Vernon Kay switches to CDs after BBC Radio 2 digital system fails during live show

The incident occurred on Thursday (June 27) towards the end of his show while playing The Who’s "Won’t Get Fooled Again." The track abruptly stopped around 11.30am, prompting Kay to return on air, laughing and saying: “This has never happened to me, where the computer system has just failed.”

As the screen in front of him indicated the song was playing, Kay asked listeners to get in touch because he could not hear it in the studio. Uncertain if the broadcast was silent, he said: “I don’t think it’s playing out because it’s gone deadly silent in the studio, which is quite strange… but I’m fascinated by it because these things excite me when things go wrong on air.”

Fellow presenter Jeremy Vine, who follows Kay at midday, said he also experienced issues in his studio while “practising” his weekday show. They attempted to play the next tracks, but those too were inaudible. Kay said they would resort to “chatting for 30 minutes.”

A staff member arrived with a box of CDs as Vine continued to preview his show, which included General Election coverage and him trying on an age simulation suit. Kay played Harry Styles' "Treat People With Kindness" on a CD and joked that the team was “running down to the basement to get some cassettes and some MiniDiscs” to keep the music playing.

After playing his regular Tracks of My Years segment featuring a pre-recorded interview with this week’s guest, Glastonbury act Shania Twain, he said the system was "up and running" and "we're back to normal" at around 11.50am. A BBC spokesperson confirmed the issue was due to a technical fault that was quickly resolved.