Sky News, Sky Sports and CBBC were among the TV channels impacted by a bug in a new release of software rolled out globally by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.
Problems were apparent on Sky News shortly before 6am, when an apology graphic appeared. A short time later, the channel switched to a back-up schedule of pre-recorded programming.
Live output resumed at 8.49am. But the channel had to make do with no autocue, graphics or packages for a number of hours, with presenters Anna Jones and Gareth Barlow reading off paper scripts.
Normal service was more or less resumed shortly after lunchtime.
Sky Sports News displayed an apology graphic for some time in the morning, before simulcasting Sky Sports Golf. Normal service was gradually restored during the afternoon.
CBBC’s schedule fell off air at 7.55am, after a live edition of Newsround. It’s understood that exiting the live event caused the playout system to crash.
BBC One, BBC Two and CBeebies playout would’ve been similarly affected.
However, CBeebies had no live events in its schedule. BBC Two didn’t have to exit a live event until lunchtime. A fix was implemented prior to that.
BBC One was due to exit a live event (Morning Live) at 10.45am. Rather than being put to air by BBC One playout, Morning Live was initially passed through the BBC Breakfast gallery.
As we understand it, a fix was applied to BBC One playout just prior to 10.45am, and the channel’s planned schedule was played out normally.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said: “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted.
“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
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PICTURED: Sky News breakdown graphic. COPYRIGHT: Sky plc.