ABC digital radio silenced for hours by cut cable

In the world of radio, even a few seconds of silence is a big problem.

But listeners of the ABC's digital radio services tuned in to hours of dead air this morning thanks to a single cable being severed.

Broadcasts were still available on AM/FM radios, but digital listeners heard nothing for several hours.

A spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald a fibre cable was mistakenly cut overnight, shutting off the digital radio streams.

The outage affected Radio National, Triple J and all local ABC radio stations.

The problem was fixed and the shows were back on the air by 9.30am, save for ABC Melbourne, which didn't go back up for another half-hour.