It's been a slow-motion train wreck going on now for nearly a decade. Cablevision
Echostar will receive the single satellite Cablevision put into orbit for Voom, as well as its ground support equipment. Cablevision will continue to sell Voom's other assets, including its slots for other satellites. These could net several million dollars, but the company will not come close to recovering its investment in the business, which over the full course of the project is estimated to have exceeded half a billion.
Echostar is certainly a winner here -- the company has been trying to buy Voom's satellite for some time so that it could more effectively compete with its biggest rival, DirecTV
The Voom disaster marks a fairly ignominious mark on Charles Dolan's trailblazing career. He founded Home Box Office -- now owned by Time Warner
In 2003, Dolan made the decision to spin off Voom, along with Womens' Entertainment, AMC, the Independent Film Channel (IFC), and some other assets into a new entity called Rainbow Media Services, much as John Malone has done with Liberty Media
Obviously this is great for Echostar, but it's not half bad for Cablevision, either. Voom promised years of upcoming red ink, and Charles Dolan seemed at one point willing to destroy the entire company in his dogged insistence that management and directors remain supportive of funding it. He may not be happy about the fact that he's been outvoted and outmaneuvered, but dismally poor results from the venture gave them added ammunition to stand firm in this instance. Voom may have succeeded wildly eventually, but it was turning into a bet-the-farm wager for Cablevision.
Bill Mann has no interest in any company mentioned in this article. For a complete list of his holdings, please check his profile.