'CBS Evening News' fails to air on East Coast due to 'technical difficulties'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CBS's long-running evening news show had issues on the East Coast Tuesday that prevented the broadcast from airing altogether.
"CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell" was set to run at its usual 6:30 p.m. ET timeslot, but viewers noticed something was awry when several minutes of promos for various CBS television shows aired instead of the actual news program.
The show's official Twitter account made viewers aware that the network was addressing "technical difficulties."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC'S STEPHANIE RUHLE SLAMMED FOR 'SOFTBALL INTERVIEW' WITH CUOMO AMID NURSING HOME CONTROVERSY
"@CBSNews is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We will bring you the CBS Evening News as soon as possible. We apologize for the issue," the program tweeted roughly 13 minutes after the scheduled start time on the East Coast.
CBS broadcasted CBSN, the network's 24/7 digital streaming network, for the rest of the timeslot.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A spokesperson for CBS News told Fox News that "the issue is being resolved, and the Mountain and West Coast versions of the CBS Evening News will air during the regular time slots at 5:30 PM/6:30 PM, MT/PT," respectively, and that "tonight's broadcast of the CBS Evening News will also air on CBSN and will be available on CBSNews.com."
According to anchor Norah O'Donnell's Twitter feed, her exclusive interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was set to air Tuesday evening.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The program's absence from the airwaves raised eyebrows on social media.
"As someone who has watched nearly all the broadcast evening newscasts for years now, I can attest that ever since @CBSEveningNews was moved to D.C. there have been a ridiculous amount of 'technical difficulties,' more than any other broadcast. This is the peak," Media Research Center news analyst Nicholas Fondacaro observed.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'Donnell later addressed the controversy on Instagram.
"Thanks everybody for checking in. We're fine, but there was a major technical issue tonight that prevented the broadcast from being seen on the East Coast," the CBS anchor said. "It's a broadcast in the era of COVID. We have a very small team here in our D.C. bureau. Thank you to them for all their hard work every day and especially today."