WTVG

WTVG, also known as 13abc, is a television station that broadcasts programming to viewers in its local market. The station delivers a mix of local news, sports coverage, weather forecasts, and syndicated entertainment content. It produces original newscasts that air throughout the day and provides live reporting on community events. In addition to news, the station airs sports highlights and network programming as an affiliate of a major broadcast network.

The station’s news and sports departments rely on a centralized editing system to prepare video packages for broadcast. Its meteorological unit operates on separate technical infrastructure, which allowed weather forecasts to remain unaffected during a recent virus incident. The station maintains a fleet of laptops and editing workstations used by journalists, producers, and technical staff to create and review content. Routine operations include the use of live feeds, graphics packages, and syndicated material to fill airtime when needed.

In November 2019, WTVG experienced a computer virus infection that originated from a downloaded video file and spread to its editing systems. The malware caused slowed video playback and eventually a complete failure after a restart, disrupting the station’s ability to air regularly scheduled newscasts and sports segments. During the outage, staff shifted to shortened broadcasts, relied on live camera footage, and used pre‑produced graphics and syndicated programming to maintain some on‑air presence. The incident required each of approximately 45 affected laptops to be decontaminated, a process that took about an hour per device and involved both internal station IT and corporate technology teams.

Despite the disruption, the station’s meteorological service continued uninterrupted because its systems are isolated from the news and sports editing environment. The event highlighted the station’s reliance on integrated video workflows and the importance of maintaining segregated critical systems. Recovery efforts restored full editing capacity after thorough cleaning of all affected hardware. The episode demonstrated the station’s capacity to adapt its production procedures under technical constraints while preserving essential local information delivery.