If you had no sound on Match of the Day last night, the good news is that it wasn't a problem with your telly: the BBC really fecked up last night's broadcast.
The Boxing Day Stephens' Day Match of the Day is usually one of the best of the year, given the sheer volume of games. It was volume of a different kind, however, that caused trouble, with the Beeb somehow broadcasting most of the show without any sound. While no sound on Match of the Day is not necessarily an issue during the analysis of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, it did pretty much ruin the actual football part, as games were played in total silence.
The sound appeared to return for some during the Man City/Hull game (fourth on the running order) but it didn't return for this writer until the end of the Crystal Palace/Watford game, which was sixth on the running order, about 50 minutes in. The sound returned right at the end of that game, meaning we were able to hear from Big Sam Allardyce upon his return to the Premier League.
The issue, apparently, was with High Definition viewers, per Virgin Media:
Hi Stuart! Unfortunately MOTD was broadcast on BBC HD with no sound on all platforms. ^DC
— Virgin Media (@virginmedia) December 27, 2016
Viewers' responses ranged from angry to bewildered:
MOTD recorded with no sound 😩#Firstworldproblems
— Gareth Young (@Gareth_Young) December 27, 2016
Have to watch MOTD with subtitles cos BBC broadcasted it with no sound. Useless 😒
— Krish (@Krishan_Shah) December 27, 2016
Taped (yes still say taped) #MOTD to find BBC HD has no sound. Can 2016 hurt me any more before it ends??
— Richard Boyce (@RichardBoyce) December 27, 2016
Apparently, it worked fine in Standard Definition, but HD viewers were forced to sit through a broadcast with no sound on Match of the Day.
Still, it as an effective way of filtering out Gary Lineker's dodgy puns.
