Mystery as TVs across Doncaster start switching themselves on and off

There have been several reports of sets flicking on and off across town over the last few days – leaving owners baffled.

Writing on Facebook, Claire Thompson wrote: “Can any1 help me - my TV is turning on and off every couple of minutes.

“I’ve plugged a different TV in and it’s doing the same. I don’t know what it can be I’ve made sure all the wires are in properly too.”

Another wrote: “Last night turned TV on and it just kept switching on/off every few seconds.

“Come to turn my TV on again this morning and been constantly doing it for past 30 minutes.”

Tracey Peacock wrote: “Mine did this last night for about 30 mins then went back to normal.”

Charlotte Alberry wrote: “Is it a Samsung? Ours was doing the exact same! How strange.”

Nikki Davies added: “Mine was doing that last night as well but mine is a JVC not a Samsung.”

Other users reported problems with Toshiba and Hitachi sets.

Natalie Jones wrote: “Mine was doing this last night as well and then kept changing channel on its own.

Tracie Etherington wrote: “Mine’s doing similar - get it on a channel, llasts for about 30 seconds flicks itself to standby then 30 seconds later goes back to channel does this over and over.”

However, Toshiba said the problems were temporary and connected to the Freeview Play service – and not the sets themselves.

In a message sent out to customers, a spokesman said: “There is currently a temporary issue with the provision of the Freeview Play service platform which may cause your TV to turn off unexpectedly.

“Please be aware that this is NOT an issue with the television and is simply a short-term issue with the provision of the Freeview Play Service.

“Rest assured our dedicated technical teams are working around the clock to resolve this issue in the shortest time possible.”

And Toshiba has offered advice to customers on how to rectify the problem.

It said: “The issue can be rectified in the short term to restore the vast majority of the television’s functions by performing the following steps.”

Step 1: Turn off your wireless router, or disconnect the ethernet cable from your TV (whichever is applicable to how your TV connects to the internet)

Step 2 – perform a First Time Installation on your TV, as if you were setting it up as new, taking care to decline the terms and conditions of the Freeview Play Service.

Access to the first time installation function is found by selecting the steps below:

Menu>Settings>Installation>First Time Installation

Once first time installation has started, you should immediately turn your wifi router back on, wait for it to connect to the internet, then resume setting up your TV as prompted.

This will mean that all the functions of the Television including both live and catch up services and all applications will function correctly. The only limitation is with the provision of Freeview Play Services.

You do not need to perform any further diagnostics, contact your support helpline or your retailer at this time.

The statement added: “The issue will be resolved as soon as possible and full service will be resumed. We will provide further updates to you as soon as we can.”