Echolab, a manufacturer of compact production switchers, has announced that it is going out of business. The company’s president, Nigel Spratling, made the closing official with a public statement issued on May 20.
“It is with much sadness that I have to tell you that yesterday (May 19th) Echolab was put into liquidation,” Spratling said. “Our primary investor who had negotiated the recent agreement with Harris was no longer prepared to fund the company through the transition and decided that this was his only course of action; it was a great shock to us all.”
Spratling’s reference to an agreement with Harris Corp. referred to a recent agreement through which Harris has been marketing the Echolab Atem switcher line under the Harris name.
In his business termination announcement, Spratling said that the company would attempt to sell off its assets and inventory to pay some of its debts. He apologized to Echo Lab’s suppliers, employees and customers.
Echolab has been in business since 1974 as a manufacturer of video production switchers and other television production gear. Earlier this decade, the company attempted to rebrand itself as a provider of switchers for streaming media but in recent years returned to manufacturing switchers for its traditional broadcast base. The company is based in Billerica, Massachusetts. Spratling was named president of the organization in early 2007.
