As reported on TVTechnology.com, LARCAN Closes Its Doors. The article reflects that the company has been manufacturing transmitters since the early 1950's and took the LARCAN name in the early 1980s. In addition to the high-power transmitters, LARCAN acquired TTC, one of the first manufacturers--if not the first--of TV translators and later LPTV transmitters.
As the digital transition neared completion, LARCAN expanded its line of products to include digital encoders and provided Fox TV stations with mobile DTV (ATSC A/153) transmission equipment. Some of this equipment was manufactured by the Chinese company Sumavision, which the article reports one source reported was LARCAN's majority shareholder--and, according to one of the other sources in the article--issued the order that shut down LARCAN.
As of July 16, the LARCAN website was still up. One indication that employees did not know about the shutdown in advance is a webpage dated June 25, 2014, LARCAN's Broadcast Best – Your one-source Broadcast Solutions Team.
At this point, it isn't clear if Sumavision USA will pick up support for the products it supplied LARCAN or what arrangements, if any, will be made to support installed LARCAN transmitters. I did not see any mention of ATSC standard products on the Sumavision USA webpage.
One possibility is LARCAN's shareholders will sell off the assets of corporation to another transmitter manufacturer.
