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Tuesday, March 04, 2014

KTRK abc13 10pm election coverage preempted by commercials & 'Inside Edition'

'Technical difficulties' cancel most of KTRK abc13's 10pm Texas primary election coverage

As I was returning from the opening of Rodeo Houston tonight, I was getting deluged by KTRK abc13 viewers asking what's going on with the ABC owned station's Texas primary coverage at 10pm. Not only that, I'm sure the crummy weather had people tuning in too.

On an aside, I would like to thank Ford and its new series of King Ranch F150, F350 and Expedition vehicles for a great time at the rodeo. The brand new F150 King Ranch design will hit dealers by the end of the year. For you techies out there, check out the USB, SD and line-in slots I found in the King Ranch Expedition!

Multiple reports on social media and alerted me the station ran 15 minutes of promos, then started running Inside Edition. Around 10:20pm, an abbreviated newscast cut into Inside Edition. The anchors apparently said technical difficulties were to blame for the delayed start.

The station took to Facebook to explain the situation.

We're experiencing technical difficulties on right now and are working to get Eyewitness News on shortly.

Naturally KTRK viewers jumped on the station's Facebook page to have a little fun:

"Guess Wayne and Bob Allen finally sabotage the station. Lol"

"You interrupted Inside Edition"

KTRK had other instances of technical troubles in 2013. One newscast in that time period ended with anchor Dave Ward apologizing to viewers for a "train wreck" of a newscast [WATCH THE VIDEO].

So the number one question I get: Why is this kind of thing happening? Obviously I was not there and no one officially will ever tell me, but I can point out to recent technological advances [ahem] that have hit the TV industry.

Many stations, like KTRK, have started using automation systems. This means that a computer, not a human, is actually directing the newscasts, turning on/off the microphones, inserting graphics, playing the video clips...etc. This means a bunch of computer systems from different companies have to talk and work together. So when 10pm newscasts fail to air, you can probably look to the rise of the machines.

RELATED
- KTRK abc13 newscasts cancelled by 'maintenance work'
- Dave Ward apologizes for abc13 KTRK newscast
- KTRK abc13 has technical difficulties during Houston #Texans vs Minnesota Vikings game
- KTRK abc13 debuts new 6:30pm newscast w/ Erik Barajas & Ilona Carson
- Why was KTRK abc13's 10pm newscast late?





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