Sun Outages on Citizens TV Service October 4 – 12 2023

What are Sun Outages?
Twice a year, you may experience some degree of television interference due to “sun outages.” A phenomenon called “solar satellite interference” causes sun outages. These brief outages occur when the sun passes directly behind satellites transmitting cable signals. When the sun aligns with a satellite, solar radiation, energy the sun is emitting, interferes with the satellite’s signal and thus causes a brief signal outage.
This is a very similar effect to the blinding sun you might experience at certain times when driving home in the late afternoons or early mornings.

Even if you don't receive your television services over satellite, SFN TV Now and Citizens IPTV receive much of their channel source signals via satellite. Even the local off-air broadcast stations receive some of their content over satellite.

When do sun outages happen, and how long do they last?
Sun outages occur every year, in Fall and Spring, and last approximately a week each time. The approximate times for signal loss will be between 11:00 am and 6:00 pm and last only a brief time – from seconds up to 15 minutes.

What kind of outage/interference can I expect?
During the sun outage, you may experience a pixelated picture, picture freezes, or audio distortions for a brief period.

How can I tell if it’s caused by a sun outage or something’s wrong with my service?
The sun outage happens only during the day between 11 am and 6 pm (no sun, no interference) and is brief, lasting for a few minutes—from 5 minutes up to 30 minutes.

What should I do during a sun outage?
Citizens Cablevision apologizes for any inconvenience a sun outage may cause. However, solar satellite interference is out of our control. Please be patient, and everything will get back to normal.

If you have questions about sun outages, please call us at 540.745.2111 or 276.637.6485 and press 1 for 24/7 support