Viewers were forced to watch recorded material on the BBC’s live TV news channels for more than an hour on Wednesday after a technical glitch caused an outage.

The source of the issue was OpenMedia, the BBC’s new computer system, which has been introduced to a number of the corporation’s news outlets over the past six months.

OpenMedia supplier, Annova, assisted the BBC in helping to investigate the fault. Engineers announced they had solved the issues.

Desperate Dash

Presenters on the News at Six and News at Ten broadcasts were forced to present from the broadcaster’s Millbank Studio rather than the usual newsroom at New Broadcasting House. In a social media post, BBC News Home editor, Mark Easton, tweeted a picture of himself and presenter Fiona Bruce racing across town to reach the backup studio.

Rush hour traffic issues and a protest meant the pair were given a police escort to the studio – which was left unaffected by the technical difficulties.

OpenMedia, the broadcaster said, was designed to enable easier access to scripts, running orders and contacts for journalists, presenters and other staff at the corporation. One of the added benefits of this system was to provide “stability and reliability”.

The broadcaster posted a statement on Twitter notifying the public the recorded material would be used until the issue had been resolved.

It also confirmed that live news broadcasts were the only aspect of BBC coverage affected. The BBC News Website and radio broadcasts weren’t affected by the technical glitch.

“Due to a technical issue we’re currently running recorded programming on our live news channels,” the broadcaster said. “We’re working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible. The BBC News website is operating normally.”

The Risks of Modernisation?

In the past, BBC News has faced problems with the implementation of new technologies. Robot-operated cameras were hailed as a potential breakthrough introduction for live broadcasting, however, these devices refused to stay centred on presenters and caused difficulties for operators.

The BBC is not alone in experiencing IT migration difficulties in 2018. TSB bank was embroiled in a scandal throughout the summer which left thousands of customers unable to access online banking features.

That particular IT meltdown led to a parliamentary inquiry and CEO Paul Pester’s subsequent resignation.