Amid the Drama, Cablevision to Shutter VOOM

There were dueling press releases, last-minute deadlines and an ever-worsening family feud. But in the final analysis, it appears that the end of VOOM is finally nigh. Cablevision announced late yesterday that negotiations with its own chairman Chuck Dolan had broken down without an agreement to finance VOOM HD’s continued operations, and that VOOM will be shut down. It’s unclear exactly when the shut-off date will be, but Cablevision did say that the transition would last a minimum of 30 days.

Less than an hour after Cablevision issued its statement, Chuck and Tom Dolan put out their own release (curiously titled “VOOM Announces Continued Service”) making clear VOOM HD’s desire to continue the negotiations with Cablevision’s board of directors. For now, however, it appears that VOOM’s days are numbered unless the elder Dolan can work some last minute magic.