A minor interruption caused football fans watching from around the world to jump in dread as TV screens went into testcard-mode during the Scotland vs Haiti game at the FIFA World Cup. While the Scots were back in the tournament after 30 years and registered a laborious 1-0 win, Haiti were spunky but luckless on debut.
Fans from around the world though were transported to the 80s and 90s, when colour bands suddenly appeared on screen, reminiscent of times in India even before cable television.
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The order is unforgettable – yellow, cyan, green, pink, red, blue. Thick bands that appeared when Doordarshan was prominent than Doordash of North American relatives.
It happened at 37:43 with Scots leading 1-0 through John MC Guinn. With the feed cut off, a error message of ESF UHD C appeared. BBC reported that the BBC was forced to apologise for loss of picture from Boston.
It lasted around 5 seconds but sent fans across the world into tailspin of jumpy emotions. Those from Argentina to Australia chimed in of having noticed the same thing even if nothing of note occurred.
Commentator Liam McLeod said on BBC, “Apologies again if there’s a loss of picture. It’s a World Feed problem so everyone suffered it. But you’re back with us now.” The comms had continued through the glitch.
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Viewers from DAZN in Spain, TSN, Fox, Telemundo, SBS, Portugal, Argentina and Norway reported the same. Given the times, many dreaded an amber alert – or an attack, leading to panic from worst assumptions. A pong sounded out in a burst too, and those on dodgy streams also noticed.
On Reddit, poster Semi-Loyal wrote, “All of the comments saying “same here in are exactly why I love this sport. The fact that the whole *#c@#@g world is watching this at the same time is awesome inspiring.”
The feed on BBC got the feed cut off during Scotland vs Haiti game with a error message of ESF UHD C appeared. (Screengrab from YouTube & X) 
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