With a budgetary ax, Beaufort's WJWJ TV station ends (Updated)

Stainless Inc.
Stainless Inc. constructed the station's tower in 1974 at a height of 1,318 feet.

(Updates at the bottom.)

On December 18, 2005, the local S.C. ETV station canceled its local news broadcast due to budgetary reasons -- now six years on the remainder of the staff has followed.

The Island Packet writes that the last two employees of WJWJ were let go Thursday, also for budgetary reasons.

The paper has a short report on the end of an era (read it here) that began in 1974.

The station off Ribaut Road near Beaufort Memorial Hospital (map below) will still rebroadcast statewide programs from ETV and you can watch some of the station's old original programing over here.

Update February 14: In an editorial The Island Packet reflects on what WJWJ meant to Beaufort and notes how that thanks to a growing Beaufort County (mostly South of the Broad) the need for many of WJWJ's services greatly diminished in the 2000s; take a read of the editorial here.