Service Electric Cablevision has agreed to purchase Shen-Heights TV Association in a transaction that combines two of the oldest continuously operating cable systems in the country.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed but Service Electric senior vice president Mark Walter said the deal has closed and Shen-Heights represents a nice fit with the company’s Hazelton, Pa. system.
Service Electric is the oldest cable operator in the country, formed in 1948 by appliance store owners John and Margaret Walson. Shen-Heights, which operates in Shenandoah and surrounding communities in Pennsylvania, first began offering a three-channel cable service in rural parts of the state in October 1951, according to the company web site.
Service Electric Television is a private, family owned cable business servicing more than 250,000 subscribers in about 250 communities in central and northeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey. On an industry-wide basis, Service Electric Television ranks as the 16th-largest MSO. Service Electric Cablevision, an affiliate company of Service Electric Television, serves more than 100,000 subscribers and 100 Pennsylvania communities in three operating regions.
