The British public outside of Scotland have been forced to turn to rebroadcasting website Zattoo to watch the first televised debate about Scottish independence after STV Player fails under the weight of so many users.
STV failed to test whether their website and online player could cope with the influx of users, after it was decided that the debate would not be broadcast on television outside of Scotland, despite the result of the referendum having a major impact on the whole United Kingdom.
Many people hoping to watch the debate online turned to Twitter and Facebook to vent their anger at being unable to watch the debate.
The one night rest of UK WANTS to watch STV AND their systems freeze. Useless.
— Andrew Neil (@afneil) August 5, 2014
I guess the STV player incapable of coping with demand to watch Salmond vs Darling. Scandal that it is not on TV outside Scotland!
— Paul Lewis (@paullewismoney) August 5, 2014
Trying to log into STV Player while apoplectically picturing the Nathan-Barley-Cappuccino-swilling-Notting-Hill-nobwit who schedules ITV
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) August 5, 2014
Even after an hour, STV had still not fixed the issue and instead told users that the debate would be available to watch again after the debate had finished:
We're still working on fixing the live stream. The debate will be available online in full a few hours after the programme has finished.
— STV (@WeAreSTV) August 5, 2014
