Newtown's unique television cable service will be switched off from Saturday.
The service, which has operated for nearly 60 years and was possibly one of the UK's first television cable services, will be turned off off for the last time on Saturday morning, the owner and operator, Wrights Radio Relay, announced today.
They blamed a change in viewing habits, including in more recent times internet streaming to televisions, satellite and other factors.
The service was launched in 1960 and piped via cable to homes throughout the town, with residents paying a subscription for the service.
The TV service originally started as Bryn Vision and has seen many changes.
It previously saved from closure by new owners in 2006.
“Despite several years of significant investment and improvements by the new owners, subscriber numbers have declined in recent years to the point where the business was no longer viable,” said Thomas Pain of Wrights Radio Relay.
“The last two years have seen the business face increasingly difficult trading conditions and significant increases in running costs. The final decision to close was taken because of a large number of subscribers switching to internet on demand services.”
He added: “We wrote to our subscribers in January this year informing them that we would be closing, and have spent the last few months providing advice so that they would have time to make alternative arrangements. The owners of Wrights Radio Relay would like to thank their past customers for their support.”
