NZME understood the generator didn't kick in after the power went out at Mount Erin and Freeview customers were also impacted.
Freeview posted on Facebook saying they were aware of the issues, which had been escalated to the transmission provider, Kordia.
Hi Hawkes Bay viewers - we’ve had multiple reports that transmission is down in your region. Have escalated to the transmission provider Kordia so that they can check and fix as promptly as possible.
Posted by Freeview NZ on Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Outages were reported on Kennedy Rd and Riverbend Rd in Napier. Residents in Taradale, Clive and Flaxmere were also experiencing problems.
Simon Bell from Bell Electronics in Napier said he received a dozen phone calls in the last 40 minutes by people hoping to get their television reconnected.
One resident commented on a social media post about Freeview "it's not free anymore".
The Kordia spokesperson apologised to those who were impacted by the outage and thanked them for their patience.