Dozens of major television broadcasters had their operations disrupted by a global computer outage triggered by security vendor CrowdStrike on Friday.
The outage occurred around 1 a.m. Eastern Time (10 p.m. Thursday Pacific Time) when a security update distributed by CrowdStrike included a corrupt file that caused computers and servers running Microsoft Windows to crash.
The issue was critical in that Windows-operated computers that rebooted after installing the update were unable to come fully back online, requiring information technology (IT) professionals to manually fix the problem across their own networks.
Among the international broadcasters most affected by the issue was Comcast-owned Sky News, which stopped broadcasting for about an hour after its computer network was disrupted. The channel aired a graphic explaining their technical difficulties before replacing their scheduled live news broadcast with substitute programming. The channel went live from its London newsroom about two hours later, but without on-air graphics, including their lower-screen news ticker.
Australian public service broadcaster ABC News was also affected by the glitch, though it remained on the air during the situation. The network was unable to utilize computers that rendered on-screen graphics, opting instead to run a rudimentary ticker that explained the global outage.
Watching / covering the #cloudstrike news. pic.twitter.com/5R9EhFG1zb
— techAU (@techAU) July 19, 2024
In the United States, several channels operated by Paramount Global were taken off the air after a playout system used to automate programming crashed. “Technical difficulty” slates replaced re-run programming on channels like BET, VH1, MTV, Nicktoons, Pop TV, Paramount Network and Smithsonian Channel, according to observations by The Desk. The west coast feeds of Comedy Central, TV Land and Nickelodeon were unaffected.
The Walt Disney Company was also impacted by the issue, with its ESPN multiplex of cable networks airing shows from co-owned ACC Network for about an hour.
Local news broadcasts from stations owned by Paramount (CBS), the Walt Disney Company (ABC), Hearst Television and TEGNA also struggled throughout the evening, with some newscasts running without graphics or TelePrompTer machines. National programming feeds for Weigel Broadcasting-owned MeTV Plus and MeTV Toons also went down.
On social media, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed the issue and said the company was working on a fix.
“CrowdStrike’s recent update has had a global impact on IT systems,” Nadella wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “We are actively collaborating with CrowdStrike and industry partners to guide our customers through the recovery process and restore their systems securely.”
