BBC News has apologised after viewers spotted some slightly strange messages flashing up on their ticker on Tuesday morning.
During the live broadcast, unusual messages including “Manchester United are rubbish” and “Weather: rain everywhere” flashed up on screen during the news, alongside regular headlines about the more serious news of the day.
The messages did not go unnoticed by viewers, who were left questioning exactly what was going on behind the scenes:
Well, a couple of hours later, the BBC offered up an explanation (and an apology to fans of Manchester United).
“A little earlier some of you might have noticed something pretty unusual on the ticker that runs along the bottom of the screen with news, making a comment about Manchester United,” their anchor explained. “And I hope that Manchester United fans weren’t offended by it. Let me just explain what was happening.
“Behind the scenes, someone was training to learn how to use the ticker, and to put text on the ticker, so they were just writing random things, not in earnest. And that comment appeared.
“So, apologies if you saw that and you were offended, and you’re a fan of Manchester United, but certainly that was a mistake, and it wasn’t meant to appear on the screen. So that was what happened, we just thought we’d better explain that to you.”
A BBC spokesperson added: “There was a technical glitch during training with our test ticker, which rolled over to live programming for a few seconds. We apologised for any offence caused on air.”
This isn’t the first time in recent history that BBC News has given its viewers an unintentional laugh, though.
Earlier this month, Huw Edwards was delayed live on air after munching on a croissant in between links, while Victoria Derbyshire was previously caught short after a troublesome pair of high heels caused her to miss her cue.