CNN had plans to show their holiday viewers reruns of Anthony Bourdain's travelogue and rare cuisine show "Parts Unknown." However, Thanksgiving Day viewers in Boston, Massachusetts were treated to a little more than that. From 11:00pm to around 11:30pm, the network began to broadcast hardcore pornography.
RCN broadcasts adult content in Boston
CNN is broadcast in certain areas through a third party broadcast company Residential Communications Network Corporation or RCN. They serve two-hundred ninety-eight thousand viewers in Washington, DC, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
The pornography seemed to only affect the Boston area.
Many Thanksgiving Day viewers complained to RCN through their customer service. When the broadcast company did not immediately reply to the complaints, several customers took to Twitter to vent their frustration. They posted screen shots taken with the "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown" superimposed over the censored images and tagged the company in their posts.
RCN released a statement responding to social media complaints about the incident. They said via Twitter, "We have not had any reports of the programming issue you mentioned on CNN in Boston. If you are still having an issue with that channel, please DM us your address so we can troubleshoot when you're home." CNN has yet to release a statement regarding the Thanksgiving Day swap.
Other such incidents in the past
Boston is not the only channel to be affected by an accidental pornography broadcast. In July 2013, a computer technician accidentally broadcast an adult film in a train station jumbotron in Jilin City, China. In February 2009, Super Bowl viewers in Tucson, Arizona were surprised when the broadcast was interrupted by an adult film as well.
While there is no evidence that the Boston incident was planned, there have also been incidents of program hijacking. In May 2007 Comcast's broadcast of the Disney Channel program "Handy Manny" was hijacked and replaced with a pornography broadcast. Comcast investigated the incident, but no news has been released.
