ABC News suddenly goes off air across Australia [Video]

Viewers were left stunned when the ABC’s national news bulletin went off the air shortly before midday on Monday.

The visual switched to a basic landscape image at about 11.25am with the message: ‘ABC News will return to scheduled programming shortly’.

The broadcast was down for about eight minutes, sparking concern among viewers.

‘Channel 24 has died??? Not a good look,’ one person wrote on social media.

More than two dozen people flagged the blackout on the website Down Detector, beginning at 11.22am.

Anyone who tuned in for the news during the eight-minute-long outage period was treated to images of the Australian landscape.

When the bulletin returned, a weather forecaster was completing his outlook for the day.

‘Staying …