Both Channel 4 and Channel 5 experienced downtime from transmission on primetime Saturday night, as Channel 4 acknowledged ‘a technical problem’.
At 7:19pm, Channel 4 tweeted: ‘Channel 4 and More 4 are currently off air due to a technical problem. We are working to restore them as quickly as possible.’
Fans shared their confusion on social media, as well as the holding screen they were faced with between Formula One racing, which seemingly finished early, and Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World, which was due to start at 7:20pm.
Channel 5 was airing Clint Eastwood film Two Mules for Sister Sara, before being set to show documentary Clint Eastwood: The Man & the Movies.
For some viewers, the transmission issues were fixed within 20 minutes, picking up mid-transmission, but others around the country were still faced with frozen screens past 8pm.
Unconfirmed reports suggested a fire alarm had caused an evacuation at the channels’ media centre.
Journalist Nick Stylianou tweeted: ‘TV channels Channel 4, Channel 5, More4 and 4Music are currently off air after Red Bee Media, who play out the channels and adverts, is reportedly evacuating its West London White City transmission centre.’
More4 and 4Music were affected too, showing black and purple screens as well as E4 and Paramount Network, which is part of Channel 5.
The BBC’s transmission of Strictly Come Dancing appeared unaffected.
This is a breaking news story with more to come.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Netflix’s Sex Education renewed for series 4 and all our prayers have been answered