(CNN/BBC) – Every news anchor’s nightmare came true during a BBC broadcast Tuesday night. The show hit a technical glitch – leaving the anchor to stare at the camera with nothing to say for four minutes.
But CNN’S Jeannie Moos reports that some viewers didn’t seem to mind.
The BBC’s flagship news at 10 was silent except for breaking news announcements run amok.
During those four long minutes of technical meltdown, veteran newsman Huw Edwards sat calmly with only the occasional facial flinch.
One viewer tweeted, “Kinda absorbing. Like a lava lamp.”
After so much bad news lately, tweeted someone else, “Wasn’t it lovely, sort of time out from all the craziness.”
No matter how many times they played the graphic breaking news, the news remained broken.
A show editor blamed it on a “technical system crash." seconds before airtime.
Edwards broke his silence to explain what happened.
“There was so much going on in the director’s gallery that nobody bothered to tell me, of course, that I was actually on the air. I have to say, I sensed that I probably was, so I tried to behave myself,” he said.
He played with his mouse. He scribbled, prompting everyone to ask the same question.
“What did you start writing?”
“I think he was writing down his order for dinner.”
Huw told what it was like to be sitting in the chair, where things were anything but silent.
“I was listening to all this pandemonium in the background,” he said.
After the meltdown, cue the anchor. Edward’s only sign of stress was his post-newscast tweet. A double Dragon Ale.
“I think I’m going to enjoy this little beauty after that Ten,” he said, followed by the Welsh equivalent of “Cheers!”
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