In 30 years in the TV news business, WTVG-TV, Channel 13, news director Mel Watson has never encountered a problem like this: a station that could not broadcast video to its viewers.
"I've worked in six television stations," Mrs. Watson said, "and we've never not been able to get video on the air."
But on Friday, WTVG's newscasts remained without the key component of any news broadcast — video — after the station's editing system was infected and crippled by a computer virus that originated from a video download, she said.
Due to technical difficulties, 13abc Action News at 4:30 AM is delayed. We will begin broadcasting as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.
— WTVG 13abc (@13abc) November 8, 2019
"It was definitely from a file that was opened, but was that file on a USB drive, or was that file from a Facebook video that we might've taken, or did somehow one of our SD cards become corrupt? We just don't know," Mrs. Watson said.
"We'll never be able to determine where the source came from," she added, though the virus is considered to be a "random occurrence," and not an attack directed at the station.
Nevertheless, the malware’s effects are "a significant inconvenience," Mrs. Watson said, as WTVG, an ABC affiliate and The Blade’s media partner, scrambles to restore its ability to edit and broadcast videos.
"We are television and people rely on visuals when they watch TV, [but] we've got to produce news for our viewers no matter what," she said. "We just ask that they be patient."
Viewers first become aware of WTVG's problems on Friday when the station replaced its 4:30 a.m. half-hour newscast, the first of the day, with ABC's overnight news program, America This Morning.
While the station broadcast its normal hour-long local news at 5 and 6 a.m., it trimmed its hour-long noon newscast to a half-hour, and substituted Inside Edition for its 5:30 p.m. Friday newscast.
Friday's 5 and 6 p.m. half-hour newscasts were broadcasts. The 11 p.m. show was also scheduled to broadcast, as was WVTG's Saturday morning block of news, which runs from 6 to 8, and 9 to 10.
"The show must go on," Mrs. Watson said.
The troubles began as a nuisance on Thursday, with videos playing at slower speeds, which prompted a system restart after the 11 p.m. newscast.
Hours later, the situation had become much worse, as advised to Mrs. Watson in a 3 a.m. phone call from a WTVG employee informing her that a virus had infected the system and rendered inoperable the station's ability to broadcast video shot in the field, and to upload video to and edit through its editing system.
The virus only affected the news and sports department, she said, and not the meteorological department, which uses a different computer system.
But the station cannot use the equipment, she said, "until we get the virus cleaned up," a laborious and lengthy process that involves WTVG's IT department and that of its corporate parent, Gray Television, "taking every piece of editing equipment, including 45 laptops, and having them cleaned and scrubbed. And each one takes about an hour to do."
Through much of its Friday morning newscasts, WTVG has relied a lot more on live shots and graphics, what many viewers might consider to be a decidedly "old-school" method of broadcast news.
Meanwhile, the newsroom staff "has been pitching ideas on how we can get video on the air," Mrs. Watson said, that has, by necessity, created an esprit de corps at the station.
"I don't want to say it's fun," she said, "but it's an interesting challenge that we've stepped up to meet."
Staff writer Allison Dunn contributed to this report.
First Published November 8, 2019, 1:14 p.m.
