WACO, Texas – Bits of porn recently popped up unexpectedly on TV deep in the heart of Texas: This past weekend saw several seconds of adult content on ESPNU early Saturday morning and a week prior, a PBS telethon also was interrupted by porn. Both incidents occurred on the South Texas Time Warner cable service.
The ESPNU surprise happened at 3:17 a.m. Saturday, when a basketball game encountered a transmission turn-over of an as-yet unidentified porn clip, reports Deadspin. A viewer managed to capture the TV moment with his camera, too.
This marks the second time in a week Time Warner Cable in the area's been hit by a porn switch or hack. According to local TV station KXXV, porn popped-up close to prime time during the telethon of PBS affiliate KWBU, Channel 34 in Waco last Sunday, April 26. About five seconds or so of hardcore footage appeared around 6:40 p.m., much to the consternation of families tuned into the station watching “My Music: ’50s Pop Parade,” The station received a number of viewer complaints.
The Waco Tribune reports the blame was placed on equipment malfunction. TWC spokesperson Stacy Schmitt said technicians believed a failed QAM tuner routed a transmission from one of the company’s adult pay channels into the PBS station in some sort of switching gaffe.
“We identified what could have happened,” Schmitt told regional media. “It was a bit of digital equipment and we’ve taken steps to replace that unit. It was at most five seconds and to our digital customers, but it’s an unfortunate situation and we apologize."
According to KWBU interim General Manager Clare Paul, some eight viewers called in to report and complain about the incident, but due to weekend staffing and the station’s pledge drive, those calls went to the station’s after-hours answering service. “The whole situation is really bizarre,” Paul said.
The two Texas incidents bring to mind this year's Tuscon, Ariz. porn surprise that interrupted part of the Super Bowl in January. As reported then by AVN.com, cable company Comcast offered Arizona viewers who saw the content $10 credits or refunds to their accounts for the mishap. The Super Bowl porn featured veteran star Evan Stone along with Tristan Kingsley, whose AVN gallery can be viewed here.
