On 4 July 2016, the PBS program A Capitol Fourth promised to put viewers "front and center" for a live Independence Day fireworks show from the west lawn of the United States Capitol.
When the fireworks started, however, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the patriotic pyrotechnics over the capital were not the same as the fireworks bursting on their television screens:
Not cool @pbs.... Fake footage of fireworks on the Fourth???? It's cloudy and rainy in DC. Those shots are clearly not from tonight.
— Chris Wallgren (@seawall77) July 5, 2016
While the fireworks show at the Capitol did go off as planned, PBS decided to alter its coverage because of cloud coverage in the area; sometime during the broadcast, it quietly switched its live feed to previously-shot footage:
The network posted on social media that they showed a combination of firework shows by design:
We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do. #July4thPBS — A Capitol Fourth (@July4thPBS) July 5, 2016
When that message didn't satisfy disgruntled viewers, the network posted a more detailed explanation:
pic.twitter.com/qzrykdW9Cy — A Capitol Fourth (@July4thPBS) July 5, 2016
Host Tom Bergeron said that he was not aware of the decision to show older footage, but that the cloud cover had made the 2016 fireworks show unremarkable:
Found out about this after the show. The real thing was pretty dull. Like shooting sparklers into pudding. #Cloudshttps://t.co/x6Z67q6rmz
— Tom Bergeron (@Tom_Bergeron) July 5, 2016