Harris exits the broadcast industry

When they sold their Broadcast Equipment supply division to SCMS a few years ago, the handwriting was on the wall. Even so, it is a little surprising that they would exit broadcasting altogether.

The decision to divest in no way reflects the quality of the work Broadcast Communications performed in support of our customers and our company.  Harris simply determined that Broadcast Communications could provide higher value and operate more effectively under a different ownership model.

They are spinning the broadcast division off to a new owner rather than completely shutting down the operation.  In an e-mail received from Harris Morris, President of, Broadcast Communications Division, clients and customers will still receive support for existing products:

In the interim, Broadcast Communications will continue to be a part of Harris Corporation and operate business as usual. Our valued relationships, both longstanding and new, remain our top priority. The global Broadcast Communications team will continue to work diligently to ensure our commitment to our customers and partners remains steadfast, our execution to fulfill commitments is flawless, and our progress against strategic objectives remains focused.

Well, there you have it.  This affects such things as Harris transmitters (AM, FM, TV, HF) and support, Harris consoles and studio furniture (previously Pacific Recorders and Engineering or Pacific Research and Engineering, AKA PR&E), and Intraplex STL systems, among others.

What does all this say about the future of terrestrial broadcasting?

We live in interesting times.

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9 thoughts on “Harris exits the broadcast industry”

  1. They had no right having a presence at NAB this year and not making the announcement again.
    Wonder how many purchase agreements were made in the few weeks after NAB.
    Richard Folio, Director, Harris Cyber Integrated Solutions gave a presentation at ENNES/SBE WORKSHOP about “Broadcasting in the Cloud” and never once mentioned that Harris sold off their cloud hosting service in February.
    http://www.harris.com/view_pressrelease.asp?act=lookup&pr_id=3413

  2. Ah well, it’s just business, or so they say. It does sound like they want to sell off the broadcast division to somebody else. Some of their radio broadcast transmitters are not bad, I don’t know too much about their TV stuff.

    The field support and logistics will be an expensive operation for any new owner. I wonder who would be interested in doing that.

  3. … so it is true that HARRIS sell its Broadcast Divisions, we still have our 2 DX-50 AM Transmitters, we acquire them 1995 and still they are working fine…

  4. @Efren Pineda, PECE
    We also had 2 DX-50 in Hochiminh city since 1998 and they’re working fine.
    It’s regret when hearing HARRIS sell their Broadcast Divisions

  5. The DX series transmitters were an innovative design. When I worked for Dame Media, we looked at a DX-50 to replace the MW-50B at WGY. I think the power savings and tube costs put the payback period at about five years.

  6. If Harris is leaving the broadcast industry,…I take that to mean that only Continental Electronics(CEC) and Broadcast Electronics(BE) will be the only US transmitter manufacturers left,…if I read this all correctly. I see that at least the
    current clients and customers will still receive support for their existing transmitters and other equipment. While the Broadcast Electronics division will operate business as usual in the interim,what will happen after that?

  7. @Dewey, it would be interesting if CEC would buy up the Harris line. I get the feeling that they are not looking to expand their broadcasting line any further, as they have quite a bit of government work.

  8. I would love to see Continental Electronics buy the Harris Solid State transmitter line and pair it up with their superb support and after sales service. I like how Continental treats their customers.

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