Channel 4 and E4 issues persist, but when will subtitles come back?

Poor Channel 4. The broadcaster has had a truly difficult week – along with its viewers – after a fire at a West London broadcast center kicked off a medley of technical issues across its various channels and programmes.

The likes of Channel 4, E4 and More4 have had issues either displaying in people’s homes at all – with error messages in place of weekly Hollyoaks episodes – or doing so with full accessibility features such as subtitles. The past weekend also saw a repeat episode of Married At First Sight broadcast in place of the new, intended episode, drawing ire from viewers.

The Channel 4 Twitter account posts occasional updates, with the latest coming on October 1.

But there appears to be no clear end in sight, without an estimated timeline for the fix being given to viewers. Those with accessibility needs in particular are venting their frustration on social media, at having been unable to watch their favorite programming for well over a week.

A contact page for the broadcaster Channel 4 sums it up best, saying “we are still experiencing issues with both TV broadcast and All 4. This includes the provision of WATCH LIVE, as well as the upload of programming to All 4 and some issues with our on air playout. We are also unable to provide SUBTITLES, AUDIO DESCRIPTION or SIGNING on any programming across our channels or on demand services.”

It adds that “We are working as quickly as we can to resume normal services across our broadcast and on demand services.”

What’s the problem with Channel 4?

The problem appears to have been a fire that broke out at broadcast centre in West London. As reported by the BBC, it seems that “activation of the fire suppression systems” at the broadcast centre led to issues – with both Channel 4 and More4 having gone off air entirely for a period of time. 

E4 seems to be experiencing continuing issues, too, with users on social media posting images of a purple “Off-Air” screen for the channel, and others mourning the inability to watch their favorite TV shows on E4 or the E4+1 catchup channel.

The latest messaging from Channel 4 cites problems showing “accessible versions of our shows”, too, with users citing “no subtitles” on certain shows. The problem is also affecting the on demand All 4 platform, too.

Comments on the Channel 4 Twitter account include a medley of other issues that the broadcaster is no doubt scrambling to address, from subscribers to an ad-free tier still being served advertisements, or voiceover and audio tracks feeling off-kilter.

What can I do?

For at-home viewers, there’s little you can do to troubleshoot your issues – so just keep in mind that fiddling with an aerial, or shouting down the phone at customer service, likely won’t do much for now. 

The myriad of issues suggests that a technical fix will be complex, and damaged broadcasting hardware – if a brief fire did manage to do some damage – will take longer than a couple of days to address.

However, the issues seem to be inconsistent across viewers, so some may fare better than others. We’d recommend checking back each day to see how your favorite channels are doing, or keeping an eye on the Channel 4 Twitter account, to see what the latest pronouncements are.

If you need a TV fix on the meantime, check out the best TV streaming services to consider spending your time on.