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A host of channels – including Three and its flagship evening news – proved unwatchable last night after a broadcast issue caused severe glitches.
The problem, from outside of New Zealand, affected Three, Bravo, Eden, Rush and their plus-1 channels, a Freeview spokesperson said.
Other services, such asstreaming platform Three Now and Sky, were also affected, they said.
“Teams from Sky, WBD and Kordia worked through the night and as a result, channels across all services are stable this morning,” a Freeview spokesperson said this morning.
“A close eye is being kept across services as final resolution activities are being completed, but audiences should find they can now watch Three, Bravo, Eden, Rush and HGTV.”
Earlier, Freeview’s website stated the issue, which caused “occasional pixelation and audio splats and sometimes fails entirely”, was being investigated.
Television viewers from throughout NZ posted videos of glitching screens, with one broadcast of the 6pm news severely disrupted by picture issues.
The disrupted broadcast appeared to affect viewers from Northland to Canterbury.
The problem affected Three, Bravo, Eden, Rush and their plus-1 channels,
Nearly 70 commenters on one post said they, too, were having glitches in their broadcast.
“Yes! TV3 really bad tonight, thought the TV was on its way out,” one said.
“TV3 dreadful all day. Constant pixelating and crackling. Have tried going through Sky or through fibre – no difference. Every other channel is fine – so frustrating,” said another.
“TV3 is unwatchable,” one commented.
However, the issues seemed to be resolved overnight, with Three Now channels working normally this morning.
One affected viewer told the Herald she lives in an apartment complex and thought it could have been the communal aerial or antenna connection that was the problem.
She thought it was “very frustrating” there was no notification on screen clarifying the issue, causeing her to “panic and plan to buy a new cable today”.
Some who contacted the Herald thought the problem was caused by wind affecting aerials.
