Loral Skynet's "Telstar 4" satellite blew a power bus Friday morning at
8:56, requiring a number of networks that use the satellite -- including ABC, CBS
and PBS -- to go elsewhere for transmission of primary and backup feeds.
The satellite serves the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the
U.S. Virgin Islands and southern Canada.
ABC uses the satellite for nearly all of its feeds, but it found itself in a
local commercial break at the time the satellite went down.
The network then quickly switched over to its backup, "Telstar 5."
CBS uses Telstar 4 as a backup, so its service was unaffected. Loral Skynet is
attempting to communicate with the satellite, which will be replaced next year
by "Telstar 8."
For now, Telstar 4 clients have been moved to Telstar 5 and "Telstar
6."
