Acrodyne is no longer making transmitters, according to company founder and chief executive Nat Ostroff.
“The impact of the ‘perfect storm’ of the economy and the digital-to-analog switch over really chilled the market for new high power capital equipment,” Ostroff told TVB. “That, plus the combination of the internet and the cable industry’s entry into the local ad market reduced ad revenue for over the air TV. As a result, the credit worthiness of many broadcasting station operations, and thus loans for new capital equipment, dried up.
“It seems that the advertising-supported business model is broken and it is not clear how it gets fixed.”
Ostroff said Ai, which he founded in 1968, has shut down its manufacturing facility near Philadelphia, and that he and the firm were “working very diligently to find an organization that will take up the service and support of the installed base using the inventory which is now being offered for sale. I believe that we will have continuity of that service and support for spares into the future.”
In the meantime, he said customers could still call the Ai service number for support and spares. TVNewCheck, which first reported the news, said around 250 to 300 Ai transmitters remained active in the market.
Shares of the company were trading Over the Counter today at 2 cents.
Ostroff said he found the situation “sad, but not surprising.”
“New technologies always push out traditional ones when the new technologies upset the status quo,” he said. “It is the way of progress.”
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