For the past two days, I've seen some pretty rare mistakes on both Global and CTV News. In both cases, it involved the computer or master control operator being forced to cut off a newscast before it was actually over. 

On Global's noon show Tuesday, Anthony Farnell was in the middle of his weather forecast, when he was suddenly cut off mid-word and the station went to its scheduled 12:30 PM home improvement show that follows the news. The same kind of thing happened on Monday. 

Then over on CTV, the 5:30 PM early national newscast was in the middle of a story when it, too, was suddenly cut in mid stand-up, with no goodbye from the anchor. CTV's local Toronto news intro then ran immediately after. 

The Production Assistant's main job is to tell the producer how light or heavy a show is, so they can add or subtract time to make sure the show does not come to such an untimely end. 

It doesn't happen often and I can't help but wonder why it took place two days in a row on two different networks. Thankfully, it's not something you see very often, but when you do, it stands out like the proverbial sore thumb.