Global IT outage impacts media outlets

TV stations, networks affected

A widespread outage affecting Microsoft Windows-based programs had major implications worldwide Friday morning, impacting flights, banks, government offices, hospitals, and more. The outage started around 2 a.m. CT and lasted throughout the morning though systems are slowly returning online.

The outage also affected media outlets worldwide, with control hubs and traffic departments being hard hit and equipment (such as teleprompters, graphics, and display screens) not working properly.

Already impacted by tornado warnings earlier in the week as storms swept through the area, O’Hare and Midway airports went through ground stops again Friday morning due to the outage.

According to various news reports, a faulty update to Microsoft’s Windows operating system from cloud-based security firm CrowdStrike caused the system to crash, with many users reporting the “blue screen of death” on screens. The outage impacted numerous Microsoft programs, including 365 (aka Office, which has programs businesses use every day, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.) 

In Chicago, radio and TV stations were impacted. According to the Chicago Tribune, Audacy said their 200+ stations were off the air, including some in Chicago. During NBC 5’s 11 a.m. newscast, anchor Marion Brooks noted the newsroom was impacted and the station’s teleprompters were down. In Hartford, Gray’s WFSB wasn’t able to run commercial breaks during their news shows, and at cross-town rival NBC-owned WVIT, anchors noted all of their computer screens had a “blue screen of death”. 

Another NBC-owned station – WRC Washington, D.C., couldn’t air a newscast at all, nor did WWMT in Grand Rapids.  In Houston, ABC’s KTRK couldn’t use their weather graphics, so they had to use a whiteboard. 

Nationally, the outage impacted NBC News and MSNBC, which had technical issues during Morning Joe. In the UK, Sky News and children’s broadcaster CBBC were knocked off the air entirely. Canadian broadcasters were also affected, including the CBC. Paramount Global’s portfolio of cable channels including MTV, Comedy Central, and VH1 were also offline as were Weigel’s new MeTV Toons and MeTV+.

The outage was not a product of a cyberattack or terrorism, according to IT experts.