Sky TV remains down for thousands of customers after an outage left tens of thousands unable to watch shows.
People began reporting issues with the satellite television service just before 9pm, according to outage tracker Downdetector.
Only an hour and a half later, nearly 30,000 people were having problems with Sky.
Most Sky TV users said they were struggling to watch live shows as it kept crashing, which was bad news for anyone tuning in to the Eurovision semi-finals.
Others said they cannot access content on their Sky Q Box despite their internet connection being fine.
Viewers were greeted with the message on their set-top box: ‘You can’t watch TV at the moment due to a connectivity problem.’
‘Everything just went off’
Chris Hedges, who lives in the Lancashire seaside town of Lytham St Annes, said his box froze yesterday at 9pm and only cane back at 11am.
‘Everything just went off as I was watching the TV – I was trying to watch something I’d recorded whilst I’d been out,’ he told Metro.
‘Then we all kept switching on and off our Sky boxes, then it would come back on for about 15 mins, then the same thing.’
Describing Sky as ‘useless’, Chris added: ‘When I went on to “Sky check your service” this morning it was still saying there were no problems when clearly there were.
‘It was only when I tried to contact my Sky insurance and spoke to my next door neighbour that we found out it’s them and not the equipment sort of thing.’
Sky subscriber Sylvia Pitman, who lives in Blackwood, Wales, told Metro that she has no reception.
‘Complete blackout from 9pm. Tried all the usual, unplugging, testing sockets, to no avail,’ she said.
After trying to unplug their TVs and check their remotes have batteries, users said that their Sky Q boxes would crash when booted up.
Trying to load recorded shows on the box triggered a ‘Please wait…’ message.
Is it still down? Latest updates
While the number of affected customers lowered overnight, issues have been climbing since 2am.
As of 7.46am, 2,579 people are still experiencing issues.
Around 5% of users are reporting problems with Sky Broadband.
What caused the mass outage?
A technical hiccup last night caused some Sky Q boxes to go into standby.
Sky told Metro: ‘We’re sorry some customers had trouble accessing Sky Q last night.
‘The issue was quickly resolved, and service has been restored.’
What can people do?
If a customer’s Sky Q box is still stuck in standby, people are advised to try ‘power cycling’.
This involves switching off your Sky Q box at the power socket for 30 seconds and back on again, which will restore service.
Top tips to stay connected
- Check your Wi-Fi connection: Ensure your router is working properly. Keep the router close to your box and reduce interference by keeping both away from cordless phones and microwaves.
- Restart your Sky Q Box: Switch off the box and unplug for 10 seconds.
- Reconnect to Wi-Fi: Go into the box settings and disconnect and reconnect from your internet.
- Update Sky Q Box: Install new firmware, which might resolve any technical hiccups.
How do I complain to Sky? And can I get compensation?
There are several ways to complain to Sky:
- Call Sky on: 03337593848
- Onlien form: http://www.sky.com/help/complaints
- Write: Customer Complaints, Sky Subscriber Services Ltd, PO Box 43, Livingston, EH54 7DD
- Or message Sky via the company’s messaging service. Open from 8.30am to 7.30pm every day.
You might be entitled to compensation if your TV or internet goes down for a certain length of time.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
