Cablevision Has High Hopes for HDTV

Indeed, with greater numbers of broadcast stations and cable services broadcasting signals in high-definition, the HD audience will undoubtedly grow. But Voom faces hurdles nonetheless.

One of them is price. The necessary hardware package for a Voom system, with installation included, costs $750. Meanwhile, Best Buy (BBY Quote) is currently selling a complete HD-capable system for Hughes' DirecTV at a cost of $569, no installation. Cable systems have started offering high-definition channels at a much lower price. It seems like an uphill battle for Voom, a virtually unknown service, to steal away current DirecTV customers, who could simply upgrade their equipment to HD and continue to get video from the same company. It doesn't seem any easier for Cablevision to get people who aren't currently satellite customers to plunk down more money for a lesser-known system.

That hesitancy could, of course, be overcome by the quality of Voom's programming. Indeed, part of the Voom package looks appealing: 10 movie channels showing HD-format movies simultaneously, plus channels devoted to horror movies, epic films and soccer matches in HD.

On the other hand, other channels among the 21 exclusives Voom is offering look like real head-scratchers. A high-definition channel devoted to collectibles? A channel devoted to art galleries? A high-definition channel devoted to fashion and dining? A collectible channel seems like a stretch no matter what format you broadcast it in. Viewers may decide that simply getting HBO from their cable system or satellite operator will suffice.

Softer Side

Not too reassuring is the retail partner for Voom that Cablevision announced Wednesday: Sears (S Quote). While having a nationwide retail channel can't hurt -- and a Sears executive said the company does a good business in selling HDTV sets -- Sears doesn't immediately spring to mind when one thinks of early-adopter purchases. That's so even though the company was a co-founder of the old Prodigy online service, and once was the exclusive retailer for AT&T (T Quote) home computers.