BBC Two breakdown - The Family Brain Games

For those who missed it...

From @Ident_Circle

Thanks for sharing!

An 0:18 announcerless 'Discovery' was probably the best thing to come out of that breakdown...

I wonder if by chance someone entered the programme's length as 27 seconds instead of 27 minutes (or similar) into the automation.

Hey wait, that's my friend's channel!

Unlikely. The programme was an hour (so 57/58 mins) and lasted 17 seconds. If there was a coincidence or a rounded up number it could have been.


Years ago when servers first came in directors used to have to change the duration of programmes to preview them. The only way they could check the details on the VT clock was to move the start time back 10 seconds. Then to watch the end they'd set the start point to near the end and watch from there, before putting everything back to their proper timings for transmission

Not ideal and won't be something they do now I suspect, the playout systems are much more advanced.

I just find it amazing at the number of faults there are at a network level. Channels in the US rarely have issues. There was one major network fault was when The Weather Channel a month or two ago was knocked off air, someone hacked their system and was concern enough to get the FBI involved.

Edit : it was a malicious software attack and they couldn’t go live at 6AM. They were able to play out one of their recorded series until 7:39 when they managed to go live in a simple manner,

pic.twitter.com/ovSgrgHxXY

— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) April 18, 2019

What was that trying to play before the breakdown slide? I've never seen an unearthly amount of time before a breakdown slide like that before.

The Brian Cox programme that should have been on after it

It must be incredibly frustrating for the people trying to deliver the channel that the playout system they've been given to do it really isn't up to the job.

Must be frustrating for the programme makers too, as now the show has started late for the second day running - due to sport overrun this time.

Makes me wonder how they're able to take control when there's a breaking news story and they interrupt for an NC simulcast, but bringing up a breakdown slide seemed almost impossible.