Cape Town – Viewers were left disappointed on Tuesday night when the Great South African Bake Off was a no-show on BBC Lifestyle (DStv 174).
The 20:00-slot was instead filled with a Great British Bake Off Masterclass episode.
BBC South Africa was left red in the face when a technical glitch spoiled their highly publicised premiere.
Minutes after the show was set to premiere the channel took to their Twitter account to inform viewers of the error and to apologise:
Due to a technical issue, we're not able to bring the premiere of #SABakeOff at 20:00. Apologies. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/iiy0OfUZNV
— BBC South Africa (@BBCSouthAfrica) October 6, 2015
Frustrated fans fumed on Twitter and were quick to show their dismay:
The delay of #SABakeOff must have sucked the jam out of your donut @Anne_Hirsch.
— Graeme Lipschitz (@Wallfish) October 6, 2015
Oh dear #SABakeOff what happened?????
— ashley welch (@Ashliepurf) October 6, 2015
So after a long wait it actually never took off. What happened #SABakeOff ?
— Zelia Oleastro (@zeliaoleastro) October 6, 2015
Disappointed! #SABakeOff loads of hype and no cake??
— Susan Omand (@sueomand) October 6, 2015
So irritated. Such a build up. What the heck. BBC or my least favourite Dstv #SABakeOff
— Colleen Pickering (@CollPickering) October 6, 2015
Was so looking forward to seeing the show. Mxmm #SABakeOff
— Ntsako Maluleka (@NtsakoLN) October 6, 2015
How disappointing - for the viewers, contestants, fans, sponsors and brands that bought ad space in the show! #sabakeoff #flop
— Kat (@brazenlysublyme) October 6, 2015
In an official statement issued on Tuesday night the channel apologised to viewers for the inconvenience caused.
"Due to recent upgrades to the content delivery system, the first episode of The Great South African Bake Off was not processed as it should have been, which resulted in the first episode not going to air. We appreciate how disappointing this is for our viewers and sincerely apologise."
Episode 1 of The Great South African Bake Off will now be shown on Thursday, 8th October 2015 at 20:00 on DStv channel 174.