Voom, an American digital satellite TV service, has been shut down after a last-minute deal to save the business fell through.

At the end of 2004, Voom's parent company Cablevision sold the Rainbow bird on which Voom's service was carried to rival DSat provider EchoStar for $200m. However, that in itself did not put an end to the service. Cablevision is a family-run business, with CEO James Dolan behind the decision to pull out of the DSat marketplace. However, chairman Charles Dolan - James's father - supported Voom from the outset, and was putting together a deal along with his other son, Tom, to buy other Voom assets. However, no deal came to fruition before a February 28 deadline and as such, the service has shut down.

A statement on Voom's website reads simply: "Voom has ceased taking new customer orders and will shut down by the end of March."

The service, launched in 2003, failed to attract enough customers to justify its continued existence. In an announcement last week, Cablevision admitted that the cost of exiting the DSat marketplace would cost over $350m - in addition to the approximately $300m loss Voom made in 2004.