed, plus way more HD material than anyone. Still needed antenna for HD locals and that was intermitent at best. Still, we had lots of HD…....lots of REPETITIVE HD. And their long promised HD DVR never materialized. VOOM went south & got “bought” by Dish. I went back to cable until last year when I went w/ DirecTv.

So my point? Well, I was an “old school” VOOM customer. They had some good programming, but after a few days of watching the VOOM content….you’ve seen pretty much what you have available for the next month or 2.

Will Dish customers recognize the loss? Considering that repetitive HD programming has been replaced with similarly repetitive HD programming from sources cable & DirecTV are currently serving up…..where’s the problem?

And whoever posted that SciFi HD was among the “crap” filling Dish’s VOOM void….in the words of Dwight Schrute….....“Do you watch BATTLESTAR GALACTICA? No? You are an idoit.” : )

What offends me more than the loss of the unique (commercial free) true HD channels were removed from Dish and replaced by a bunch of witless crap, half of which is not even being broadcast in true hi def, is Dish networks flat out lies about adding 22 hi def channels.  They failed to even mention that all VOOM channels would be discontinued.  I found out when I went to check Film Fest and World Cinema channels for the film line ups for the day. Now the closest I can expect to come to any hi def movies that aren’t typical major studio junk is the occasional film thirties and forties film cinemax shows.  Shame on Dish for falling into another run of the mill service that is at best the same old same old fodder.

this is no great loss, the voom channels sucked.

Actually the new hd channels are true hd the ones before were mpeg2 the new ones are mpeg4

This is indeed a big loss for DISH viewers.  Voom’s movie channels like Film Fest, World, Monsters, and Kung Fu were consistently better than anything DISH has replaced them with.  Were there repeats?  Sure.  Name me a movie channel that doesn’t have frequent repeats?  (OK, TCM, but then they are the creme-de-la-creme, except they don’t broadcast in HD.)

In fact, Voom’s movie channels were second only to HDNET in terms of quality and correctness—OAR, original aspect ratio.  Recent highlights included pristine HD transfers of the complete Planet of the Apes series from the early 70s in widescreen, and slew of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Bruce Lee movies on Kung Fu—all in new HD transfers, all OAR, and all unlikely to appear anywhere else, any time soon.  And, of course, uncut and commercial free!

The so-called HD channels that DISH has added instead of VOOM have far fewer HD programs (most are just SD stretched to look wide, and upconverted to try to look HD),  too often crop the movies, and insert ads and overlays into the movies.  This is an upgrade?  Hardly. 

But at least the new channels have name recognition :-(

Shame on you DISH, the VOOM package was the reason I loved and signed up with DISH.  I loved your Monster HD and also Gallery HD.  You had a good thing going. 
Mr. CEO, if you’re sharp, you beg to get VOOM back on your schedule.
If not back on the DISH lineup, by the time my contract expires,  I’m jumping ship.
WAKE UP,  YOU HAD A GREAT LINEUP
NOT NOW - REALLY STUPID MOVE