MetroCity

What is the show's usual out-time? If it's 10:55:XX, followed by an end break, it's possible the commercial server crashed. Tribune stations are hubbed, so if the master control operator that's running six or eight stations is busy, it can take a few minutes to switch over to the back-up. A commercial server or spot machine crash has happened to every producer and director at some time or another. But hubs and automation have taken the ability to recover away from the control room.

A more likely scenario is that research shows the strong NBC owned stations' investigative campaign is resonating with viewers. This is way of trying to get back the consumer investigative foothold they once had.

At that time, stations with transmitters at World Trade had back up transmitters at the Empire State Building. Most were back on over-the-air very quickly through Empire. But signals from Empire at the time were less powerful, so reception over the air was limited to the five boroughs and nearby New Jersey and Westchester. Cable was uninterrupted and most stations were simulcasting on radio within hours. Also, everybody lost microwave receive sites at WTC. And the canyons of lower Manhattan are a black hole, so satellite trucks and 13gig relays were the only way out. Two way radio repeaters were also knocked out. IFB was sketchy, and cell systems and Nextel systems were overloaded. And all while the world was coming apart at the seams.

Keeping in mind that September 11th was a Tuesday: WABC was all local around the clock for the first 40 hours (approx). On Wednesday night/Thursday morning they went to network from about 1AM until 4AM, and did that until Sunday night. Their first return to network programming was Sunday night prime time. The week of September 17th they did extended local news during the day, pre-empting soaps and some syndication, but carried network during prime. It was several weeks before a normal schedule returned. One thing to remember about all NY stations that week is that they were all on their own, with only the personnel that were in Manhattan. All entry points to Manhattan were closed before 10AM. So nobody who lived outside Manhattan could come in to work and no assistance could be brought in from other company stations. (Although people who lived in Brooklyn were allowed to walk in/out of Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge.) That also meant people who had come to work early that morning from the suburbs couldn't leave. They were put up in hotels but had no change of clothes for several days until stores re-opened. Manhattan was isolated for most of the week. Transit was completely shut down. The only traffic on the streets was military and incoming rescue and assistance vehicles from all over the east coast. So, each station was doing around the clock coverage for days with only the staff they had in Manhattan at the time, and no possibility of relief. Networks were in the same situation and relied heavily on local stations for content.