Technical fault affects Truss interview

This morning’s edition of Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg suffered technical problems just prior to and during the initial stages of a live interview with Liz Truss.

A few minutes into the programme – which was being broadcast live from Birmingham, where the Conservative Party Conference was based – screens went black and sound was lost briefly, just as journalist Pippa Crerar began answering a question put to her by presenter Laura Kuenssberg.

Less than a minute later, vision and sound cut out again. The programme’s DOG remained on screen though, suggesting the programme was being passed through a gallery in London, where graphics were added.

After 30 seconds, BBC One viewers were then presented with a timerless BBC News countdown sequence. 30 seconds later we cut back to the programme, where an interview with PM Liz Truss had already started.

After a further brief loss of vision, the remainder of the programme continued normally.

Some viewers reported that the fault was handled differently on the BBC News Channel, with longer periods of the BBC News countdown filler.

The 30-second period of black and silence was apparently unique to BBC One. The countdown filler is reported to have kicked in a lot sooner on the BBC News Channel and remained in place there after BBC One had cut back to the programme.

At the end of the interview with Liz Truss, presenter Laura Kuenssberg told viewers: “Thanks for sticking with us during some technical glitches during that interview. Apologies for that.”

In a statement, the BBC said: “There was a technical glitch during the programme, which was quickly resolved.”

Acknowledgements